The Music Department at the University of California Santa Cruz ~ Fridays at 4

This concert features two world premieres: Larry Polansky’s (composer/guitarist) ~ five songs for kate and vanessa for violin and cello and Henry Cowell’s ~ At First for solo violin. Other works on the program will include Mark Applebaum’s Aphasia, Salina Fisher’s Komorebi for violin and vibraphone, Larry Polansky’s 34 Chords (Christian Wolff in Hanover and Royalton) and Terry Longshore’s Crash.

Performers: Larry Polansky guitar, Kate Stenberg violin, Vanessa Ruotolo cello, Amy Beal piano, Terry Longshore percussion.

About the premieres:

five songs for kate and vanessa…  is a recent major piece written especially for Kate Stenberg and Vanessa Ruotolo that includes piano in a few movements, and whose five component songs are based on works by Ruth Crawford Seeger, Froberger, and one of my own rounds.
—Larry Polansky

The American composer Henry Dixon Cowell (1897-1965) was a very close personal friend of violinist Anahid Ajemian and her husband, renowned record producer George Avakian. Very often after performances in 1950s Manhattan, they would enjoy receptions for musicians at one or another’s home. So it was entirely natural that in 1953 when the famed violinist gave birth to a girl Maro, named after her pianist sister, that Anahid Ajemian Avakian would be pleasantly surprised by the gift of a musical manuscript from one of America’s most prolific composers. 

The score of At First hung for decades framed behind glass in the Avakian household, and a copy was made for research purposes for Kate Stenberg. Although Ms. Ajemian did not think it suitable for public performance, the music fits into a category of occasional dedicatory pieces with a long history of later being published and played as an indication of respect for the composer’s facility and invention, condensed into the shortest possible unit. Examples are Printemps, by George Antheil, written for violinist Olga Rudge, and numerous short pieces published in periodicals in Europe as homages. 

Cowell’s understanding of, and devotion to, folk tradition is evident in this miniature gem of fiddle music. 
—Charles Amirkhanian

More information here

This concert features two world premieres: Larry Polansky’s (composer/guitarist) ~ five songs for kate and vanessa for violin and cello and Henry Cowell’s ~ At First for solo violin. Other works on the program will include Mark Applebaum’s Aphasia, Salina Fisher’s Komorebi for violin and vibraphone, Larry Polansky’s 34 Chords (Christian Wolff in Hanover and Royalton) and Terry Longshore’s Crash.

Performers: Larry Polansky guitar, Kate Stenberg violin, Vanessa Ruotolo cello, Amy Beal piano, Terry Longshore percussion.

About the premieres:

five songs for kate and vanessa…  is a recent major piece written especially for Kate Stenberg and Vanessa Ruotolo that includes piano in a few movements, and whose five component songs are based on works by Ruth Crawford Seeger, Froberger, and one of my own rounds.
—Larry Polansky

The American composer Henry Dixon Cowell (1897-1965) was a very close personal friend of violinist Anahid Ajemian and her husband, renowned record producer George Avakian. Very often after performances in 1950s Manhattan, they would enjoy receptions for musicians at one or another’s home. So it was entirely natural that in 1953 when the famed violinist gave birth to a girl Maro, named after her pianist sister, that Anahid Ajemian Avakian would be pleasantly surprised by the gift of a musical manuscript from one of America’s most prolific composers. 

The score of At First hung for decades framed behind glass in the Avakian household, and a copy was made for research purposes for Kate Stenberg. Although Ms. Ajemian did not think it suitable for public performance, the music fits into a category of occasional dedicatory pieces with a long history of later being published and played as an indication of respect for the composer’s facility and invention, condensed into the shortest possible unit. Examples are Printemps, by George Antheil, written for violinist Olga Rudge, and numerous short pieces published in periodicals in Europe as homages. 

Cowell’s understanding of, and devotion to, folk tradition is evident in this miniature gem of fiddle music. 
—Charles Amirkhanian

Center for New Music

Kate Stenberg joins with the Mills Performing Group celebrating Anthony Braxton’s 75th Birthday.

