San Francisco Contemporary Music Players Present - American Reflections: Exuberance
November 16, 2025
Brava Theatre Center
American Reflections: Exuberance
In celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the United States, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players presents "American Reflections," a season devoted entirely to music by American composers. We've curated a season that explores the evolution of American music over the past century, particularly the past 25 years, and how this evolution mirrors shifts in creativity throughout the nation.
Picture the boundless energy of childhood, the rush of first love, the discovery of what fuels your fire. That same spark ignites this program of bold invention and musical vitality, where every piece explores the impulse that drives us forward.
Shulamit Ran’s Soliloquy builds an intimate narrative from a single musical phrase—an idea drawn from her opera The Dybbuk, where a restless spirit inhabits his grieving lover until they are reunited “in the endless night of the endless world between worlds.” The result is music that channels raw longing and unquenchable desire.
Bay Area native Samuel Carl Adams offers the West Coast premiere of a vocal song cycle written for soprano Winnie Nieh. Setting texts by three modern ecstatic poets, Adams explores the wonder of beginnings—of existence, of first love, and of the impulses that shape us in youth.
On the occasion of his 90th birthday, Terry Riley’s Dias de los Muertos brings a colorful and cheeky appraisal of life’s final chapter, a playful yet poignant meditation that reminds us to greet endings with humor as well as reflection.
Closing the program, John Adams’ Chamber Symphony erupts with high-octane virtuosity. Inspired both by Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 and by the frenetic soundtrack of Saturday morning cartoons drifting into his study, Adams created a dazzling work of energy and wit, with movements that are punishingly difficult yet irresistibly alive.
Together, these works celebrate the thrill of discovery, the power of impulse, and the restless momentum that fuels invention and art itself.
Experience music that celebrates impulse, invention, and the energy that propels us forward.
Shulamit Ran — Soliloquy
An intimate work built from a single phrase, Soliloquy channels raw longing, inspired by Ran’s opera The Dybbuk and its tale of unquenchable desire and reunion beyond worlds.
Samuel Carl Adams — New Work (Co-Commission/West Coast Premiere)
Bay Area native Samuel Carl Adams sets texts by modern ecstatic poets in a song cycle for soprano Winnie Nieh, exploring first beginnings, first love, and youthful impulses.
Terry Riley — Días de los Muertos
Programmed in celebration of Riley’s 90th birthday, this playful and poignant reflection on mortality offers humor and color in equal measure.
John Adams — Chamber Symphony
A virtuosic tour de force inspired by both Schoenberg and the soundtracks of Saturday morning cartoons, John Adams’ Chamber Symphony bursts with wit, energy, and exhilarating momentum.
Together, these works capture the thrill of discovery and the unstoppable spark of invention.
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“There’s a reason why SFCMP is considered the Bay Area’s premier new music ensemble.” — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle