Monday, June 11, 2012

San Diego New Music...

Before I forget, I should write a word or two about some other recent concerts I was able to attend, as well as a concert series that is coming soon.

My old friend and colleague David Shiveley came to town to perform a solo concert at the Space4Art. David is an amazing percussionist and is co-director of the ensemble Either/Or, based in NYC. It had been an appallingly long time since I'd been able to attend one of David's concerts, and I was really pleased that he made it so convenient as to show up in my little town to play. Understated, elegant, enigmatic, yet precise, his approach is always engaging and captivating, as is his repertoire. Among the works on his concert was Resonance Alloy, by Keeril Makan. Here's an excerpt:


The concert ended with Max Neuhaus’ Fontana Mix: Feed (after John Cage), in which David played a double set of crotales. All that metal took its toll, eventually: the enthusiastic applause that the audience gave David after the performance sounded oddly muffled, as if I had a pillow over my head.

This is not a complaint -- it was fantastic, and the aftermath was an unexpected phenomenological surprise.

On Friday I was finally able to hear Jory Herman's solo contrabass recital in which he played the first three Cello Suites by J.S. Bach. This was quite a feat, and a very interesting lesson in the bass. Jory played the first two movements at the original pitch, so he was very high on the fingerboard indeed. Yet it sounded perfectly well-suited for the instrument, and he navigated some bewildering looking fingerings impeccably. This was the third outing of Jory's recital, and I hope he has more opportunities to bring this work to a broader public.

Sunday I attended the La Jolla Symphony concert, which featured Aleck Karis playing Barber's Piano Concerto. I never quite understood why the Symphony hasn't done more concerti over the years featuring the performance faculty at UCSD. It seems as if someone has finally acknowledged a most valuable resource. Aleck's playing was as incisive and fluent as ever.

Finally, this week begins the soundON Festival of Modern music, which features the NOISE ensemble, the Formalist Quartet, and more. I'm looking forward to hearing their latest offerings. It looks as if some very full days of concerts and catching up with old friends are in store.

I recently caught up with the great Mary Oliver, who was in town to visit family. She remarked that San Diego is a good place to get some work done since one isn't likely to be too distracted by a tantalizingly full slate of must-not-miss concerts. To some degree, this is true, but lately I feel like I'm back in Boston in the early '90s.

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