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San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra

LXCL:The San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra is a collective of composer-performers dedicated to creating, performing, and championing new orchestral music by Bay Area composers. We provide meaningful opportunities for living composers of all backgrounds and styles to hear their work realized with artistic care—removing barriers to orchestral writing and performance, engaging new audiences, and expanding what orchestral music can be.

<hr style="display: block; border-width: 2px medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: initial; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: inherit;" id="isPasted" fr-original-style="display: block; border-right: none; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-top: 2px solid; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Nothing holds still for long. Forms stretch. Familiar sounds return in unfamiliar ways. What once felt settled begins to move. On June 6, the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra&nbsp;presents an evening shaped by change&mdash;seven works by six Bay Area composers, where tradition bends, stories reappear in new forms, and the ground beneath the music never quite settles. From a luminous moonlit nocturne to a driving, turbulent march&hellip; from reimagined 18th-century forms to a vivid retelling of Snow White&mdash;each piece transforms something familiar into something new. Guided by conductor John Kendall Bailey, the music unfolds live, in the moment&mdash;where energy, risk, and discovery are part of the experience. Join us for a night where the ground is always in motion. <hr style="display: block; border-width: 2px medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: initial; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="display: block; border-right: none; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-top: 2px solid; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><p fr-original-style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; margin: 0px; width: 100%; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'>Program for the Evening: John Bilotta&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Moonlit Night on the DniproA nocturne inspired by a moonlit landscape so luminous it once seemed to glow from within. Geoffrey Colton&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;String Quartet No. 1A simple idea unfolds through a chain of transformations, with the original theme emerging only at the end. James W. Cook&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;String Quartet No. 1, Movement 2A humorous set of variations on a catchy jingle-like tune.hemselves. James W. Cook&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Absolute Music No. 2Music with fixed parameters yet infinitely varying form. Alan Crossman &ndash; Earth MarchA restless, driving work shaped by the intensity of our global movement forward through uncertainty.&nbsp; Vance Maverick &ndash; Quasi all&rsquo;anticaAn 18th-century overture reimagined&mdash;familiar gestures refracted through a modern ear. Michael Orlinsky &ndash; Snow White Ballet (excerpts)A vivid retelling of a familiar tale, full of character, color, and theatrical energy.<p fr-original-style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; margin: 0px; width: 100%; line-height: 1.5; box-sizing: inherit;'> WHY COME?Moonlight, memory, machinery, myth&mdash;each piece shifts the ground in its own way. No two moments settle in quite the same place. Join us for a night of music that doesn&rsquo;t sit still.

Shifting Grounds

Unanswered, Forbidden, Unforgettable

Your membership keeps new music alive in San Francisco 🎶 When you join SFCCO, you are eligible to submit to call for scores and get a performance by the orchestra. You will receive a ticket to each concert.

Your membership keeps new music alive in San Francisco 🎶When you join SFCCO, you are eligible to submit to call for scores and get a performance by the orchestra. You will receive a ticket to each concert.

San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra's Composer Memberships

<hr style="display: block; border-width: 2px medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: initial; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: inherit;" id="isPasted" fr-original-style="display: block; border-right: none; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-top: 2px solid; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">On Saturday, October 24, the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra presents&nbsp;Portraits in Sound, a program of new music inspired by the people who shape us. Three works offer musical portraits and personal tributes. John Beeman&rsquo;s Jane Goodall: A Musical Portrait explores the primatologist&rsquo;s patience, determination, and curiosity through a theme built from the letters of her name. Hussein Al-Nasrawi&rsquo;s Baba honors his father, Saleh Al-Nasrawi; &ldquo;Baba&rdquo; is the Arabic word for father, and the piece celebrates his lively spirit and legacy. Michael Cooke performs as soloist in his&nbsp;Bassoon Concerto No. 1, dedicated with gratitude and esteem to his former University of North Texas bassoon professor, Sue Schreier Bancroft, whose support helped shape his path as both a bassoonist and composer. The concert also moves through fantasy, poetry, and cosmic scale. From an Alice in Wonderland ballet, SFCCO performs Down the Rabbit Hole, following Alice from a peaceful riverside scene into the strange, locked hallway at the bottom of her fall. Genesis traces the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang through stars, planets, life, and humanity&rsquo;s development of nuclear weapons. Four Sandburg Poems brings the voice and imagery of Carl Sandburg to the program, while&nbsp;All Hallows&rsquo; Eve adds another distinctive musical world. Portraits in Sound reflects SFCCO&rsquo;s composer-led approach to new music: bringing composers and audiences together through music and the experiences that led to its creation. <hr style="display: block; border-width: 2px medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: initial; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="display: block; border-right: none; border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-top: 2px solid; font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><p fr-original-style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; width: 100%; box-sizing: inherit;'>Program: Hussein Al-Nasrawi &ndash; BABA A musical portrait of the composer&rsquo;s father, Saleh Al-Nasrawi, celebrating his lively spirit and legacy. John Beeman &ndash; Jane Goodall: A Musical Portrait A portrait of the renowned primatologist, exploring her patience, determination, and curiosity through a theme derived from the letters of her name. Michael Cooke &ndash; Bassoon Concerto No. 1 A tribute to Cooke&rsquo;s former bassoon professor, Sue Schreier Bancroft, shaped by Vivaldi&rsquo;s concerto style and the freedom of jazz improvisation. Kyle Hovatter &ndash; Four Sandburg Poems Four musical settings inspired by the poetry and imagery of Carl Sandburg. Michael Orlinsky &ndash; Down the Rabbit Hole An opening scene from an&nbsp;Alice in Wonderland ballet, following Alice&rsquo;s pursuit of the White Rabbit and her descent into a strange new world. Michael Orlinsky &ndash; Genesis An orchestral creation story tracing the universe from the Big Bang through stars, planets, life, and humanity&rsquo;s development of nuclear weapons. Les Thaler &ndash; All Hallows&rsquo; Eve A seasonal work that brings a Halloween atmosphere to the program.<p fr-original-style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' style='color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; margin: 0px; line-height: 1.5; width: 100%; box-sizing: inherit;'> WHY COME?Because a single afternoon can hold the birth of a universe, a fall into Wonderland, and the lasting influence of extraordinary people. Expect adventurous music that is personal, playful, and full of surprises. Join us for an&nbsp;afternoon of music that doesn&rsquo;t sit still.

San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra

San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra

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Portraits in Sound

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San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra's Composer Memberships

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