More 40th Anniversary Memories

As part of the 40th Anniversary Season, we're publishing a series of reminiscences in each concert program from the many people who have been involved with SFCMP over the years. The following are more stories that were first published in our 30th Anniversary Season program book, and reprinted at last month's opening night concert.

Hall Goff, SFCMP trombonist:

In 1983, when we were in rehearsal for the Varese/Webern Centennial concert at the Opera House, my son Benjamin asked if he could accompany me to rehearsal to meet Frank Zappa. At that time, Ben was six, and both of us were great Zappa fans. Ben sat quietly enough, amusing himself, but at last a break came in the rehearsal, and I brought him up to Frank to introduce him. “What music of mine do you know?” Frank asked. “Reuben and the Jets,” says Ben. Zappa burst out singing the bass guitar introduction and continued right into the vocal line. Then he picked Ben up by the arms and swung him around. My son and I were both thrilled.

Wayne Peterson, composer:

From the moment of its inception to the present the SFCMP have played an enviable major role in bringing a wide variety of new music to the Bay Area audiences. By so doing they have contributed immeasurably to the artistic culture of the community. Whatever success I have had as a composer is in no small way due to the encouragement and many fine performances they have given my music.

John Adams, composer:

The SF Contemporary Music Players keep alive the notion that new ideas often come in unfamiliar and mysterious packages.

… when I first came to the Bay Area, the new music scene was a bizarre and wonderful hive of musical experiment, and small ensembles devoted to the performance of the avant garde proliferated almost everywhere. Among these ensembles the Contemporary Music Players was the flagship band. They coined the term “bring your own pillow,” a phrase which typifies the spontaneous, informal nature of their founding philosophy. It was at their concerts that I, as a young composer, first heard the works of George Crumb and Charles Boone and Richard Felciano. Today, as music has changed, so has the performing landscape, and many of these groups have disappeared. But the SFCMP continues to flourish with its devoted core of listeners and its skilled, passionate players.