Program:
Composition No. 1 for solo piano - Brett Carson, piano
Composition No. 63 for chamber orchestra
Ben Goldberg: clarinet (soloist 1), Andy Strain: trombone (soloist 2), Tod Brody: flute,
Mitch Stahlman: flute, Jesse Barrett: oboe, Sophie Huet: clarinet, Karla Ekholm: bassoon,
Hall Goff: trombone, Hrabba Atladottir: violin, Kate Stenberg: violin, Ellen Ruth Rose: viola, Crystal Pascucci: cello, Richard Worn: contrabass, Jennifer Ellis: harp, William Winant: percussion, Scott Siler: percussion, Steed Cowart: conductor

Composition No. 247
Kyle Bruckmann: oboe, James Fei: saxophone, Matt Welch: bagpipes

 $15 general, $10 seniors and students
Tickets available at the door, or buy in advance online at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/anthony-braxton-75th-birthday-celebration-mills-performing-group-tickets-69960039361

Music Building Littlefield Concert Hall 202
Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall, Music Building, Mills College

Anthony Braxton (born 1945), the Chicago-born composer and multi-instrumentalist, is recognized as one of the most important musicians, educators, and creative thinkers of the past 50 years. He is highly esteemed in the experimental music community for the revolutionary quality of his work and for the mentorship and inspiration he has provided to generations of younger musicians. Drawing upon a disparate mix of influences from John Coltrane to Karlheinz Stockhausen, Braxton has created a unique musical system that celebrates the concept of global creativity and our shared humanity. His work examines core principles of improvisation, structural navigation and ritual engagement - innovation, spirituality, and intellectual investigation.

From his early work as a pioneering solo performer in the late 1960s through to his eclectic experiments on Arista Records in the 1970s, his landmark quartet of the 1980s, and more recent endeavors, such as his cycle of Trillium operas and the day-long, installation-based Sonic Genome Project, his vast body of work is unparalleled. His small ensembles of the 1970s through to the present day are considered among the most innovative groups of their respective eras, while his Creative Orchestra Music has brought together the varying streams of American jazz orchestras, marching bands, and experimental practices with the traditions of European concert music in a wholly individual compositional voice. His continuing and evolving current systems of the past 15 years, including Ghost Trance Music, Diamond Curtain Wall Music, Falling River Music, Echo Echo Mirror House Music, and ZIM Music, have served as the artistic incubators for some of the most exciting artists of the current generation. Braxton’s many awards include a 1981 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 1994 MacArthur Fellowship, a 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a 2014 NEA Jazz Master Award, and honorary doctorates from Université de Liège (Belgium) and New England Conservatory (USA).

More information here

The SoMa Piano Trio, made up of pianist Lisa Maresch, violinist Kate Stenberg and cellist Mary Artmann, blends together their love of music and nature for this special benefit concert supporting the non-profit organization Napa Climate NOW!. The program features works by Astor Piazzolla, Beethoven, Henry Cowell, Brahms and Rebecca Clark.

Napa Methodist Church ● 625 Randolph Street ● Napa, CA 94559
Tickets $25 general $10 students: Available here or Brown Paper Tickets
Refreshments served at intermission

Napa Climate NOW! 350 Bay Area (350 Bay Area is a tax-exempt, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization and your donations are tax-deductible. Tax id number: 47-2407547)

Berkeley Chamber Performances will present the Stenberg|Cahill Duo
Monday, November 11th @ 10:30 AM.

Lake Park Senior Residence
1850 Alice Street
Oakland CA

A private house concert in San Francisco’s Mission District featuring the newly formed SoMa Trio performing works by Brahms, Cowell, Beethoven and Piazzolla. Contact Kate Stenberg for details.

The Stenberg|Cahill Duo perform at Berkeley Chamber Performances at the beautiful Berkeley City Club.

Henry Cowell: Sonata for Violin and Piano, 1945
Lou Harrison: Grand Duo
Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, Opus 100 in A Major
Claude Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano

Located in the second floor Ballroom of Julia Morgan's 
Berkeley City Club,
2315 Durant Avenue,
Berkeley.

For information call the Berkeley City Club at (510) 848-7800 or visit:
https://berkeleychamberperform.org/season/2019-2020/stenberg-cahill-duo

Experience the vitality of Bay Area music making in all its forms at SF Music Day, the Bay Area’s free daylong music festival in downtown San Francisco, presented by InterMusic SF. From chamber music to jazz, contemporary works to global traditions—the 12th annual SF Music Day brings together virtuoso musicians from across the Bay.

The 2019 edition’s theme, Rebels & Renegades invites each group to highlight musical innovators and visionaries in their repertoire—from any era or genre.

The Stenberg|Cahill Duo will play in Herbst Theater from 1:30-2:00.

