The San Francisco Tape Music Festival

The San Francisco Tape Music Festival takes place this weekend.

The San Francisco Tape Music Festival 2015
January 9/10/11, 2015
16th Street Victoria Theater
2961 16th Street
San Francisco

PROGRAM DETAILS

FRIDAY JANUARY 9 8pm
A cinematic “radio play”, sine wave synthesis, a collage of recordings made on optical film in the 1920’s, brownian motion sonification, drones, and manipulated bandoneón music. We perform a rare work by CONLON NANCARROW and an optical film piece by WALTER RUTTMANN that predates “tape music” by decades. We also premiere a new work by Stanford professor FERNANDO LOPEZ-LEZCANO and perform numerous recent works by international composers including the San Francisco based THEO MATHIEN. We also feature a tribute performance of Antony by UC Berkeley professor DAVID WESSEL, who unexpectedly passed away in October.

Walter Ruttmann – Wochenende (1930)
Conlon Nancarrow – Piece for Tape (1955)
David Wessel – Antony (1977)
Theo Mathien – A Trace of Finches (2011)
Jason Bolte – Putt’n Around (2012)
Diana Salazar – La Voz Del Fuelle (2012)
Isobel Anderson – Going Under: Above and Below The River Ouse (2014)
Gordon Delap – “Perpetual Jiggling”: Noise portrait of Richard Feynman (2014)
Jane Rigler – Mukta (2014)
Fernando Lopez-Lezcano – The Hidden and Mysterious Machinery of Sound (2015 WORLD PREMIERE)

SATURDAY JANUARY 10 8pm
Field recordings, cinema for the ear, sound-design works, a processed gamelan, samples of tejana and synth-pop music, and a FRANK ZAPPA classic. We also present numerous recent works by international composers and locals BYRON EVORA, KENT JOLLY, and CHERYL LEONARD. In addition, bay area composer COLLIN MCKELVEY and San Francisco Tape Music Collective’s own THOM BLUM premiere new works.

Frank Zappa – Nasal Retentive Calliope Music (1968)
Carla Scaletti – sunSergeAutomata (1987)
Kent Jolly – Bellbox (2003)
Francisco Eme – Cuerno de Chivo (2012)
Byron Evora – FLUX – Sound Re-Design (2012)
Matthew Schoen – Track #1 (2013)
David Arango-Valencia – giraSol~giraNada (2014)
Cheryl Leonard – Ablation Zone (2014)
James O’Callaghan – Bodies-Soundings (2014)
Pierre-Luc Senécal – Schrei (2014)
Collin McKelvey – Sufficient for a Head: Radio Edit (2015, WORLD PREMIERE)
Thom Blum – Walkways of the Hopeful and the Hopeless (2015, WORLD PREMIERE)

SATURDAY JANUARY 10 11pm
This concert features a premiere by BRIAN ENO. In 2007, Eno composed a 16-channel piece, Golden for our festival. He created multiple versions of various lengths, and the “full” 17-minute version will have its public debut on this program. In addition, we present a rare performance of PAULINE OLIVEROS’S The Day I Disconnected the Erase Head and Forgot to Reconnect It – one of her classic analog synth tape pieces from 1966 that predates the Bay Area Noise scene by decades. The program also includes a new work by dutch composer AUGUSTO MEIJER and a sonic landscape composition by San Francisco Tape Music Collective’s own CLIFF CARUTHERS.

Brian Eno – Golden (2007, WORLD PREMIERE)
Pauline Oliveros – The Day I Disconnected the Erase Head and Forgot to Reconnect It (1966)
Cliff Caruthers – Natoma (2003)
Augusto Meijer – Utopia (2014)

SUNDAY JANUARY 11 8pm (with sfSoundGroup)
Our final concert features the Festival’s first collaboration with acoustic musicians in a double-program exploring the relationships between electronic and acoustic instruments. Performed by SFSOUNDGROUP, the first half features a program of music by French master composers PIERRE BOULEZ (violin and live electronics), LUC FERRARI (improvising ensemble and tape), and two works that consist of mainpulated instrumental sounds on tape by acousmatic icons BERNARD PARMEGIANI, and HORACIO VAGGIONE. The second half features a program by American composers MARIO DAVIDOVSKY (ensemble and tape), ROBERT ERICKSON (ensemble and tape), HANS TUTSCHKU (oboe, bass clarinet, and iPads), and MATT INGALLS (clarinet and tape).

“Does listening to this constant transition from one state to another tell us anything about the nature of sound?“ — Bernard Parmegiani

FRENCH PROGRAM
Pierre Boulez – ANTHÈMES II (1997 :: violin + electronics) – Benjamin Kreith, violin + Sam Nichols, electronics
Luc Ferrari – ARCHIVES SAUVÉES DES EAUX (2000 :: improvisers + tape) – sfSoundGroup + SF Tape Music Collective
Bernard Parmegiani – ACCIDENTS / HARMONIQUES (from DE NATURA SONORUM) (1973 :: tape)
Horacio Vaggione – PRELUDES SUSPENDUS III (2009 :: tape)

AMERICAN PROGRAM
Mario Davidovsky – Synchronisms #2 (1964 :: flute, clarinet, violin, cello, tape) – sfSoundGroup
Robert Erickson – Pacific Sirens (1969 :: ensemble + tape) – sfSoundGroup
Hans Tutschku – Still Air 3 (2014 :: oboe, bass clarinet, iPads) – Kyle Bruckmann, oboe, Matt Ingalls, bass clarinet
Matt Ingalls – CrusT (1997 :: clarinet + tape) – Matt Ingalls, clarinet

SFSOUNDGROUP MUSICIANS
Monica Scott, cello
Sam Nichols, electronics
Brendan Lai-Tong, trombone
Benjamin Kreith, violin
John Ingle, saxophone/conductor
Matt Ingalls, clarinet
Diane Grubbe, flute
Tom Dambly, trumpet
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe/english horn