Two exciting programs featuring the works of great literary figures as set by local composers:
Mark Alburger / Ray Christensen / Allan Crossman / Dawn Chambers / Brian Holmes / D.C. Meckler / John Partridge / Cynthia Weyuker
| Part A | Part B | |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, June 15, 8 pm | Friday, June 22, 8 pm | |
| Saturday, June 16, 8 pm | Sunday, June 24, 7 pm |
GOAT HALL, 400 Missouri Street @ 19th St., Potrero Hill, San Francisco 94107
These are the final events at Goat Hall before renovations take place!
Please come and celebrate with us!!
$100, table for 4 / $75, table for 3 / $50, table for 2 / $25, table for 1
Single seats $20 each available at the door.
For tickets please call (415) 289-6877 or email
Harriet@goathall.org
Goat Hall Productions is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization,
EIN 94-3288314; all donations are tax-deductible.
Updike’s Science — Words by John Updike, Music by Brian Holmes — musical settings of six poems by John Updike. The songs offer profound insights into different branches of science: thermodynamics, particle physics, chemistry, hydrodynamics, cloud physics, and biology. The songs are dedicated to various scientists, some of whom remain friendly with the composer despite being honored in this fashion. Frank Johnson, pianist; Lara Bruckmann, soprano.
Cross-Roads — Words from the Bible and Don Marquis (Archie and Mehitabel), music by John Partridge — depicts various human characters and a cat wrestling with issues of salvation, healing and the struggle between life and death in a Salvation Army Mission. John Partridge, pianist; Erin Cornelius, Lea Grant, Bianca Showalter, Lara Bruckmann, and Harriet March Page, singing characters (human and feline).
From Spinstersongs, The Unwilling Spinster’s Guide to Sleeping Alone — Words and Music by Dawn Chambers — A special dispensation is made for Dawn, who is in Boston but used to live in Palo Alto. A vocal and dramatic tour de force, featuring Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano; Meghan Dibble, mezzo-soprano.
Songs from Garcia Lorca — Words by Federico Garcia Lorca, Music by Allan Crossman — Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano; Eileen Meredith, soprano. (June 16 only)
Act 1 of Waiting for Godot — Words by Samuel Beckett, Music by Mark Alburger — an operatic parody of Beckett’s post-apocalyptic masterpiece is performed by an all-woman cast, with electronic accompaniment, augmented by Keisuke Nakagoshi, pianist. Singer/actors Meghan Dibble, Eliza O’Malley, Erin Cornelius, Janet Lohr, Lea Grant.
The Albion Deity Songbook — Words by Heinrich Heine/R. Schumann via Computer. Music by D.C. Meckler, who explains: “I created a pool of potential song texts by reading German poetry into an English-language speech dictation program. The results have only the vaguest sense of sense, but much of the rhythm, assonance and alliteration of the original is preserved. For example, the computer program transcribed the spoken word input of ‘Dichterliebe’ as ‘an actor leaves.’ Even with this computer-generated text, I became charmed by the near-sense it makes. Often unexpected meanings emerge.” Electronic recorded accompaniment; Meghan Dibble, Harriet March Page, mezzo-sopranos.
Comatose Acquaintance — Words and Music by Cynthia Weyuker — explores what can happen when a musical saw and a voice converge. Performed by Cynthia Weyuker.
The Death of the Hired Man — Words by Robert Frost; Music by Ray Christensen — an evocation of the well-known poem by Robert Frost. A lovely and lyrical opera for three voices: Jacqueline Andersen, soprano, James McGoff, baritone, Jeffrey Wang, tenor. John Partridge, pianist.
Songs from Garcia Lorca — Words by Federico Garcia Lorca, Music by Allan Crossman — Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano; Eileen Meredith, soprano. (June 24 only)
Act 2 of Waiting for Godot — Words by Samuel Beckett, Music by Mark Alburger — an operatic parody of Beckett’s post-apocalyptic masterpiece is performed by an all-woman cast, with electronic accompaniment, augmented by Keisuke Nakagoshi, pianist. Singer/actors Meghan Dibble, Eliza O’Malley, Erin Cornelius, Janet Lohr, Lea Grant.
This program is made possible in part by a grant from the
Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and individuals donors.