WEST
OAKLAND
SOUND
SERIES
 

UPCOMING

 

SUN APRIL 26 - MONICA SCOTT: HOMMAGES TO JANÁČEK AND KURTÀG

SUN MAY 10 - MICHAEL SCHUMACHER (NYC) / ANNA HOLMER + JEFF SCHWARTZ (LA)

SUN MAY 17 - NEIL ROLNICK (NYC) / DAN PLONSEY SCHEME (EC)

SUN MAY 24 - XOPHER DAVIDSON / DIANE GRUBBE + MEERENAI SHIM

SUN MAY 31 - SFSOUND: POLANSKY, SATIE + CLAIR, DAMBLY, INGALLS

a weekly new music and experimental sound series every sunday
presented by new performance traditions and sfSound

 

dresher ensemble studio :: 2201 poplar street, oakland california

ample parking! please park perpendicular when past the trees on poplar
$10-$25 sliding scale (cash & venmo accepted at door - order advance here)
 

concerts start promptly at 7:15
:: late arrivals follow instructions on door to get buzzed in ::

 

submit a proposal to perform!

 

view previous concerts

APRIL 26 2026  7:15pm

HOMMAGES TO JANÁČEK AND KURTÀG
MONICA SCOTT + KATE STENBERG + LINDA GREEN + HADLEY MCCARROLL + KYMRY ESAINKO

Subtle colors, quiet nuances and intense communication - György Kurtág and Leos Janáček's music for pianos and strings will draw you into a magical world where every sound, every gesture conjures up memories or heightens awareness of the present.

 

Cellist and composer MONICA SCOTT has transcribed Janáček's piano work The Overgrown Path for violin, viola and cello, inspired by the unique way the composer transforms melodies through harmonic experimentation, and how he treats rhythms drawn from speech patterns and nature. Interspersed with the 10 short pieces in that series, are György Kurtág's exquisite miniatures Signs, Games and Messages - in versions for piano four hands, two pianos and string trio.


The trio is: violinist KATE STENBERG, who has appeared numerous times at the Dresher Studio, most recently in a commission by Pamela Z, alongside Sarah Cahill; violist LINDA GREEN, whose career spans teaching music in OUSD, performing with the Oakland Symphony and many other local orchestras, and frequent chamber music collaborations throughout the Bay Area; cellist MONICA SCOTT - who is a member of sfSound, oakland reductionist orchestra and duo martha & monica - all of whom perform often at the Dresher Studios and West Oakland Sound Series. Pianist HADLEY MCCARROLL (of martha & monica and sfSound) is joined by KYMRY ESAINKO - another pianist well known to Bay Area audiences - for the works by Kurtág and his transcriptions of Machaut and Bach.


The program also includes two short works, Hommages to Janáček and Kurtàg, composed by Monica Scott.

MAY 10 2026  7:15pm

MICHAEL J. SCHUMACHER presents various “immersive/dispersive” fixed media works, composed in New Your for his portable 8 channel system and adapted for Dresher Studio's  multi-channel Meyer sound system. Utilizing a radically inclusive palette of sounds, the pieces wrap the audience in webs of potential associations, making listening as vital to the creation of meaning as the act of composing itself.

 

 

Performance and visual artist ANNA HOMLER and bassist JEFF SCHWARTZ have collaborated since 2016, working as a duo and in groups with Michael Intriere, David Javelosa, Carole Kim, Jorge Martin, Mason Moy, Charles Sharp, Breeze Smith, and Biliana Voutchkova, appearing at Beyond Baroque, Highways, Open Gate, SASSAS, Soundwaves, 2220 Arts & Archives, Vernacular, Villa Aurora, and in the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Endurance festival. Coming from diverse creative realms, they find a meeting point through their shared love of improvisation, exploring the evocative power of voice, contrabass, and unexpected sound sources.

PROPOSALS

Our focus is on the bay area experimental and new music community, hopefully encouraging crossover among sub-scenes (composition and improvisation; established and emerging; institutional and underground; etc.) We strongly suggest local musicians attend concerts before requesting to perform on the series. Visiting aritsts are also welcome, ideally splitting a concert with local musicians.

We are also seeking compositions (in all forms of notation) to be performed by the sfSoundGroup.

We have a 92-key (down to a Low F!) 1953 Imperial Bösendorfer 7’4” Model 225 Piano (no sostenuto pedal; inside/prepared is OK). The venue hosts a Meyer Sound System, drum kit, additional piano, lighting, and projection equipment.

Please send proposals to mattingalls at me dot com

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