San Francisco Contemporary Music Players

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Name	San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Background	classical_ensemble
Origin	San Francisco, California
Genre	Contemporary classical music
Years active	1974–present

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is an American chamber ensemble based in San Francisco, California, specializing in contemporary classical repertoire. The group presents premieres and commissions, records works by living composers, and collaborates with institutions across the Bay Area and internationally. Founded in the 1970s, it has toured nationally and partnered with festivals, universities, and presenters to advance new music.

History

The ensemble was founded in 1974 in San Francisco during a period of expansion for contemporary music alongside organizations such as Kronos Quartet, California EAR Unit, Ensemble Modern, and Interpolations. Early seasons featured composers from the West Coast scene like Lou Harrison, Morton Feldman, Robert Ashley, Terry Riley, and John Cage alongside national figures such as Elliott Carter, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Pierre Boulez, and Igor Stravinsky. Over decades the ensemble engaged with festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center, Ojai Music Festival, Miller Theatre, Next Wave Festival, and Bang on a Can Marathon, and collaborated with presenters such as SFJAZZ, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Davies Symphony Hall, and Zellerbach Hall. Tours brought performances to cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and international venues like Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and Teatro Colón.

Artistic Leadership and Ensemble Personnel

Artistic directors and music directors have included figures associated with institutions such as San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, San Francisco Opera, and San Francisco Symphony. Conductors and collaborators have included David Robertson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Oliver Knussen, George Benjamin, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and soloists from New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Principal players and frequent collaborators have come from conservatories and ensembles such as Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Peabody Institute, Manhattan School of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Yale School of Music, and Eastman School of Music. Guest artists have included Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Christian Lindberg, Jennifer Koh, Emanuel Ax, Hilary Hahn, Anthony McGill, Joshua Redman, and Pat Metheny.

Repertoire and Commissioned Works

The ensemble's repertoire emphasizes 20th- and 21st-century works by composers linked to institutions and movements such as New Music America, IRCAM, Burning Man, Austen Dreyfuss School for Composition, and academic centers including Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, University of California, San Diego, University of California, Berkeley, Cornell University, University of Michigan, Eastman School of Music, and Juilliard. Commissions and premieres have involved composers like John Adams, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe, Caroline Shaw, Anna Clyne, Missy Mazzoli, Kaija Saariaho, Liza Lim, George Crumb, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Gordon, David Lang, John Harbison, Elena Ruehr, Nico Muhly, Andrew Norman, Bent Sørensen, Thomas Adès, Christopher Rouse, Tan Dun, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Sofia Gubaidulina.

Recordings and Media

Recordings have appeared on labels and platforms associated with contemporary music such as Nonesuch Records, Deutsche Grammophon, ECM Records, Bridge Records, New Albion Records, Cantaloupe Music, Mode Records, BMG, Sony Classical, Naxos, Albany Records, and Ars Nova Classics. Media partnerships and broadcasts have included BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio, KQED, WQXR, Radio France, Deutsche Welle, and streaming presentations via Medici.tv, YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Music. The ensemble has produced commercial albums, radio broadcasts, and live-streamed performances of works by Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Lou Harrison, John Cage, and Morton Feldman.

Education and Community Outreach

Educational initiatives have partnered with institutions and programs such as San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco State University, Oakland School for the Arts, Head-Royce School, Berkeley Arts Magnet, California College of the Arts, Community Music Center of San Francisco, Young Musicians Program, Miller Institute, Yamaha Music Foundation, SFCMP workshops, and youth orchestras including San Francisco Youth Orchestra and California Youth Symphony. Community outreach collaborations extended to cultural organizations such as Asian Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art San Francisco, Contemporary Jewish Museum, de Young Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco Public Library, and advocacy groups like New Music USA and Meet the Composer.

Venues and Residencies

Regular performance venues and residency partners have included Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Symphony's Davies Hall, Zellerbach Hall at University of California, Berkeley, Cowell Theater, Oberlin College, Mills College, Stanford Live, Danforth Museum, Smith Center, and presenter series such as Cal Performances, SFJAZZ, San Francisco Performances, Bang on a Can, MusicNOW, and NextFeatures. The ensemble has also served as ensemble-in-residence at academic centers and festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, Bangkok Festival, and international residencies at IRCAM and Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music.

Awards and Recognition

The group and its collaborators have received awards and honors associated with contemporary music and arts institutions, including grants and fellowships from National Endowment for the Arts, Guggenheim Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Grammy Awards, Pulitzer Prize for Music-affiliated composers, and accolades from Chamber Music America, ASCAP, BMI, and San Francisco Chronicle critics. The ensemble's recordings and premieres have earned critical acclaim in outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Pitchfork.

Category:Contemporary classical ensembles