Submerged Queer Spaces
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Live concert and cinematic presentation exploring redeveloped spaces that were once gathering spots of San Francisco’s queer community. San Francisco has been a leader in real estate speculation, internet sex, social networking, and the dot com gold rush. A byproduct of long-term and rapid change has been the loss of lower-income, hippy, and queer counterculture. Bars, baths, restaurants, cafes, bookstores and other queer spaces have been submerged and lost, leaving behind faded signs or custom fittings – i.e. the stained glass sign of the Rainbow Cattle Company and the etched glass of the Elephant Walk. The Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble, a groundbreaking new music ensemble led by classical and film composer Jack Curtis Dubowsky, combines acoustic instruments, electronic hardware, composed material and structured improvisation. The Ensemble treats analog synth as a rare and unpredictable performance instrument. The Ensemble’s contemporary electroacoustic music is performed live with no software or sequencing.
Biographies Jack Curtis Dubowsky (Keyboardist and bassist) is an active composer, conductor, writer, educator, and filmmaker. Dubowsky has composed four chamber operas (including the recent socio-politically charged Halloween in the Castro) and scored five feature films including That Man Peter Berlin, Rock Haven, and Redwoods. The short film NYC Dilemma about this working composer premiered 2006 at BFI in London. Dubowsky’s choral music has been performed internationally by groups including San Francisco Choral Artists, Desert Voices, Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and Mount Eden Chorus. His orchestral music has been performed by Castro Valley Chamber Orchestra, and chamber music by Classical Revolution, Snopea Chamber Ensemble, Organic Sound Experiment, Collaborata, and Paradigm Brass. Dubowsky has received grants from Meet the Composer, Zellerbach Family Fund, Friends of San Francisco Public Library, and American Composers Forum. Dubowsky produced recordings by Winsome Griffles, Glen Meadmore, and Virgin Whore Complex. Dubowsky’s award winning “Mr Jones” parody is a highlight of the Momus album Stars Forever. Dubowsky attended the Aspen School, and received his MM in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Dubowsky studied composition with David Conte, Conrad Susa, Elinor Armer, and Michael Czajkowski. Dubowsky is a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. His sheet music is distributed by SheetMusicPlus and Theodore Front Musical Literature. Fred Morgan (Percussionist) received his BM in percussion performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the study of Jack Van Geem and his MM from the New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Will Hudgins. Fred currently studies timpani with San Francisco Timpanist David Herbert; past teachers include Andrew Lewis, James Lee Wyatt, and Alan Hall. Fred played William Kraft’s first timpani concerto with the Oakland East Bay Symphony in 2003 as a winner of the orchestra’s Young Artist Competition. Fred was a member of the SF Youth Symphony from 1997-2002. Fred has performed as a timpanist and percussionist in the Hong Kong Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Kansas City Symphony. Fred performs with SF Symphony brass and boys choir at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and has subbed with the Midsummer Mozart Festival. Fred participated in festivals of Spoleto USA, Schleswig-holstein, Music Academy of the West, Jeunnesses Musicales, National Orchestral Institute, and the Aspen Music Festival. Contemporary engagements include work with the Sprocket Ensemble and performances and recordings of the music of Erling Wold. Locally Fred subs with the Oakland East bay Symphony and the Santa Rosa Symphony. Fred has received a percussion chair in the Stockton Symphony. Hall Goff (Trombonist) has been a noisemaker all his life, vocalizing sound effects for toy trucks, guns, cars, and planes throughout his childhood in New Jersey. After two years as an alto in the Madison (Wisconsin) Boy Choir, he gravitated to the trombone at age 12 and began listening to dixieland, beebop, pop vocalists of the day (early 60’s), and all kinds of recorded sound, later being influenced by early Zappa, Chicago Symphony recordings, and Firesign Theater. Realizing the value of serious practice in his 16th year was a landmark experience. Hall attended Oberlin College (BA), and earned a Master’s degree at Yale School of Music, mentored by John Swallow and Otto-Werner Mueller. He has been a member of the S.F. Ballet Orchestra since 1977, and the S.F. Contemporary Music Players since 1979, having had the good fortune to play (to this day) as a freelancer with many bay-area ensembles of all sizes, as well as on various recordings, and behind visiting musical stars of opera, jazz, rock, and pop.
This event received a Creating Queer Community Commission from Queer Cultural Center funded through the San Francisco Foundation. |
