Event

Volti: Songs With(out) Words

Volti, San Francisco's premiere new music vocal ensemble, explores the border between the poetry of words and pure musical sounds. A new commission from Seattle composer John Muehleisen, "... is knowing...", setting texts by Gertrude Stein, kicks off this program showcasing the complexity and variety of vocal music being written today. Commissioned by Volti and originally premiered in 2010, Robin Estrada's "Paghahandog" explodes and deconstructs a short Tagalog text of dedication into a kaleidoscope of joyful sound. By contrast, "Without Words" by Huang Ruo paints the minimal text of Li Yü (the last emperor of the Tang dynasty) with delicate brushstrokes. John Stirling Walker's memorial for Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired the moving work "The Homecoming" by San Franciscan David Conte, originally written for Chanticleer to mark the 40th anniversary of King's death. Reena Esmail captures the dense suspension of Carol Muske-Dukes' poetry in her finely wrought "White Key," which will receive its West Coast premiere.

LOCATIONS:
Fri 3/2 8 PM St. Mark's Lutheran Church, SF;
Sat 3/3 8 PM Mt. Tamalpais Methodist Church, Mill Valley;
Sun. 3/4 4 PM David Brower Center, Berkeley