Farewell Call & Response: March 11, 2016

What is Call & Response?

Over the last 17 years, the Cypress String Quartet has reached thousands of students and new chamber music fans through its annual presentations of Call & Response in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Following as many as two dozen or more educational outreach presentations before students of all levels and communities each year, the Cypress Quartet gives the World Premiere of the commissioned work in a public concert in San Francisco. The program contextualizes the new work, pairing it with the older masterpieces which inspired it, and demonstrating the composers’ work as a process of ongoing inspiration through the ages. Scholarship tickets permit participating students to attend the public performance free of charge.


17th Annual Call & Response:
March 11, 2016

The Cypress String Quartet’s 17th Annual Call & Response theme is “Tragedy & Comedy.” We will explore the world of Beethoven through a pairing of his works that takes us on a journey of emotions ranging from the darkest to the most uplifting.

The Call & Response concert on March 11, 2016 features Beethoven’s first and last quartets paired with a newly commissioned work, String Quartet No.3 by Dan Coleman. In Beethoven’s Op. 18 No. 1, the composer finds inspiration in the tomb scene of Romeo & Juliet, recreating this devastating classic story in music. In his very last quartet we are presented with the great paradox of his Op. 135 that presents both comedic & tragic implications. Affected deeply by personal events, relationships, and world events throughout his life, Beethoven was able to turn even the most heartbreaking of tragedies into compassionate expressions of the greatest joy.


2016 CONCERT DETAILS

Friday, March 11, 2016 at 8:00pm
Pre-concert Conversation with composer Dan Coleman at 7:15pm
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA 94102

3511dd1[1]
Dan Coleman, 2016 C&R Composer

Program: (Order subject to change)
Beethoven String Quartet Op.18 No.1
Dan Coleman String Quartet No.3, together, as the river* WORLD PREMIERE
Beethoven String Quartet Op.135

History of Call & Response

2016 Educational Outreach Partners

  • Berkeley High School
  • Berkeley Public Library
  • Castillero Middle School (San Jose)
  • Community Music Center (SF)
  • Edna Brewer Middle School (Oakland)
  • Lincoln High School (SF)
  • Lowell High School (SF)
  • Marin Academy
  • Novato Charter School
  • San Mateo High School
  • School of the Arts (SF)
  • Piedmont Hills High School (San Jose)
  • Presidio Middle School (SF)
  • San Francisco Public Library
  • Westlake Middle School (Oakland)
  • White Hill Middle School (Fairfax)

2000-2015 School Partners

  • San Francisco: Balboa High School, Community Music Center, French American International School, KIPP Bayview Academy, Lincoln High School, Lowell High School, Lycée Française La Perouse, Mission High School, Out-of-Site Afterschool Program, Presidio Middle School, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, School of the Arts, Thurgood Marshall Academic High School, University High School, Washington High School
  • North Bay: Davidson Middle School, Enriching Lives Through Music (E.L.M.), Marin Academy, Mill Valley High School, Mill Valley Middle School, Miller Creek Middle School, Novato Charter School, San Domenico School, San Rafael High School, Tamalpais High School, Terra Linda High School, White Hill Middle School
  • East Bay: Berkeley High School, Corpus Christi School, Edna Brewer idle School, Longfellow Middle School, Holy Names University Youth Orchestra, Homestead High School, Monta Vista High School, Montera Middle School, Oakland High School, Roosevelt Middle School, Stanley Middle School, Thornhill Elementary School, Westlake Middle School, Piedmont Middle School
  • Peninsula: Aragon High School, Castillero Middle School, Independence High School, Leland High School, Lincoln High School, Lynbrook High School, Menlo School, Nueva School, Piedmont Hills High School, San Mateo High School, Terman Middle School, Wilcox High School, Saratoga High School

Suggest a School

Know a program in need? Want to suggest a teacher and schoool who could be an enthusiastic new educational partner?
Email natalie@cypressquartet.com to share your ideas with us.

Call & Response Curriculum / Listening Guides

All listening guide downloads are for educational use only.
* = Password-protected. Email csq@cypressquartet.com to request access.
+ = downloadable .pdf

2016 Listening Guide – “Tragedy & Comedy” +
2015 Listening Guide – “Far Into the Night: Beethoven & Bartok” *
2014 Listening Guide – “The Long and the Short of It: Webern and Schubert” *
2013 Listening Guide – “Music & Poetry: Dvorak Cypresses and Schubert’s Rosamunde Quartet” *
2012 Listening Guide – “The Masters: Tradition, Rebellion, and Innovation: Early Haydn and Late Beethoven” *
2011 Listening Guide – “Exotic Lands Inspired Music: Glazunov, Schulhoff, Bloch, and Debussy” +
2010 Listening Guide – “Lyrical Music Inspired by Literature: Mozart and Schubert” +

Call & Response Commissions

Over the past 16 years, the Cypress String Quartet has commissioned 16 new works as part of the Call & Response program.

Commissioned Year The Call The Response
Dan Coleman, AZ 2016 Tragedy and Comedy in Music (Beethoven Opp.18/1 and 135 String Quartet No.3 “together, as the river”
Philippe Hersant, France 2015 Night Music; Beethoven Op.59 No.2 + Bartok Quartet No.4 String Quartet No.4 Der gestirnte Himmel “The Starry Sky”
George Tsontakis, NY 2014 The Long and the Short of It; Webern and Schubert String Quartet No.6
Jennifer Higdon, PA 2013 Music and Poetry; Dvorak Cypresses and Schubert In the Shadow of Sirius (Soprano and String Quartet)
Philippe Hersant, France 2012 Masters:Tradition, Rebellion, Innovation; Haydn and Beethoven String Quartet No.3
Jeffery Cotton, PA 2011 Exoticism; Glazunov, Schulhoff, Bloch, Debussy Serenade (String Quartet No. 2)
Elena Ruehr, MA 2010 Literature; Mozart and Schubert Bel Canto
Kevin Puts, NY 2009 Beethoven Op.135 and Mendelssohn Op.13 Puts Lento Assai
Kurt Rohde, CA 2008 Haydn 77/2 and Bartok 6 Gravities
Daniel Asia, AZ 2007 American Music; Dvorak American, Griffes Sketches String Quartet No. 3, The Seer
George Tsontakis, NY 2006 Beethoven; Op.131 and Op.135 String Quartet No. 5
Elena Ruehr, MA 2005 Mozart and Beethoven Ruehr 4-1 String Quartet No. 4
Jeffery Cotton, PA 2004 Variation Movements in Haydn and Mozart Cotton 1-2 String Quartet No. 1
Jennifer Higdon, PA 2003 Debussy and Ravel Higdon 1Impressions
Benjamin Lees, CA 2002 Unlikely Friendship; Britten 3rd and Shostakovich 11th Lees 5-3 String Quartet No. 5
Anna Weesner, PA 2001 Beethoven Op.132 and Mendelssohn Op.13 Flux
Dan Coleman, AZ 2000 Mozart and Beethoven Coleman 1-1 quartetto ricercare

Information for Composers

The Cypress String Quartet continues to seek out talented composers living and working among us today for potential collaborations in future Call & Response programs or other commissioning opportunities.

If you would like to explore a commission with us please contact us at music@cypressquartet.com.