SAN FRANCISCO, CA–The music of Deon Nielsen Price will be featured in a concert at the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, in the Presidio Chapel (130 Fisher Loop, San Francisco), on Sunday March 19, 2023 – 2pm. James Morehead, Poet Laureate of Dublin, California, will recite two poems as part of the program, Gallery (set to music for baritone and piano by Price) and Flickering Through Stained Glass (inspired by the Presidio Chapel). The concert is open to the public and will also be livestreamed.
Deon Nielsen Price, described as the “Tom Brady of Composers” by the New York Times in Dec 2022, was interviewed in 2021 on the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast about her creative process and composing “Gallery”:
Program
Music by Deon Nielsen Price (ICP Composer in Residence)
Ludwig’s Letter to Eternal Beloved (2020)
Text: Ludwig van Beethoven (1812), Tr. Virginia Beahrs (1997)
1 Good Morning!
2 My Angel
3 You Suffer
4 The Firmament
5 Resolved
6 Be Calm
Darryl Taylor, countertenor
Deon Nielsen Price, piano
Three Faces of Kim, the Napalm Girl (1980)
Soulful
Playful
Fearful
Douglas Masek, saxophone
James Lent, piano
pause
Gallery (2022)
Poem: James Morehead (2021)
Welcome to our gallery …
I first stop in the library …
the next room’s filled with paintings …
each figure in the next hall holds a perfect pose …
I step into the final room where mirrors line each wall …
then waiting …
Phillip Harris, baritone
Chesley Mok, piano
James C. Morehead, recitation
About the Artists
Deon Nielsen Price (BA Brigham Young University; MM University of Michigan; DMA University of Southern California) is a commissioned and published composer and author, award-winning pianist, recording artist, conductor, church musician, veteran college professor, and advocate for women in music as a former president of The National Association of Composers, USA and The International Alliance for Women in Music. Her highly acclaimed recordings, sheet music for her 275+ works, reviews, videos, operas, podcasts, and her book, Accompanying Skills for Pianists 2nd Ed., are available at http://www.culvercrest.com. As an ICP Board member she curates the Sunday Concerts in Presidio Chapel. After residing in Culver City, California, and the Presidio of San Francisco she now lives on the Central California Coast.
Darryl Taylor‘s performances have been noted for their compelling artistry and authority. His is an international career highlighted by performances of art song, opera and oratorio. His repertoire extends from Bach to Britten, and beyond. Recent performance highlights include singing the title role in Phillip Glass’ Akhnaten for Long Beach Opera; L.A. Opera’s groundbreaking production of Dido and Aeneas; Pergolesi and Vivaldi Stabat Mater with Lyra Baroque Orchestra of St. Paul, Minnesota; performances with the Carmel Bach Festival; the Bach Collegium San Diego under Richard Egarr, and performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Havana, Cuba, and Shanghai, China. In May 2022, he performed Price’s Ludwig’s Letter… cycle with the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra to an enthusiastic sold-out audience in New York City.
Internationally renowned saxophonist Douglas Masek is recognized as one of today’s foremost exponents of contemporary saxophone music. The Los Angeles Times stated that Masek’s playing is “smooth, sinuous, stunning, stylish, dazzling, and glowing with the requisite rich color.” With extensive concert touring in the United States, Europe, Asia, South Africa, and South America, he has also performed as soloist at the Festivals of Singapore, Beijing, Aspen, Ojai, and Santa Fe. He was the soloist on the Grammy Award winning recording of the Los Angeles Opera’s production of the “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.” Additional performances include solo appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the symphonies of Long Beach, Pacific, Santa Barbara, and motion picture soundtracks for John Williams, Randy Newman, and many more.
Pianist Dr. James Lent has been the accompanist for the Angeles Chorale since 2010 and is the head of Collaborative Piano at the UCLA Herb Albert School of Music where he serves as Continuing Lecturer, teaching Piano Literature and Collaborative Piano. He is also on the Principal Music Faculty at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Hollywood where he is the head of collaborative pianists, music directs, and as a vocal coach. James received the Doctor of Musical Arts in solo piano at Yale University. Dr. Lent has also performed concertos with the Torrance Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Ocean City Pops Orchestra, the Shanghai Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, the Florida West Coast Symphony, and the Alabama Symphony where he replaced Andre Watts to perform Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 with a 24 hour notice.
James Morehead is Poet Laureate of Dublin, California, author of canvas and portraits of red and gray and host of the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast. You can read James’ poem “Flickering Through Stained Glass”, inspired by the Presidio Chapel, at interfaithpresidio.org/concerts.html. James’ poem “tethered” was transformed into an award-winning hand drawn animated short film, “Gallery” was set to music for baritone and piano, and his poems have appeared on NPR, SF Chronicle’s Total SF, Ignatian Literary Magazine, Cathexis Northwest Press, Beyond Words Magazine, Wingless Dreamer, Prometheus Dreaming, and others. He also hosts the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast which features interviews with poets and artists. “James Morehead’s imagery is vivid, spare and elemental, and it is consistently chosen and arranged to achieve intensely poetic effects. The rhythmic control is impeccable.” – Carmine Di Biase, Distinguished Professor of English, Emeritus – Jacksonville State University
Phillip Harris has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, and appeared with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera (chorus), Aspen Opera Center, Aspen Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Opera Las Vegas, San Mateo Masterworks Chorale and Orchestra, and the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. He has performed asbass soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. Of his twenty roles in opera, operetta, and musical theater, his favorite include King Arthur (Camelot), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Marius (Les Misérables), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), and Marcello and Schaunard (La Bohème). His performance of Jacqueline Hairston’s Songs of Concealment with Pocket Opera’s Pocket Watch was nominated by San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards for Best Vocal Solo/Recital Performance.
Chesley Mok graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and received a Master of Music at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying Collaborative Piano with Timothy Bach. A diverse pianist, Chesley works with both vocalists and instrumentalists across a wide range of genres, including championing new music written by her colleagues and the classical repertory. A Bay Area native, Chesley has performed with many local organizations including the El Camino Youth Symphony, California Youth Symphony, and the Crystal Children’s Choir. Currently, she is also the pianist for the SF Girls Chorus Premier Ensemble. Aside from her collaborative work, Chesley also enjoys teaching piano and violin to youth across the Bay Area.
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