Mercury Soul at Gray Area

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An extraordinary show combing dance, DJing, and classical music unfolds on Saturday Jan 25 courtesy of Mercury Soul.  Please join us for this one-night-only event! San Francisco’s legendary dance company ODC will be appearing between DJ sets mixed by me and DJ Justin Reed of Chicago, interspersed by short performances of Chopin, Adams, Mozart, Piazzolla, Mendelssohn, and Bach – plus some brand-new interludes I’ve composed to tie it all together. You’ll be transported from the dance floor to soulful performances merging dance and classical music —and back again!

Mercury Soul at Grace Cathedral

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On April 19, Mercury Soul transforms San Francisco’s iconic Grace Cathedral in a magical evening of luxe DJ beats, lush classical music, and immersive visuals.
 
Bay Area audiences have flocked to shows produced by Mason’s classical/club nonprofit, which animates spectacular spaces with DJing, classical sets, and imaginative stagecraft.  Recent shows have been at the historic San Francisco US Mint, The Battery, and The Midway club.
 
For this event, interspersed between sets by DJ Masonic, DJ Justin Reed, and special guest DJ Rob Garza, the sacred music of Arvo Pärt, Francis Poulenc, and William Byrd will be performed by a lush brass chorale and organ.

Entrancing early minimalism of John Adams will be choreographed by Smuin Ballet; Jules Massenet’s exquisitely beautiful Taïs Meditation brought to life by violinist Ava Pakiam; and scintillating organ toccatas performed by Grace Cathedral’s Christopher Keady.

SF Opera Adler Fellow Arianna Rodriguez sings an aria from Bellini’s La Sonnambula, and SF Gay Mens Chorus fills the cathedral with choral music of the Renaissance.

Dress to impress and be ready to dance later in the evening during this extraordinary evening at an iconic San Francisco space.

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at San Francisco Opera

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Operas through the centuries are filled with creative characters – from Bohème’s starving artists to Death in Venice’s haunted author.  About ten years ago I started dreaming about an opera that would examine a different kind of creative individual: the creative technologist.

Living in the Bay Area for a decade leading up to that moment, I became familiar with the fascinating breed of creative people whose innovations transform civilization.

And no one better exemplified this than Steve Jobs.

As we gear up for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at San Francisco Opera this fall, a feeling of homecoming is in the air.  Not only is the opera’s story grounded in the Bay Area, but the piece was conceived and written here as well.  Matthew Shilvock, General Director of SF Opera, was the first person to jump aboard this production after seeing it premiere at Santa Fe Opera, so SF Opera has played a key role in bringing this piece to life.

After two years that have seen a glorious new production tour through five cities, it’ll be thrilling to see the original production on the grand stage of SFO.  This original production is renown for its mix of cutting edge projections and old-fashioned stagecraft, exemplified by the six huge monoliths that combine in endless ways to form the set.  The walls of Young Steve’s garage fly apart after the opening scene to create every subsequent scene!

The opera also feels even more resonant in 2023 than it did six years ago, with its message of “look up, look out” extremely relevant in a post-pandemic world.  After the challenging years of lockdowns and digital life, many people have embraced the return to true connection.  That’s the message of the opera, as sung by Laureen Powell Jobs in her final aria.

As a tech mogul who presented as an artist, Steve Jobs gives us a unique opera subject – both protagonist and antagonist – who journeys from hippy idealist to master of the universe.  It’s a story that resonates deeply in the Bay Area, and it is tremendously meaningful to experience this story at San Francisco Opera.

Utah Opera Presents The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs

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The new production of Mason’s GRAMMY-winning opera at Utah Opera caught the attention of Fox 13 Salt Lake City. Check out their segment on the piece and interview with John Moore, who plays the title character. 

This is a Grammy-award-winning opera that anyone will enjoy

Mason Bates & Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
By: The PLACE

Get your tickets now to the upcoming Utah Opera performance of Mason Bates & Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.

This Grammy-award-winning, “totally user-friendly” opera (Los Angeles Times) is a smart and sleek take on the entrepreneur who changed our modern world forever.

Steve Jobs relentlessly dedicated himself to creating the perfect device while wrestling with his own imperfections.

He created technology to connect us all while struggling to connect with those around him. Faced with his mortality, Jobs re-visits moments that shaped his life –from a young romance to his dramatic fall from the C-suite – and circles back with newfound understanding. 

John Moore makes his Utah Opera debut in the lead role and—according to composer Mason Bates—”so vividly creates the lead role that, by the end, you will be half-certain you are witnessing the man himself.”

The production runs May 6-14, 2023, at Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City.

