As the 25th San Francisco Electronic Music Festival (SFEMF) approaches, one of its founders, the artist Pamela Z, recalled what has happened since the first festival, held in 2000 at the now-defunct CELLSpace:
“We have continued to mount the festival in various San Francisco arts venues every year, without fail, except during the two years of pandemic lockdown. And every one of those festivals — including this 25th iteration — has featured an impressively diverse roster of electronic and electroacoustic composers, musicians, and sound artists hailing from the Bay Area, across the nation, and around the globe”
Pamela Z, who is also among the founders of the festival’s fiscal sponsor, Circuit Network, cites high points such as the participation of such prominent composers as Alvin Curran and Pauline Oliveros, along with young, emerging artists.
Presented in co-production with The Lab and supported by the Italian Cultural Institute and InterMusic SF, the festival features three nights of live electronic performances, Sept. 24–26.
Festival programs explore electronic sound as science-fiction fantasy, sonic ecosystems, technologically realized fugues, acousmatic dramaturgy (a term Pierre Schaeffer used to describe a sound that is heard without its physical, originating source being seen), patient listening, and sonic theater.
Composer, conductor, and vocalist Anne Hege, SFEMF Steering Committee member, says: “One of the things I love about the festival is the broad definition of ‘electronic music.’
“Every year you get an acousmatic set, followed by a Dub set, followed by a newly constructed electronic instrument, followed by, for example, the ROVA saxophone quartet playing with an electronic duo. At each festival, international performers share concerts with up-and-coming local performers and respected electronic music pioneers.
“It is curated to be a gathering of performers that stretch what music can be with our technologies while celebrating the beauty of community created through artistic creation.”
The festival opens on Sept. 24, with Blevin Blectum (Bevin Kelley), whose “vibrant audiovisual performance creates a technicolor sonic fever dream.” IDHAZ & Emily Bouton follow with a hybrid of scored and improvised music for harp, violin, voice, and visuals. The evening concludes with Rrose’s Helicopter Mass, exploring the intersection of hypnotic techno and experimental composition.
On Sept. 25, the program begins with Albert Yeh’s four-voice fugues performed using MIDI and modular synthesizers. Stefano Pilia follows with solo performances from his Spiralis Aurea and Lacinia, adapted for electric guitar and electronics “to create an acousmatic dramaturgy suspended between logos and chaos.”
The Gleaners — Laetitia Sonami and Matt Robidoux — continue the evening, combining Sonami’s pioneering electronic instruments with Robidoux’s distinctive “corn synth” practice to create immersive performances. Friday also features Paul DeMarinis, whose experiments with sound objects, harmonicas, and electronics transform performance into a ritualistic theatrical experience.
The festival culminates on Saturday with Thomas Carnacki (Gregory Scharpen, Cheryl Leonard, and Gregory Hagan), who conjure sonic environments from found sounds and unconventional materials, including rocks, glass vessels, and even live scorpions.
Seth Cluett follows with his quiet, patiently unfolding music that explores the liminal space between the
senses through an acute attention to perception. Closing the festival is Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa), whose performances fuse free jazz, noise, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism.
All concerts start at 8 p.m. at The Lab, 2948 16th Street, San Francisco. Tickets are $23 per night, $60 festival pass
