San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Keeping it current: Symphony’s digital series
A folk song taps into the stories, sounds and traditions of San Francisco’s Chinese community. A popular tune reveals that the freedom and passion of jazz are a state of mind. The rhymes and rhythm of Oakland hiphop fuse with classical sounds in a burst of art and activism. Mexico’s multigenerational musical culture inspires a voyage of discovery.
In the video and podcast series CURRENTS, the San Francisco Symphony explores the fabric of the Bay Area’s musical communities through the voices and talents of its creators and citizens.
The format is fresh: Beautifully filmed minidocumentaries feature personal reflections and collaborative performances by members of the Symphony and a bevy of local artists. An accompanying podcast teases out various themes explored in each video episode while CURRENTS Explore & Create is a fun and interactive look behind the music.
Tying the whole thing together is Oaklandbased conductor Michael Morgan who serves as CURRENTS’ host and curator.
“I’ve always thought a large part of my job here is to keep my ear to the ground and to really have a good idea of what people are actually listening to.... As I hear that there are various musical currents that are darting around, I try to know more about them, and I try to engage with people who are experts in them, which is why collaboration is so important,” Morgan says.
“Collaboration” and “connection” are perhaps the words that bubble up most often when talking about CURRENTS. Polymath Oakland musician Kev
Choice — pianist, composer, emcee, activist and educator are just some of his many roles — seems as if he were born to unite people through music. His stunning new song “Movements” is at the heart of CURRENTS: From Scratch, an exploration of the influences and perspectives of Oakland’s Hip Hop culture.
“Being a classically trained pianist and also a student of the hiphop movement, I’ve always wanted to see these worlds come together.… So the more things like this happen, I feel like it just gives people an opportunity to see that collaboration, to feel that energy, to feel that beauty, because I feel like that’s one of the most powerful musical things in the world,” Choice says.
Eugene Rodriguez, founder and director of Richmond musical ensemble and arts academy Los Cenzontles ( headliners for CURRENTS: ¡ Viva México!), shares this sentiment: “I think the most important aspect of this collaboration is to let people know that our musical cultures connect. That we are part of the same world and that we have mutual respect and mutual understanding, and that we can create something powerful and beautiful together.”
Equally important is CURRENTS’ role in expressing that which is… well, current. The series energetically meets the moment with beauty and candor and while it may represent a shift in focus for the San Francisco Symphony, it also feels rooted in necessity.
One of the orchestra’s newest members, Associate Principal Trumpet Aaron Schuman, who performs in CURRENTS: From Scratch, puts it this way: “If someone was to ask me if it’s important to be an activist as a musician, I would say the short answer is yes. How can that not make society better?”