One Found Sound Announces Winter And Spring Program In San Francisco

One Found Sound, a conductorless chamber orchestra founded by graduates of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, is pleased to announce the final events of its 2019 - 2020 Season. The group's opening concert of the new year will take place at Heron Arts in San Francisco, Friday, February 21 at 8 p.m. with guest soprano Julie Adams. Tickets are now on sale at onefoundsound.org/concerts.

For seven years, One Found Sound has been on a mission to return classical music presentations to what co-founder Sarah Bonomo calls "the glory days of boisterous audiences and the thrill of discovering something new with each note." One Found Sound specializes in relaxed, salon-style gatherings located in art galleries, former manufacturing shops, warehouses, gardens and live/work community spaces. Their programming, selected democratically by a vote of all members, includes pieces for full orchestra as well as chamber ensemble, with an eye toward balancing works by well-known and underrepresented composers. Advance tickets to their events, which at $25 don't require discounting, include complimentary drinks. And their concerts typically end in a party.

"Our goal is to remove any obstacle to people enjoying the music," said Sasha Launer, another co-founder. "We are pleased to say that our events are regularly sold out, and our audience members and our musicians alike attest to what's working. We're all there to be artistically satisfied and have a good time."

Among the obstacles to the enjoyment of music are "too many rules," noted Launer and Bonomo in unison. Within the contentious debate about digital-era etiquette, One Found Sound takes the laissez-faire stance of allowing patrons to record images and video, and post on social media, as they see fit. "People should feel free to use their phones, just as they should feel free to get up and go as they please - and to clap or woo-hoo when they please," said Launer. "It's exciting for the musicians to feel the presence of an audience; their reactions goad us on."

On February 21, audiences will be presented with an eclectic program of three works for full orchestra including Caroline Shaw's Entr'acte, Samuel Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915 featuring soprano Julie Adams, and Maurice Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye or "Mother Goose Suite."

Like One Found Sound's founders, Adams is herself a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she was awarded the Phyllis C. Wattis Memorial Scholarship. Among her other honors are prizes from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the George London Award and the Elizabeth Connell prize. With a voice that is "rich, full and slightly earthy in an expressive way" (The New York Times), Adams has earned coveted roles, performing with the Arizona Opera, Michigan Opera, Opera San Jose and San Francisco Opera. Orchestral engagements include Beethoven's Symphony Number 9 with the Phoenix Symphony, and a concert version of West Side Story with the Oakland Symphony.

For their final concert of 2019, One Found Sound will perform at Monument SF on Saturday, December 14 at 8 p.m. The program will include Poulenc's Suite Française, Janáček's Mládí or "Youth" and Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments.

Other events in 2020 include a collaboration with yogini Peter Walters on Saturday, February 1 at 6 p.m. at Heron Arts. One Found Sound will provide live music for a 60-minute restorative yoga class for all levels. On Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m., the orchestra will perform Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat at 111 Minna Gallery. Then on April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Heron Arts, One Found Sound will team up with neuroscientist and opera singer Dr. Indre Viskontas to demonstrate the wide-ranging power of music to shape our brains, heal our pain and strengthen our communities. Viskontas, a professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, is the author of How Music Can Make You Better. Finally, on Friday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m., One Found Sound will host a gala event at Heron Arts with more details to follow this spring.

Each season One Found Sound presents three concerts for full orchestra, at least two chamber programs, and several additional events under the "OFS Presents" moniker, which typically involve collaborations with individuals in fields adjacent to music. A gala event with full orchestra concludes each season.

For more information about One Found Sound, visit onefoundsound.org.

One Found Sound is a conductorless, collaborative, chamber orchestra founded in 2013 by five graduates of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music: Sarah Bonomo, Georgeanne Banker, Emily Botel-Barnard, Sasha Launer and Scott Padden. Deconstructing the typical hierarchical structure of the classic orchestral model, the artistic vision of One Found Sound is placed collaboratively in the hands of its members. One Found Sound embodies the heart of their artistic mission: coalescing the creative energy of young artists and the vitality of their audiences to create an extraordinary musical experience.