Season 6 (2023-2024)

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20th Concert Celebration

May 5, 2024, 7pm
Somerville Music Spaces
1060 Broadway C101B, Somerville, MA
$25

For our 20th concert, we are playing some of the most interesting and loveliest music we’ve ever programmed. We really don’t want to spoil any of the surprises we have in store for you, but we promise it will be an unforgettable night!

D Edward Davis – for philip von zweck
Morton Feldman – Viola in My Life 1
Night Airs – Angela Elizabeth Slater
Pynes – James Romig
Still Tension – Andrew Hannon
Inlets – John Cage

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Past Concerts

Season 6 (2023-2024)

Ecstatic Visions

Saturday, November 4, 7:00 pm
First Parish Watertown

35 Church Street
Watertown, MA 02472
$25 (cash or check made out to Sonic Liberation Players)

Our first official concert of the season features some thrilling works by not only veteran contemporary classical music composers but also several amazing newer composers to the scene.

Terry Riley – The Ecstasy
Diana Cemeryte – Silhouetten, Schatten, Vision
Reena Esmail – Trasveer
Niloufar Nourbakhsh – White Helmets, White as Death  
Cecilia Livingston – Hyacinth

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House Concert–Fundraiser

Friday, December 1, 7:00 pm
Private Home

Concord, MA
$50 suggested donation (cash or check made out to Sonic Liberation Players)

We are starting our sixth full season with a house concert/fundraiser at a beautiful home overlooking the Sudbury River. We will be performing music by Reena Esmail, Anthony R. Green, Jordan Nobles, John Cage, Peter Garland, and more!

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A Family Concert

February 4, 2024, 4:00 pm
Bemis Hall

15 Bedford Road
Lincoln, MA 01773
$25 (cash or check made out to Sonic Liberation Players)–children 6 and under free

SLP is excited to be doing something new for us–an all ages concert! The music being performed will delight and amuse all, including world premieres by two SLP members.

John Cage – Living Room Music
Trevor Berens – Duck and Kangaroo
Joshua Jade – An Unprepared Sonata for SLP on 2/4/24
Pauline Oliveros – Wind Horse
Tom Johnson – Narayana’s Cows
James Tenney – A Rose is a Rose is a Round

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Season 5 (2022-2023)

Rothko Chapel

Saturday, November 5 2022, 7:30 pm
Church of the Covenant

67 Newbury St
Boston, MA 02116
$10 – $35 Buy Tickets

In a first for SLP, we are collaborating with Chorus Pro Musica to present this concert featuring Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel, together with choral works by Abbie Betinis, Dominick DiOrio, and Jocelyn Hagen.

Program:

Lighter Motives – Anthony R. Green for flute, violin, vibes, piano
Misericordias Domini, K. 222 – W.A. Mozart for Chorus and Orchestra
Ophelia – Jocelyn Hagen (a capella)
All is – Dominick DiOrio for chorus, viola, piano, & mezzo soprano
Cedit, Hyems – Abbie Betinis for chorus with flute solo
Rothko Chapel – Morton Feldman for chorus with viola, percussion, and celesta

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Parable

Saturday, April 1, 2023, 7:30 pm, Bemis Hall
15 Bedford Road, Lincoln, MA

Sonic Liberation Players finish their current concert season with an absolute feast for the ears. The music presented includes: Boston composer Marti Epstein’s “See, Even Night” (with guest clarinetist, Yhasmin Valenzuela-Blanchard), John Luther Adams’ “Red Arc/Blue Veil” for percussion and piano, John Cage’s “Litany for the Whale” (with guest vocalist, Maya Bloom), and Alvin Lucier’s “Love Song” for two violinists.

Love Song — Alvin Lucier
Litany for the Whale — John Cage
See, Even Night — Marti Epstein
Red Arc/Blue Veil — John Luther Adams

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Season #4a (2019-2020)

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Season #4b (2021-2022)

“(Re)opening”

Sunday, May 1, 2022, 3:30pm; First Parish of Sudbury

327 Concord Road
Sudbury, MA 01776
Free and open to the public

SLP is producing its first concert since the lockdown of 2022! We are thrilled to be performing open scored pieces by Pauline Oliveros, Thomas Albert, and Jordan Nobles–meditations on the fragile nature of this planet, on grace, and on making music with one another once again. We will also have be performing music by Lou Harrison, Lera Auerbach, Reena Esmail, and our very own Trevor Berens.

