American Mavericks Finale in San Francisco
The final concert of the San Francisco Symphony’s Mavericks festival began with Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood, a classic example of first-generation minimalism. Performed from memory by members of the San Francisco Symphony’s percussion section (Jack Van Geem, Raymond Froelich, David Herbert, Tom Hemphill, and James Lee Wyatt III), the piece’s slowly adapting rhythms and layers of finely-tuned pieces of wood (claves) was the perfect way to settle in for the rest of the show. The percussionists were unfazed by some rather loud talking in the back of the orchestra section where a couple elderly patrons were confused about what exactly was going on, and which piece it was anyway.
Tom Hemphill, James Lee Wyatt III, David Herbert, Jack Van Geem and Raymond Froehlich – Photo by Kristen Loken
