There are concerts that entertain, and concerts that transform. Unanswered, Forbidden, Unforgettable is both — a journey through questions, voices once silenced, and music that refuses to be forgotten.
Led by John Kendall Bailey, the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra’s fall program ventures from Moroccan deserts to Coney Island, from ancestral spirits to Baudelaire’s forbidden poetry, from the silence of unanswered questions to the thunder of deconstructed Beethoven.
Hussein Al-Nasrawi — Moroccan Splendor & New York Wonders
A double passport in sound: the sweeping Agafay Desert and glittering Marrakesh nightlife meet the buzz of the US Open, the majesty of the Met, and the carnival color of Coney Island. Al-Nasrawi’s music is part travel diary, part celebration, all vibrantly alive.
John Beeman — Ishi, Act II: Scene 6, Finale
For years, SFCCO audiences have witnessed Ishi’s story unfold scene by scene. Now comes the climax: Ishi returns to his homeland, haunted by the spirits of the dead, only to be comforted by the voice of his mother. This moving conclusion offers reconciliation, remembrance, and resilience.
Michael Cooke — Symphony No. 4 (“Deconstructing Beethoven”), Finale
What if Beethoven time-traveled and absorbed 200 years of modern innovation? Cooke answers with a theme-and-variations finale that nods to Eroica while colliding with Hindemith, fugues, marches, and polyrhythms Beethoven never imagined. It’s both homage and re-invention — Beethoven rebuilt for the 21st century.
Ben Dorfan — Two Movements for Chamber Orchestra
- In the Silence: Inspired by stories of housed and unhoused participants, this piece asks what “home” means, weaving heartbreak and hope into sound.
- The Unanswerable Question: A clarinet and double bass pose riddle after riddle, while timpani punctuate with a restless “false reply.” Dorfan channels both Ives and Emerson in a dialogue that refuses resolution.
Vance Maverick — Lights Out
Setting Edward Thomas’s farewell poem before his death in World War I, Lights Out is a meditation on life’s end. Scored for baritone and chamber orchestra, the piece envisions death as entering a vast forest — not with fear, but with calm acceptance.
Stardust — Les Fleurs Interdites: Les Bijoux
Charles Baudelaire’s poems were censored in 1857 for “immorality” and banned until 1949. Now, soprano Megan Cullen revives their forbidden allure in Stardust’s latest installment of the Forbidden Flowers cycle — a lush, intoxicating setting of Les Bijoux.
WHY COME?
Because not every concert takes you from desert sands to forbidden poetry in one evening.
Because timpani don’t usually get the last word in a philosophical debate.
Because when Beethoven gets deconstructed, you’ll want a front-row seat to see how many pieces he ends up in.
Tickets are available at the door for this one-night-only performance by the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra.