Switchboard Music Festival
Saturday, June 18, 1-9pm
The ninth annual Switchboard Music Festival is an 8-hour showcase of innovative and eclectic music from the Bay Area and beyond. The Festival’s intriguing, accessible programming traverses genre lines, presenting a feast for musical omnivores of all kinds. Featured performers include Tyondai Braxton (Battles), Del Sol String Quartet, Ken Ueno, ZOFO, and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
2016 Lineup:
1:00 - Stay On It
Julius Eastman’s 1973 piece is one of the first minimalist works to show the influence of pop music. For an indeterminate ensemble, Stay On It will be performed by Festival artists, co-directors, and Switchboard alumni.
1:45 - Majel Connery & Ken Ueno with The Living Earth Show
Hailing from the outsider worlds of avant-garde opera, Tuvan throat-singing, and performance art, Majel Connery, Ken Ueno and The Living Earth Show (Andy Meyerson and Travis Andrews) partner up to produce something truly novel: bona fide pop music.
2:30 - ZOFO
Keisuke Nakagoshi and Eva-Maria Zimmermann’s Grammy-nominated piano four hands duo perform new music by Ryan Brown and others.
3:00 - Dominique Leone’s San Francisco
Dominique Leone returns from New York with an all-star band of Switchboard alumni (Jordan Glenn, Matt Ingalls, MaryClare Brzytwa, Kyle Bruckmann, Aaron Novik, and more) to perform his album of songs inspired by San Francisco.
3:45 - Tonal Masher
Aram Shelton’s solo project for saxophone and electronics re-arranges and re-uses the sounds of his 1937 Conn alto saxophone to create layered sound works using samples of the sounds his mouthpiece-less horn makes.
4:15 - Religious Girls
Three multi-instrumentalists with backgrounds from metal to noise to math punk to pop layer rhythms and harmony in experimental song structures, woven together into a seamless set.
5:00 - Alisa Rose
Bluegrass fiddler Alisa Rose, of the Real Vocal String Quartet, performs her original Solo Caprices and Pizzicato Pieces.
5:30 - Del Sol String Quartet
The Del Sol String Quartet will perform music for quartet and electronics by Mason Bates, and selections from Daniel Wohl’s new quartet Holographic, which NPR says “quietly erases the line between electronic and acoustic music, while potentially appealing to many curious ears, from fans of Aphex Twin to followers of new chamber music.”
6:15 - Grab It
Jacob TV’s Grab It is an exploration of the gap between language and music. Grab It uses voice samples from prisoners serving life sentences. At Switchboard, the piece will be performed by The Living Earth Show and Ryan Brown.
6:45 - O+O+
Visiting from New York, Switchboard regular Aaron Novik will perform a new set of music inspired by the question “Does all music that swings need to be jazz?” Using an austere compositional approach of only two chords, the effects owe more than a slight nod to minimalism, but the use of fiercely independent and conflicting lines creates an atmosphere more reminiscent of Dixieland.
7:30 - San Francisco Girls Chorus
Winner of five Grammy awards, the SF Girls Chorus is comprised of 250+ girls ages 7-18 and will perform music by Artistic Director Lisa Bielawa and will be joined at Switchboard by a visiting Norwegian choir.
8:15 - Tyondai Braxton
Headliner Tyondai Braxton, former front man of experimental rock band Battles, has been commissioned to write pieces for ensembles such as The Bang on a Can All Stars, Kronos Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, and Brooklyn Rider. In 2012, Braxton collaborated with legendary composer Philip Glass – performing as a duo for the festival series All Tomorrow’sParties, as well as remixing Glass’ work for the REWORK remix album. At the 2016 Switchboard Music Festival, Braxton will perform HIVE, a multimedia piece that is part sound installation/part live performance. HIVE was premiered at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and also performed at Sacrum Profanum Festival in Krakow, as part of the Nonesuch Records’ 50th Anniversary celebration at The Barbican in London, and at Sydney Opera House.