2018 Composition Contest Winner

Charles Peck's piano quartet  Sunburst is the winner of the 2018 Left Coast Composition Contest. Left Coast will perform the piece in the 2018-19 season. Charles currently teaches at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and is a doctoral candidate at Cornell University. Find out more about Charles at his website.

Peck describes his work as a two-movement work that explores the energy in sunlight. The first movement, titled Reflect, focuses on the frenetic, scattered motion of light waves. The music contains only a few short gestures, but it jumps to and between them at speed, as if it were following a ray of light over contrasting surfaces. Each gesture is imbued with that same, active motion, exemplified by the use of extreme ranges in the piano and tightly interlocked rhythms in the ensemble. Contrarily, the patient second movement, titled Absorb, acts as a solar-powered circuit. The music begins in the low register and breathes slowly while the circuit receives and stores energy. As the power accumulates, the electricity begins to hum, an effect that is personified by drones in the violin and viola. Finally, after flickering on and off, the movement climaxes with a powerful release of energy, followed by a steady, sequential descent in register as the circuit runs out of power.

2018-19 Season Announced!

Entering our 26th year of celebrating chamber music's past, present, and future, we're still marrying world premieres with old favorites and shining a deserved light on rare works from many eras.

Left Coast is thrilled to invite you to our 26th season. Season tickets are on sale now.

Set 1: Singing the Gamut

From John Deak's tongue-in-cheek Big Bad Wolf to arias from Bellini, Bachelet, and others, this program explores music that amplifies human emotions. Other works include Mario Davidovsky’s Festino, capturing the fun of the party, and Sheila Silver’s tender song cycle, On Loving.

Jon Deak BB Wolf for Double Bass
Mario Davidovksy Festino for Guitar, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass
Jonathan Favero New Work for Guitar, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass WORLD PREMIERE
Benjamin Britten Songs from the Chinese for Guitar and Voice
Sheila Silver On Loving
Olly Wilson Wry Fragments
Vincenzo Bellini Oh quante volte
Alfred Bachelet Chère nuit

Berkeley
Saturday, October 6, 2018, 7:30pm
The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley 

San Francisco
Monday, October 8, 2018, 7:30pm
SF Conservatory Recital Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco

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Set 2: Volti + Left Coast Premieres    

Left Coast joins forces with acclaimed vocal ensemble Volti for three premieres, including Gregory Spears’ setting of texts by Thomas Merton and others. New works from Laurie San Martin and Addie Camsuzou feature the notable oboists Andrea Plesnarski and Tom Nugent.  

Benjamin Britten Phantasy Quartet, op.2
Addie Camsuzou New Work for Oboes and Strings WORLD PREMIERE
Laurie San Martin New Work for Vocal Ensemble and Two Oboes WORLD PREMIERE
Gregory Spears New Work for Vocal Ensemble and String Quartet WORLD PREMIERE

Berkeley
Sunday, November 18, 2018, 7:30pm
The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley

San Francisco
Monday, November 19, 2018, 7:3pm
SF Conservatory Concert Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco

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Set 3: The Sound of Nature    

Left Coast presents works celebrating the natural world, including Evan Hause’s Fields, and George Crumb’s A Dog’s Life. And for the premiere of a concerto by Clarice Assad for two cellos, percussion, and flute, Left Coast is joined by a cello choir. Assad’s The Lumerians concerns water, climate change and the natural world.

Heinrich Biber Sonata Representativa in A Major
George Crumb Mundus Canis for Guitar and Percussion
Evan Hause Fields for Marimba
Kurt Rohde credo petrified for Two Cellos
Clarice Assad The Lumerians for Flute, Two Cellos, Percussion, and Cello Choir WORLD PREMIERE

San Francisco
Monday, January 14, 2019, 7:30pm
SF Conservatory Recital Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco

Berkeley
Saturday, January 19, 2019, 7:30pm
Hertz Hall, University of California – Berkeley

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Set 4: Bay Area Spotlight 

The rich middle voices of Jerome Simas' clarinet and Kurt Rohde's viola shine in new works by David Conte, Tina Tallon, Ellainie Lillios, and Peter Van Zandt Lane. Rebecca Clarke's luminous masterpiece, the Viola Sonata from 1921, completes the program.

Rebecca Clarke Sonata for Viola and Piano
Tina Tallon New Work for Viola and Electronics WORLD PREMIERE
Elainie Lillios New Work for Viola and Electronics WORLD PREMIERE
Peter Van Zandt Lane New Work for Viola and Electronics WORLD PREMIERE
David Conte Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

Berkeley
Sunday, March 3, 2019, 7:30pm
The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley

San Francisco
Monday, March 4, 2019, 7:30pm
SF Conservatory Recital Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco

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Set 5: Dorothea & Artemisia

We focus on the art and milieu of Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi and Depression Era photographer Dorothea Lange, in two chamber operas with projected images that come to life. Laura Schwendinger’s new opera tackles Gentileschi’s struggles and triumphs as she battles inequality and reveals hidden stories. Christopher Stark’s micro opera explores the lives of migrants fleeing the Dust Bowl.

Christopher Stark From the Field WORLD PREMIERE
Laura Schwendinger Artemisia WORLD PREMIERE

San Francisco
Saturday, June 1, 2019, 7:30pm Z Space, 450 Florida Street, San Francisco
Sunday, June 2, 2019, 2:00pm Z Space, 450 Florida Street, San Francisco

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Spring Residency at the Doug Adams CARe Gallery!

Left Coast will be the Ensemble-in-Residence for Spring 2019, offering open rehearsals, live performances, composer Q&As, classes on The Art of Listening, and a storytelling concert with Susan Strauss.

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25th Anniversary Gala!

You are invited to join us Sunday, September 24, 2017 at 6:00pm at the Swedenborgian Church (2107 Lyon St.) in San Francisco. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, featuring Jerome Simas, will be performed by Left Coast in the intimate and warm acoustic of Bernard Maybeck's unique church design. 

Wine and dessert will be provided. Valet parking will be available.

Minimum donation of $150 per person. You may DONATE NOW online or in person at the door (checks preferred at door).