The revival of the American Mavericks Festival, which will get under way at the beginning of next month, will be the most extended event of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) Centennial Season, particularly since, after two weeks of concerts at Davies Symphony Hall, SFS and Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), will take the Festival on a three-city tour to Chicago, Illinois, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and New York, New York. This is very much a major labor of love on MTT’s part, pursuing an adventurous spirit that I personally first encountered when he was Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It is also a celebration of the “maverick” reputation of musical life in San Francisco, which, as I like to continue to remind readers, can be traced back to the Depression years during which Lou Harrison, Henry Cowell, and John Cage were all active in our City.
So much will be happening in Davies during this Festival that I feel it necessary to stick to the basic nuts-and-bolts of which programs will be offered on which dates and with which artists. As a point of terminology, however, I wish to draw the distinction between those events that list the SFS and those that refer only to “members,” since the latter will involve performances of chamber music. (MTT will not be conducting performances of chamber music except in cases where the complexity of the score requires a facilitating conductor.) Here is the basic schedule, with hyperlinks to the specific event pages:
Thursday, March 8, and Friday, March 9, at 8 PM
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Paul Jacobs organ
San Francisco Symphony
Copland Orchestral Variations
Harrison Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra
Ives (orch. Brant) A Concord Symphony
Saturday, March 10, and Wednesday, March 14, at 8 PM
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Joan La Barbara vocalist
Meredith Monk vocalist
Jessye Norman soprano
Jeremy Denk piano
San Francisco Symphony
Yuval Sharon, stage director
Foss Phorion
Cowell Piano Concerto
Cage selections from Song Books
Ruggles Sun-treader
Joan La Barbara vocalist
Jeremy Denk piano
PARTCH
Members of the San Francisco Symphony
Cowell Selections for Solo Piano
Terry Riley G Song for String Quartet
Morton Subotnick Jacob’s Room: Monodrama (2012) (World Premiere; San Francisco Symphony Commission)
Partch Sextet from Castor and Pollux, San Francisco, The Letter, By the Rivers of Babylon, Barstow
Thursday, March 15, Friday, March 16, and Saturday, March 17, at 8 PM
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Emanuel Axpiano
Paul Jacobs organ
Mason Bates electronica
St. Lawrence String Quartet Geoff Nuttall and Scott St. John, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; Christopher Costanza, cello
San Francisco Symphony Chorus Ragnar Bohlin, director
San Francisco Symphony
Mason Bates Mass Transmission (San Francisco Symphony commission; world premiere)
John Adams Absolute Jest (San Francisco Symphony & Carnegie Hall co-commission; world premiere)
Feldman Piano and Orchestra
Varèse Amériques
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Kiera Duffy soprano
Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble vocalists
Jeremy Denk piano
Members of the San Francisco Symphony
Meredith Monk New Work (World Premiere; San Francisco Symphony commission)
Steve Reich Music for Pieces of Wood
Foss Echoi
David Del Tredici Syzygy
Note that each of these concerts has its own set of related events, all of which are summarized on their respective event pages. Also, there will be some variation in ticket prices for the different events. As usual, the event pages will provide specific information about tickets.
However, there will also be a special Mavericks Pass, which buys entrance to any or all Mavericks concerts for a “flat rate” of $100 and includes two bonus items: a hybrid SACD copy of the new SFS recording of John Adams’s Harmonielehre and Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Copland and the American Sound, a Keeping Score DVD in which MTT and SFS musicians pay tribute to an American musical icon. Mavericks Passes are available by calling (415) 864-6000 or visiting the Box Office at Davies Symphony Hall and are not available online.
Each Mavericks Pass is good for one ticket to the concerts held at Davies Symphony Hall on March 8, 9, 10 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. Patrons will be asked to present their Mavericks Passes at the Box Office to redeem them, or to have the Pass available when they call to redeem by phone. The Mavericks Pass is redeemable for any seat in the house, subject to availability. Loge and Side Box seats will not be offered for the Mavericks Pass. Seats can be claimed only by calling the Box Office or in person at Davies Symphony Hall, not online. The suggested redemption time for Mavericks Passes is 24 hours in advance of each concert.
For those seeking further information, American Mavericks has its own Web site, which includes a hyperlink to the PDF version of the Mavericks Book prepared for the occasion.
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