San Francisco Contemporary Music Players

FROM PREVIOUS GRANT: The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players presents five concerts each year featuring the music of late 20th and 21st century composers, bringing together leading local musicians and acclaimed composers to present pieces of adventurous music that are frequently so challenging that few other ensembles in the United States can perform them. To make the obscure (if not entirely unknown) music accessible to its audiences, the organization precedes each concert with a "Contemporary Insight" lecture/performance the day before a work is performed. At these sessions, eminent musicologists, the group's music director, and the artists themselves walk audience members through a featured piece of music. During the past grant period, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players' longtime executive and artistic directors both left the organization, as did a number of board members. The organization, which is heavily dependent on contributed income, also experienced significant declines in institutional and individual contributions. Renewed support would enable the organization to conduct a search for a new artistic director, undertake a strategic planning process, grow its board, and strengthen its fundraising efforts.