August 2024 Events
WEST OAKLAND SOUND SERIES
A weekly new-music and experimental-sound series presented on Sunday evenings by sfSound.
Location: Dresher Ensemble Studio (2201 Poplar Street, Oakland, CA)
Tickets: $10-$25 sliding scale (cash & Venmo accepted at door)
Eventbrite advance tickets ($20) [PURCHASE]
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Sunday, August 4, 2024
James Fei + Laetitia Sonami
Hadley McCarroll + Tom Dambly + sfSound
James Fei and Laetitia Sonami started their improvisational collaboration in 2013. While the materials and techniques used by the two musicians differ significantly, both employ tactile interfaces coupled with electronic systems that exhibit complex behaviors. Sonami performs with her most recent instrument, the Spring Spyre. Constructed around a web of springs whose signals are analyzed through neural networks that control the audio synthesis in real time, the Spring Spyre can exhibit a wide range of sonic behaviors depending on its training terrains. Fei’s setup consists of analog circuits driven by multiple feedback loops, often on the brink of instability. Signals are recursively routed through microphones and spring reverb and convert between audio and control voltages. Circuit elements are also modified by touch, integrating the non-linearities and the immediacy of the body with the electronic processes.
Hadley McCarroll performs Nordic piano works: Kaijo Saariaho’s Prelude (2007) and Anna Thorvaldsdóttir’s Scape (2011). Tom Dambly presents his La Trompette Concrète (2015/24) for trumpet and electronics, then joins sfSoundgroup members Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), John Ingle (saxophone), and Matt Ingalls (clarinet) in performances of improvisational compositions Cornelius Cardew’s Autumn 60 (1960) and George E Lewis’s Players (1977, Rev 1993).
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Sunday, August 11, 2024
Eda Er + Sarah Grace Graves
Aaron Bennett + Scott R. Looney + Matt Montgomery
Sarah Grace Graves and Eda Er perform an audio-visual set for voice and electronics that investigates storytelling as technology and voice that extends beyond the body.
This adventurous trio of Aaron Bennett (saxes), Scott R. Looney (piano, prepared piano, electronics), and Matt Montgomery (bass) reassembles for another round of wide-ranging sonic exploration covering classic territory from similar trios of Paul Bley as well as more esoteric corners of free jazz, skronk, and standards. The lack of percussion allows more of a chamber music aesthetic to sway here, where each player has equal weight to contribute to the aural landscape.
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Friday, August 16, 2024 – 7:00 PM
Saturday, August 17, 2024 – 7:00 PM
Sunday, August 18, 2024 – 2:00 PM
Friday, August 23, 2024 – 7:00 PM
Saturday, August 24, 2024 – 7:00 PM
Sunday, August 25, 2024 – 2:00 PM
The Ground — a visual/sonic poem by Fred C. Riley III
Six puppeteers and one musician take you on an abstract journey that explores the tension we find in reconciling nature and technology.
Our figure awakens from slumber into a dream. We watch her take her first steps. As she learns to move her body, so do her needs and emotions. Can she come to balance in this world? Can her striving to make a better world through innovation stay in accord with the natural world? Will the creatures that befriend her fall victim to her improvements or reap the rewards of her caring? Will this dream of a better life, this struggle forevermore, be a life well lived? We will explore this hour how we strive to overcome the natural world while often losing sight that we are part of it.
The Ground Creative Team
Fred C Riley III: Director, Playwright, Puppet Creator
Performers
Tabletop Puppeteers: Marie-Claire Erdynast, Jessica Nguyen, Fred C Riley III
Shadow Puppeteers Aureen B. Almario, Samantha Lake, Tracy Nguyen
Tabletop Puppet Design: Fred C Riley III
Mask Design: Lisa Zagone
Shadow Puppet Design: Gena Chastain, Moja Made, Jessica Nguyen
Scenic Design: Ian Erikson, Lisa Zagone
Music: Ian Erikson
Lighting Design: David Ragaza
Biography
Fred C Riley III has worked and toured in the US and internationally for The Center for Puppetry Arts, Ping Chong and Company, Shadowlight Productions, and many more. Fred played the title role in Jon Ludwig’s groundbreaking Wrestling Macbeth and was assistant director and performer on the 2019 UNIMA award-winning Feathers of Fire. He has taught puppet theory and manipulation and directed and written for “The Center for Puppetry Arts.” Over the years, he has built, voiced, choreographed, and performed puppets of every size and style. He works now as a core member of “Shadowlight Productions,” Artistic Director for the late Larry Schmidt’s Driveway Follies, and the founder of the movement company Odd Savvy.
Supported by a The Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant and CA$H Theatre, a grants program of Theatre Bay Area.
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New Performance Traditions concerts are partly supported by the Alameda County Arts Commission’s ARTSFUND and New Music USA’s Organization Fund for 2024-25