Program

On a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam–Jordan Nobles
Buffalo Jam–Pauline Oliveros
A Maze (with Grace)–Tom Albert
Selected Preludes for Violin and Piano–Lera Auerbach
Ariadne–Lou Harrison
Nadiya–Reena Esmail
Drumlin Sunset–Trevor Berens

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Season #3 (2018-2019)

“Within my Garden, rides a Bird…”

November 17, 2018, 8pm; Third Life Studio, Somerville, MA
November 18, 2018, 7:30pm; Bemis Hall, Lincoln, MA

Last season, SLP performed two world premieres, including a commission, a U.S. premiere, and five Boston premieres. In this first concert of our third season, we present two more Boston premieres, “Nachtlied” and “Dreamgarden”. The exquisite selections in this concert is inspired in equal parts by gardens, birds, and music.

Third Life Studio
33 Union Square, Somerville, MA
$15 tickets at the door, or through Brown Paper Tickets

Bemis Hall
15 Bedford Road, Lincoln, MA
$15 tickets at the door

Program

Nachtlied–Sean Harold
Canticle of the Birds–John Luther Adams
Ryoanji–John Cage
Birds in Warped Time 2–Somei Satoh
Dreamgarden–Ian Wilson

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“Pour ceux qui ont survécu ce sort…”

February 8, 2019, 8pm, Third Life Studio
33 Union Square, Somerville, MA
$15 tickets at the door, or through Brown Paper Tickets

Program

À quatre folioles–André Cormier (world premiere)

“À quatre folioles” is French for “four-leafed,” in this instance its implies, clover. The piece recognizes a historical correspondence between Brook Watson and Andrew Brown, in which Watson describes the return of the Acadians after the deportation, and their story of perseverance.

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Sonic Liberation Players finish their third season with an eclectic program. The first half of the concert are pieces by composers who entered SLP’s Call for Scores last season. Two pieces about women and their ongoing struggles–one, “Die Elbe”, about a woman in a traditional Hungarian family struggling to find her voice, and the other,”Flay”, about a woman in ancient Greece who was murdered by a mob due to her intelligence and political influence–are particularly relevant in the light of the #metoo movement. We will also be performing Boston composer Tianyi Wang’s “Dark Blessing” and New York composer Gilbert Galindo’s “Echoes of the Divine”.

The second half of the concert is Feldman’s stunning and haunting half-hour piece “Why Patterns?” for flute(s), glockenspiel, and piano. Inspired by his interest in the patterns found in rugs, he treats the three instruments as individual colors, each written very precisely, but with a degree of imprecision that occurs when they are presented simultaneously. The result is an always-undulating texture in which the ear is drawn back and forth between the individual lines and the resultant weave.

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Season #2 (2017-2018)

“All Together Now”

November 19, 2017, 5:30pm, First Parish Watertown
35 Church St., Watertown, MA
$12 tickets at the door, cash only

This program is a musical response to the current political atmosphere of this country. Music about the influence of money in politics (“Koch-aine”), socio-political breakdown (“He Got Dictators” and “The Fall of Empire”), violent racism (“Poem for Emmett Till”), and inconceivable misogyny (“Presidential Address”) reflect our feelings of anger, confusion, and despair. John Cage’s joyous anarchistic “Apartment House, 1776”, a celebration of diversity and inclusion and Wolff’s “I Like to Think of Harriet Tubman”, a song of fierce determination to persist against odds, bookend the concert.

Program

I Like to Think of Harriet Tubman–Christian Wolff
Poem for Emmett Till–William Roper
Koch-aine–Jonathan Russ
The Fall of Empire (selections)–Frederic Rzewski
He Got Dictators–Mary Jane Leach
Presidential Address–Daniel Felsenfeld
Apartment House, 1776–John Cage

Program Notes/Composer Bios

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“Hear! Calls! Everywhere!”

