BluePrint 2011-2012: Transcending Senses

Welcome to Transcending Senses, the tenth season of the BluePrint project. This year we step into the realm of the transcendental, exploring a colorful spectrum of musical styles and unearthing gems both familiar and unknown, including several exciting American and world premieres. Our guest artists include close musical friends as well as several internationally acclaimed performers and composers.

The season begins with the evocative blues of John Harbison’s vocal music in North and South, along with selections from his opera The Great Gatsby. We also showcase Conservatory faculty violinist Axel Strauss performing Kurt Rohde’s virtuosic Violin Concertino and pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi performing Erwin Schulhoff’s Concerto for Piano & Small Orchestra.

For our second performance we have the rare opportunity to welcome award-winning Parisian composer Philippe Hersant to the Concert Hall stage. This program will feature six of his signature works, including the American premieres of his viola concerto Musical Humors with Jodi Levitz and his chamber orchestra work Songlines. Special guest performers include violinists Tom Stone and Cecily Ward of the Cypress String Quartet.
 
February brings a special event to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, as Ensemble Parallèle, the Conservatory’s professional ensemble-in-residence, presents Harbison’s The Great Gatsby in the world premiere of a new version rescored for chamber orchestra by  Jacques Desjardins.Join us as we bring to life F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tale of decadence and yearning during the Jazz Age.

Our tenth season concludes with this year’s Hoefer Commission from New York composer Neil Rolnick. His work, Anosmia, conceived as a musical response to a loss of sensory perception, promises to be a truly transcendental world premiere. This final performance also includes the music of recent Conservatory graduate Stefan Cwik and Philip Glass’ Harpsichord Concerto with soloist Christopher Lewis.

I invite you along our journey as we traverse through the transcendent layers of music and the senses.

2011

North and South
John Harbison: North and South
John Harbison: The Great Gatsby (sneak preview)
Erwin Schulhoff: Concerto for Piano

Musical Humors: Discover Philippe Hersant
Philippe Hersant: Musical Humors, Songlines, Psaume 130, Wanderung, Sonate pour violoncelle, 11 Caprices

2012

John Harbison: The Great Gatsby
World premiere opera production of Jacques Desjardins' chamber orchestra version of Harbison's The Great Gatsby

Anosmia
Neil Rolnick: Anosmia
Stefan Cwik: Eight Miniatures for Chamber Ensemble
Philip Glass: Harpsichord Concerto