Piano Concerto Spanish premiere

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Last weekend, The National Orchestra of Spain and virtuoso pianist Daniil Trifonov gave the Spanish premiere of Mason’s Piano Concerto.

“What is evident is that this musician knows how to write very well for orchestra, according to the great Riccardo Muti, who has also conducted works by Bates. It was evident that in this premiere Heras-Casado had in mind all the compositional springs of the American musician and demonstrated in an overwhelming way how to use his technique, impetus and proactivity as a director putting it at the service of a complex and changing score in each one of his movements, in such a way that all the emotion present in it reached the public.

The premiere of this work, which lasted just under 30 minutes, but with a deep emotional depth, was greatly applauded by the public that almost completely filled the National Auditorium, forcing Trifonov to leave five times, although the expected tip was not granted.”

Read the full review on Codalario’s website.

The Arts Desk: The Powers and Perils of Musical Storytelling

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Mason discusses the powers and perils of musical storytelling in a new blog post for The Arts Desk ahead of the UK premiere of ‘Liquid Interface’ at the Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday, March 30.

“Musical storytelling is on my mind this month as the London Philharmonic Orchestra performs Liquid Interface, my first large-scale exploration of musical narrative in the form of a “water symphony”. Premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2007, the work features watery orchestral textures and electronic sounds that range from field recordings of glaciers calving, to trip-hop beats built out of water samples.”       

“While the surface of Liquid Interface has many new elements, the programmatic approach dates to the 19th Century. But spokes of it have shot in all directions, including into the world of rock opera.“

“After a century of symphonic music defined by processes – from serialism to minimalism – I find it exhilarating to reexamine the programmatic approach with 21st Century sounds. Getting an orchestra to sync with digital sounds is not easy, but for me a world of imaginative possibilities awaits on the other side.”

Read the full article on The Arts Desk.

The UK premiere of ‘Liquid Interface’ will take place on Wednesday, March 30 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner as part of the Southbank Centre’s Soundscape Festival. For more information and tickets, visit the London Philharmonic Orchestra website.

Kansas City Lyric Opera clicks on something different: Rise and fall of Steve Jobs

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Patrick Neas interviews Mason ahead of the Kansas City premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. 

“[Bates’] music is also some of the most distinctive new music out there. Having grown up on English psychedelia, Bates is not afraid to use the latest technology in his music, a quality used to great effect in (R)evolution.”

“Bates’ technological innovations couldn’t be put to a better use than in an opera about the ultimate technological innovator. “The first sounds you hear are samples of old Macintosh gear,” Bates said. “You hear keyboards, you hear little beeps. I thought it would be fascinating to open the opera with the actual sounds the protagonist created. We also hear Buddhist meditation sounds that have been recorded and electronically processed to represent the world of Kobun, Jobs’ spiritual adviser.”

Read the full article on the The Kansas City Star website. 

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs will be at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City on March 11 and 12 and on March 13 at Muriel Kauffman Theater, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Credit: Erich Schlegel, Austin Opera

The Independent: “Jobs Well Done”

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Paul Horsley of The Independent talks to the creators of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, ahead of its upcoming performances at The Atlanta Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

“The outstanding new opera by Composer Mason Bates and Librettist Mark Campbell employs impressionistic vignettes and reflective flashbacks to tell the life story of a man who probably had a greater impact on how we communicate today than anyone in modern history.”

“For its creators, part of this opera’s draw is that its subject is of interest to millions. “This audience is going to be made up of opera outsiders,” John Moore (Steve Jobs) said. “I am interested… in those people who don’t know they love opera discovering it through a piece like this.”

Read the full article at The Independent

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at The Long Center Austin Opera, February 2022

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs upcoming performances:

The Atlanta Opera
April 30 May 3, 6 & 8, 2022

Lyric Opera of Kansas City
March 11, 12 & 13, 2022

Conversations with the Philadelphia Orchestra

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Mason talks with the Philadelphia Orchestra on how the life of Apple CEO Steve Jobs “inspired an opera, a rhapsody, and a revolution.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra has performed two of Mason’s premieres in the last year alone. The premiere of The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs, which swirls together many of the musical elements from his opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and the world premiere and Philadelphia Orchestra co-commission of Mason’s Piano Concerto.

Mason’s Piano Concerto, performed by Daniil Trifonov and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will be available to live-stream on Philadelphia’s Digital Stage on:

Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 8:00 PM ET
Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 11:00 PM ET

The concerts will be available to live-stream from the performance and will be available for ticket holders to watch on-demand for one week.

For more information and to purchase a digital ticket visit The Philadelphia Orchestra.