Feb 10, 2018, 8pm, Third Life Studio
33 Union Square, Somerville, MA
$15 tickets at the door, cash only

The Sonic Liberation Players received submissions from 5 continents, over 40 countries, and over 400 composers. Out of over 2000 individual pieces received, SLP chose 10 to be included in this season: three of those pieces will be performed tonight by composers from different countries: Nicole Murphy (Australia), Paolo Tortiglione (Italy), and Nickos Harizanos (Greece). Lou Harrison’s exquisite “Varied Trio” for percussion (including tuned riced bowls), violin, and piano, Feldman’s austere “Viola in my Life 3”, and L.A. composer Bob Clendenen’s work for cello and percussion “Dirt Roads” rounds out the concert.

Program

Varied Trio–Lou Harrison
Dirt Roads–Bob Clendenen
Parched Paddock–Nicole Murphy
Viola in my Life 3–Morton Feldman
Levertov Breviary–Mel Powell
Five Music–Paolo Tortiglione
Iho–Nickos Harizanos

Program Notes/Composer Bios

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“For All Love Lost”

May 12, 2018, 8pm; Third Life Studio, Somerville, MA
33 Union Square, Somerville, MA
$15 tickets at the door, or through Brown Paper Tickets

The final concert of our second season features a new work, “For all love lost and spirit gained”, written especially for SLP by Boston composer, Joshua Jandreau. Also included on the program are piano/percussion duos by Peter Garland and Jo Kondo, John Cage’s sparkling string quartet, “Four”, John Luther Adams’ first piece for solo piano, “Among Red Mountains”, and finally, “And the Moses Drowned”, a haunting reflection on the toll of war on children by Iranian composer Mahdis Golzar Kashani.

Program

Penasco Blanco–Peter Garland
And the Moses Drowned–Mahdis Golzar Kashani
Aquarelle–Jo Kondo
Among Red Mountains–John Luther Adams
Four–John Cage
For all love lost and spirit gained–Joshua Jandreau

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Season #1 (2016-2017)

“Oh, Valencia”

October 15, 2016, 8pm, First Parish of Watertown
35 Church St, Watertown, MA/$10
Tickets at the door

Program

Art Jarvinen–Isoluminaries (1995)
Stephen “Lucky” Mosko–Rais Murad (1978)
James Tenney–Harmonium #5 (1978)
James Tenney–Weave (a Meditation)
Morton Subotnick–Then Now and Forever (2008)
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“Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello”

Feb 3, 2017, 8pm, Third Life Studio
33 Union Square, Somerville, MA/$12
Tickets here

Program

Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello–Morton Feldman (1987)

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“Maximal Effect 1.0”

April 27, 2017, 7:30pm, UMass Boston
The Recital Hall, Dept. of Performing Arts
100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125
Tickets at the door or click here

Program

Broken Line–Alvin Lucier (2006)
John Cage–Four (1989)
James Tenney–Harmonium #5 (1978)
Tom Johnson–Narayana’s Cows (1989)
Morton Feldman–Voice, Violin, Piano (1976)
Julius Eastman–Stay on It (1973)

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“Maximal Effect 2.0”

May 6, 2017, 8pm, Third Life Studio
33 Union Square, Somerville, MA/$10
Tickets at the door or here

Program

Broken Line–Alvin Lucier (2006)
Tom Johnson–Narayana’s Cows (1989)
Julius Eastman–Stay on It (1973)
Nicholas Chase–Sutram (2016, new version 2017)
Pauline Oliveros–Wind Horse (1989)

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Preview Concert

“Introducing the…Sonic Liberation Players”

March 19, 2016, 6pm, Lilypad
1353 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, $10
Tickets at the door

Program

Jonathan Marmor — Prester John: Mythical Christian King of India **
Giacinto Scelsi — Krishna e Radha
Trevor Berens — Cella Duru **
Morton Feldman — Voice, Violin, Piano
Kaija Saariaho – Cendres
John Cage — Five
Nick Chase — Sutram **

** World premiere, written for Sonic Liberation Players