upcoming shows

Apr26

Echoes of Gamelan explores the influence of gamelan music on western composers, as well as how our music perception changes depending on the context. Colin McPhee’s transcriptions of Balinese ceremonial music are interwoven with pieces by Godowsky, Debussy, Holst, Crumb, and Baumbusch. The program closes with a transcription of a piece by Balinese composer Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti, originally written for Balinese shadow-puppet theater instruments.

May3

405 Shrader

405 Shrader St, San Francisco, CA 94117

Advanced reservations required. Please see presenter's website for details.

Echoes of Gamelan explores the influence of gamelan music on western composers, as well as how our music perception changes depending on the context. Colin McPhee’s transcriptions of Balinese ceremonial music are interwoven with pieces by Godowsky, Debussy, Holst, Crumb, and Baumbusch. The program closes with a transcription of a piece by Balinese composer Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti, originally written for Balinese shadow-puppet theater instruments.

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ZOFO PLAYS TERRY RILEYzofo plays terry riley

 

"...an album that seizes your attention with the very first notes"

- SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
 

"one of the finest Riley discs in a very long time"
- BUFFALO NEWS

 

ZOFO is at it again, this time with a stunning all Terry Riley album which includes original compositions, arrangements and a special commission by the duet. It is quite evident in this music that the composer and the performers were personally engaged in the making of this electrifying project. From the very beginning, Terry Riley worked in collaboration with ZOFO in the making of this album. Mr. Riley himself said: “There is nothing quite like hearing the full 8 octaves of a piano sounding in all its orchestral richness.” He certainly makes full use of the sounds of the piano in the pieces originally written for piano-four-hands, from The Heaven Ladder, Book 5, which include the varying “Cinco de Mayo,” “Jaztine,” “Waltz for Charismas,” “Tango Doble Ladiado,”and “Etude From the Old Country.” Keisuke arranged “G Song” and “Half-Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight,” which were originally composed for the Kronos Quartet, and Eva arranged “Simone’s Lullaby,” originally for solo piano. The arrangements were both challenging and fun to create, but ZOFO managed to keep the transparency and flavor of Riley’s originals while exemplifying the unique potential for four-hand piano. The “Praying Mantis Rag” was composed especially for ZOFO, and actively illustrates their vibrant character as a duet.

 

LISTEN
> Etude from the Old Country
> Jaztine
> Half-Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight
> Simone's Lullaby
> G Song
> Cinco de Mayo

PURCHASE:   Amazon   ITunes  

 

 

ZOFORBIT

zoforbit

"This is a great album, a true surround sonic spectacular, and full of superb performances that should not be missed."

- AUDIOPHILE AUDITION

 

 

Best of 2014: Classical CDs  "...scintillating, physically thrilling"

 

- THE ARTS DESK 
 

 

"...a definite high-water mark...a delight!"

 

 - GAPPLEGATE CLASSICAL-MODERN MUSIC REVIEW 

 

 

ZOFORBIT, ZOFO’s third album with Sono Luminus Records, takes the listener on an intergalactic voyage through the Milky Way, with musical visits to the planets of our solar system, to bright stars of the galaxy, and back again.

Estonian composer Urmas Sisask sets the mood with the other-worldly sounds of his composition The Milky Way, featuring innovative inside and outside the piano techniques that evoke a sense of the cosmos. The journey continues with a tour of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, and visits to the stars Alpha Centauri and Beta Cygni as musically envisioned by George Crumb in his one-piano-four-hands masterpiece Celestial Mechanics (Makrokosmos IV). The space exploration concludes with David Lang’s Gravity, which metaphorically coaxes the listener back to earth in slow-moving patterns of descending notes.

All is presented with stunning sonic clarity and color on this Pure Audio Blu-rayrelease which includes a Blu-raycopy with high resolution surround sound and stereo versions, standard CD, and digital copies via mShuttle.

 

TRACK LIST LISTEN
URMAS SISASK: The Milky Way > Urmas Sisask: The Milky Way
GUSTAV HOLST: The Planets > Gustav Holst: Jupiter
GEORGE CRUMB: Celestial Mechanics > Gustav Holst: Mars
DAVID LANG: gravity > Gustav Holst: Mercury
  > Gustav Holst: Uranus
 VIDEO TRAILER  
 VIDEO: BETA CYGNI George Crumb  
 PURCHASE:  Amazon   ITunes   HDTracks  

 

 

 

MOSH PITmosh pit zofo album

 

"...vibrant, beautifully blended playing...a suave deployment of four hands at one piano"

- SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"MOSH PIT is a slam-dunk winner"

- BLU-RAY AUDIO

"a delightful romp of an album"

- SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

Eva and Keisuke put their considerable keyboard skills to the test in this second release on the Sono Luminus Records label. The album offers an adrenalized exploration of dance themed duet compositions by six distinctly American voices of the 20th and 21st centuries - George Gershwin, Conlon Nancarrow, Allen Shawn, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano and Paul Schoenfield. The pieces featured on MOSH PIT tour a wide range of evocative dance styles and rhythms, from Gershwin's driving rhumba in Cuban Overture to Barber's sensuous Hesitation Tango to Paul Schoenfield's dizzying Boogie from Five Days from the Life of a Manic Depressive.

Drawing inspiration from classical, modern, jazz and rock and roll forms, the MOSH PIT repertoire and ZOFO's inspired interpretations might tempt you to the dance floor.
 

TRACK LIST

GEORGE GERSHWIN: Cuban Overture

CONLON NANCARROW: Sonatina

JOHN CORIGLIANO: Gazebo Dances

SAMUEL BARBER: Souvenirs

ALLEN SHAWN: Three Dance Portraits

PAUL SCHOENFIELD: Five Days from the Life of a Manic Depressive

 

LISTEN

 

> George Gershwin: Cuban Overture

 

> Allen Shawn: Hard Edged, from Three Dance Portraits

 

> John Corigliano: Waltz, from Gazebo Dances

 

> Samuel Barber: Galop, from Souvenirs

 

VIDEO TRAILER

 

VIDEO: "BOOGIE" Paul Schoenfield

 

VIDEO: "HESITATION TANGO" Samuel Barber

 

VIDEO: "THREE DANCE PORTRAITS" Allen Shawn

 

PURCHASE:  Amazon   ITunes   HDTracks

 

 

 

MIND MELD

zofo mind meld

 

2013 GRAMMY Nominee:
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

 

"Simply gorgeous."

 

- SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE

 

Released by Sono Luminus in spring 2012, MIND MELD was nominated for GRAMMY Awards in the categories of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Producer of the Year, Classical. The album continues to attract widespread positive critical attention and major airplay around the world.

MIND MELD brings together stunning duet works by four noted 20th century composers and pianists who knew each other, learned from each other, and sometimes shared the bench.
 

 

LISTEN  
> Leonard Bernstein: Candide Overture  
> Harold Shapero: Sonata for Piano Four Hands mvt III  
> Claude Debussy: Six Epigraphes Antiques, Pour la Danseuse aux Crotales  
> Igor Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Jeu du Rapt  
   
 VIDEO TRAILER  
 PURCHASE:  Amazon   ITunes    

 

 

 

DIGITAL SPLIT EPzofo del sol split ep

Only a download away, Sono Luminus' first Digital Only EP showcases ZOFO and the dynamic Del Sol String Quartet. This split EP features three world premiere recordings and is ready on demand.

The EP starts with a combined piece by composer Kui Dong, blending the two ensembles with an exciting mix of piano-four-hands, string quartet, and two toy pianos.

 

The second and third pieces on the album are two movements from Mason Bates' work Bagatelles for Amplified String Quartet and Electronica, a piece made possible by the Chamber Music America commissioning program. Del Sol gave the piece's world premiere at the 2012 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California.

 

Finally, ZOFO blazes through the piece Vaporize by composer Joe Duddell.
 

DOWNLOAD