FREE

More information here

Experience the vitality of Bay Area music making in all its forms at SF Music Day, the Bay Area’s free daylong music festival in downtown San Francisco, presented by InterMusic SF. From chamber music to jazz, contemporary works to global traditions—the 12th annual SF Music Day brings together virtuoso musicians from across the Bay.

The 2019 edition’s theme, Rebels & Renegades invites each group to highlight musical innovators and visionaries in their repertoire—from any era or genre.

The Stenberg|Cahill Duo will play in Herbst Theater from 1:30-2:00.

FREE

More information here

Garden of Memory - a columbarium walk-through event at the Chapel of the Chimes - is held every June 21st to celebrate the solstice at The Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, California. 

Kate Stenberg teams up with violinist/improvisor Irene Sazer for an evening of improvisation and fun. Join them in the Palm Room between 5:00 - 9:00 PM.

For information and tickets:
https://www.gardenofmemory.com

Kate Stenberg joins with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble for the world premiere of the completed version of Laura Schwendinger’s Opera ~ Artemisia

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

more information here

Kate Stenberg joins with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble for the world premiere of the completed version of Laura Schwendinger’s Opera ~ Artemisia

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

more information here

Join the marvelous mezzo-soprano Silvie Jensen along with Kate Stenberg at the Throckmorton Theater for a free noon-time concert in downtown Mill Valley.

The program includes a newly revised work by D’Arcy Reynolds along with other pieces by Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Mazdak Khamda and Joni Mitchell’s Fiddle and the Drum arranged by Kate Stenberg.

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 @ Noon
Throckmorton Theatre
142 Throckmorton Ave
Mill Valley, CA 94941

More info here

April 12, 2019

Kate Stenberg will perform the world premiere of The Hyperbolic Variations for Violin and Disklavier by David Evan Jones.

Presented by:  University of California Santa Cruz Music Center
Recital Hall, Music Center (UCSC)

Recent music by UCSC faculty composers David Cope, Chris Pratorius Gómez, David Evan Jones, Hi Kyung Kim, and others. Plus William Coulter’s arrangement of “Sinister Resonance,” a 1930 composition by Henry Cowell, and professor Larry Polansky’s arrangement of “Sacco, Vanzetti,” a 1932 composition by Ruth Crawford Seeger.

This concert is part of the April in Santa Cruz Contemporary Music Festival. Sponsors: Trevor Coates, the Vincent J. Coates Foundation, Porter College (UCSC), Music Department (UCSC), Arts Division (UCSC).

*     *     *     *     *
FREE and open to the public.
Parking $5

More info here

Metamorphoses
Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble
including music composed by Kate Stenberg

March 22 & 23, 2019, 8:00 pm
Cubberley Theatre, Palo Alto

“The program addresses two questions: "What happens when you set the same dance to various scores?" and "How do different choreographers respond to a single piece of music?"  Featuring the work of five guest choreographers (plus me, of course) and six commissioned composers (plus my old friend Beethoven), this show should satisfy intellectual curiosity as well as your aesthetic sense, as each theme goes through permutations from bold and colourful to thoughtful and introspective.” N. Carlitz

Metamorphoses
Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble
including music composed by Kate Stenberg

March 22 & 23, 2019, 8:00 pm
Cubberley Theatre, Palo Alto

“The program addresses two questions: "What happens when you set the same dance to various scores?" and "How do different choreographers respond to a single piece of music?"  Featuring the work of five guest choreographers (plus me, of course) and six commissioned composers (plus my old friend Beethoven), this show should satisfy intellectual curiosity as well as your aesthetic sense, as each theme goes through permutations from bold and colourful to thoughtful and introspective.” N. Carlitz

This concert has been postponed! Please stay tuned for new date!

Composed and performed while he was a prisoner of war in 1941, Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time seems to touch the distant depths of our human experience. Kate Stenberg violin, Sarah Cahill piano, Jennifer Kloetzel cello and Peter Josheff clarinet, come together to celebrate this remarkable masterpiece along with several other works including the world premiere of Elena Ruehr’s Cello Sonata, Kaija Saariaho’s violin and piano duo Tocar, and Gabriella Smith’s quartet - Down the Foggy Ruins of Time. 

for more information

This concert has been postponed! Please stay tuned for new date!

