The following is an overview of the Queer and Trans Voices Tracking Series, which appeared in the San Francisco Classical Voice on July 7th, 2020, written by Tamzin Elliott. “For me, it’s just like, pay them” responded electronic artist and DIY-scene community organizer Sharmi Basu, with a laugh. The question posed was about how to account for the wide range of access to opportunity and safety between, say, a cisgender white gay man and a transgender black woman, while trying to unify the queer and trans new music community. They continued: “A lot of these questions are actually really s ..read more

Conceived by Linda Bouchard, Gathering is a multimedia performance for two improvisers who create a projected visual live score in real time on one screen. Their improvisation is accompanied by short movies and live video on a second screen and fixed sound files of processed temple bowls. Gathering was premiered on February 25, 2020 in Stockton California, a few days before the Covid19 lockdown. It was a prescient timing: Gathering is about the importance of belonging to a community and to gather together, to take care of one another, to celebrate together, to mourn, to play, to laugh, to dan ..read more

Francois Houle at C4NM After assessing the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis on our creative community, Center for New Music (C4NM) is compelled to launch an emergency fund to support musicians in need. Inspired by the challenges we collectively face, an anonymous donor has enabled C4NM to offer 40 awards of $250 to assist musical artists.  This fund is open to all individual freelance professional musicians who 1.) live in the following nine counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma; and 2) make their living primarily throu ..read more

Jacob Felix Heule of Voicehandler (Lenny Gonzalez/Courtesy of the artist) Even under normal circumstances, by nature of producing non-commercial art, contemporary and experimental musicians often lack the same type of financial resources that other commercial artists have. This financial fragility is laid bare in times of crisis, and unfortunately, musicians are deeply struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the financial hit, musicians who are accustomed to a tight-knit, collaborative community are faced with isolation and the loss of the social opportunities their career ..read more

Image by Quinn Fenlon. Photo by Ann Marie Lonsdale from the deYoung Museum. The COVID-19 outbreak and the necessary social gathering cancelations disproportionally affect wage workers, freelance artists, and arts organizations. In light of these difficult times, Center for New Music is working hard to be an advocate for our community. We are working towards building a coalition of organizations and artists that can help equitably direct emergency funds to those who need it most. Right now, we can provide a list of resources to support fellow artists including resources from C4NM, and a compila ..read more

Riley Nicholson, Center for New Music’s Project Manager, discusses the essentials of what you need to know about promoting your concert, and how to work with a venue to ensure they can do their best job of marketing your event. Resources and more info: Creating marketing video content: In this vBlog, Riley mentions the importance of creating media, preferably video for social media and digital advertising. If you are a Mac user, iMovie comes standard on most models and is user-friendly while still being quite a powerful video editing tool. You can easily drop photos, video, and music into the ..read more

Over the course of 12 months, the C4NM Ensemble in Residence enjoys numerous opportunities and resources to support their long-term success. Through direct engagements with C4NM’s members and community partners, the Ensemble in Residence explores new ideas, and pursues new avenues in the development of their artistic career. Through this program, C4NM provides a materials stipend, rehearsal and workshop space, concert and service opportunities, professional development, and creative community. In return, the Ensemble’s activities support the work of the Center for New Music: to support and bu ..read more

The Center for New Music is now accepting proposals from curators for two-year terms beginning in 2020. Please consider sharing your artistic vision through C4NM! For information on how to apply, download the Call for Proposals. Deadline to submit is November 18, 2019 at 3:00 PM PST. C4NM welcomes proposals from any individual who is interested in serving as a curator. While the Center works with seven to eight curators at a time, each individual curator is expected to bring her/his own unique vision and understanding of excellence, in order to contribute to the Center as a who ..read more

Tracking Series #3 Women Composers and Gender Equity in Music Written by Erica MacLeod and D. Riley Nicholson Gender equity in contemporary music was the topic of conversation at a recent roundtable discussion as part of Center for New Music’s (C4NM) Trackings Series on January 31st, 2019. The discussion was led by Emma Logan and Julia Barwick of Helia Music Collective; their collective supports and champions the creative endeavours of women throughout the Bay Area. Visibility, commissioning, and performance of music written by women appear to be increasing in recent years, however figures pu ..read more

Residency Day #1: duo B. vs. viDEO sAVant at the Center for New Music After much planning and scheduling, Ensemble in Residence, duo B. vs. viDEO sAVant finally spent its first full day at work in the Center for New Music this past weekend. Our residency this year at the Center has two goals: to develop a new evening-length work together, and to address some ongoing challenges about documentation and how best to represent our performance work to people who weren’t there in the room when it all went down. A lot of what we hope to learn, and problems we hope to solve, this year involve our unus ..read more