Composed and performed while he was a prisoner of war in 1941, Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time seems to touch the distant depths of our human experience. Kate Stenberg violin, Sarah Cahill piano, Jennifer Kloetzel cello and Peter Josheff clarinet, come together to celebrate this remarkable masterpiece along with several other works including the world premiere of Elena Ruehr’s Cello Sonata, Kaija Saariaho’s violin and piano duo Tocar, and Gabriella Smith’s quartet - Down the Foggy Ruins of Time. 

for more information

Amy Williams, pianist/composer
with The Stenberg|Cahill Duo - violin and piano
Saturday, February 23, 2019 • 8pm
Meng Concert Hall

with CSUF faculty composer/pianists Pamela Madsen and Eric Dries: MaD DuO.
Works for solo piano, violin and piano duo, and four pianos, and violin

Tickets: $10 / $8  Titan price
All orders subject to a $3 handling fee 
Tickets 

Amy Williams: Switch (USA)
Amy Williams: Cineshape (USA) 
Amy Williams: Falling 
Some Sonatas and New Interludes by: John Cage, Joann Cho, Nomi Epstein, Jonathon Kirk, Jay Alan Yim, Robert Reinhart, Jeffrey Weeter

Kate Stenberg, violin and Sarah Cahill, piano
Kaija Saariaho Tocar  
Pamela Madsen Polonium for duo and video by Quintan Ana Wikswo
Gabriela Lena Frank Sueños de Chambi: Snapshots for an Andean Album
Aaron Gervais’ piece “Talking in Circles” is for up to 5 players - 4 pianos and violin: Amy Williams, Kate Stenberg, Sarah Cahill and Pamela Madsen and Eric Dries
Pamela Madsen: There Will Be Stars/There Will Be Rest 

More information

Composer-Performer Symposium
Guest Artists, Lecture/Demos
Saturday, February 23, 2019 • 10am-6pm Recital Hall - Free admission

12pm Mari Kimura, violinist/electronics
1:30pm Amy Williams, Pianist/Composer

3pm Kate Stenberg, violin, Sarah Cahill, piano 

Lecture Demo on February Snapshots for an Andean Album 
Violinist Kate Stenberg and pianist Sarah Cahill will explore Gabriela Lena Frank’s work Sueños de Chambi: Snapshots for an Andean Album. A selection of mesmerizing photographs by Martin Chambi that depict facets of Peruvian life was the inspiration for Frank to compose this compelling work.

4:30-6pm Panel Discussion-festival guest artists

More information

Friday, February 8, 2019 at 7:30pm
Zion Lutheran Church | 495 9th Avenue | San Francisco, CA
Tickets: ($15 general, $25 family) and more information available at www.BenefitConcertsAtZion.com 

San Francisco, CA – On Friday, February 8, 2019 at 7:30pm the Stenberg | Cahill Duo will perform a Benefit Concert at Zion Lutheran Church (495 9th Avenue). Presented in partnership with Interfaith Refugee Welcome, all proceeds from ticket sales and donations will go directly to Dirty Girls of Lesvos, an on-the-ground NGO that has pioneered the cleaning and redistribution of used and discarded clothing, bedding, and other materials for humanitarian relief. At the performance, founder Alison Terry-Evans will share the powerful story of Dirty Girls’ work in the refugee camps of Lesvos and on mainland Greece.

The duo presents 20th- and 21st-cenutry works including Gabriela Lena Frank’s Suenos de Chambi (Snapshots for an Andean Album), Kaija Saariaho’s Tocar, Linda Catlin Smith’s With Their Shadows Long, Henry Cowell’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, and Grażyna Bacewicz’ Stained Glass Window and Melodia. Their program also includes Aaron Gervais’ Talking in Circles, commissioned by the Stenberg | Cahill Duo through InterMusic SF's Musical Grant Program. While this performance is for violin with live electronics and piano, Talking in Circles is a flexible piece which can be performed by solo violin with electronics or a variable ensemble of 1-5 instruments. 

Benefit Concerts at Zion presents century-spanning music for classical instruments in partnership with Interfaith Refugee Welcome, an interfaith group of San Francisco Bay Area congregations. The congregations work together to  help refugees find safety, welcome, freedom and independence; partner with refugee resettlement agencies so they can do more for refugees; and engage our congregations and communities to provide awareness, advocacy, direct service, and financial support. For more information, visit their Facebook page. 

For more information about Dirty Girls of Lesvos, visit: www.dirtygirlsoflesvos.com

Details soon!