Feinsmith Quartet performs original compositions by founder and artistic director Daniel David Feinsmith and guitarist Gyan Riley on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 7 pm at Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center, 3200 California Street (at Presidio), San Francisco. Tickets are $15-$25.

The October 8 concert program presents Feinsmith Quartet performing Elokim (2006) and the world premiere of Havaya (2007) by Daniel David Feinsmith. Both Elokim and Havaya, composed for the Feinsmith Quartet, are spiritual works, their titles reflecting names of God in Hebrew in the Jewish tradition. Elokim is a work that exalts in the creative power of the Divine, and Havaya is a work of longing for a closeness to God. Feinsmith Quartet with special guest, drummer Scott Amendola, performs the premieres of new arrangements for Melismantra (2006) and The Changes Stay The Same (2006) by guitarist Gyan Riley, both improvisatory works with links to Hindustani Raga music.

Each member of Feinsmith Quartet has a well-earned reputation as a critically-acclaimed performer and recording artist. Cellist Jennifer Culp performed from 1998 to 2005 with Kronos Quartet, whose 2004 recording with Culp of Berg's Lyric Suite earned the group its first Grammy Award. Bassist Michael Manring is regarded as a technical virtuoso who uses the bass as a solo instrument and frequently takes advantage of unusual alternate tunings. Gyan Riley is a prominent figure of guitar and contemporary music, as well as a great composer, and has often performed with his father, composer Terry Riley. Pianist Christopher Taylor has been lauded by critics for his exquisite virtuostic renditions of Bach, romantic piano concertos, and adventurous musical programming. A NY Times feature on Taylor began: "Those who know the pianist Christopher Taylor tend to speak of him in the hushed, reverent tones typically reserved for natural wonders if not the otherwordly."

Artist Bios

CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR, Piano. "Those who know the pianist Christopher Taylor tend to speak of him in the hushed, reverent tones typically reserved for natural wonders if not the otherworldly. Colleagues trip over words like 'innocence,' 'fervor,' 'beauty' and 'vision' in an attempt to capture his elusive personality. Critics praise his virtuosity, his cerebral interpretations tempered by an aching tenderness, his unconventional programming and his advocacy of late-20th-century music." So begins recent New York Times preview article about this remarkable pianist, an artist pursuing a varied and truly acclaimed career.

While Taylor has a well-earned reputation for his exquisite performances of Bach and his exciting performances of romantic piano concertos, he captured the attention of the music world with his tour de force programming of Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus. "Before a rapt audience at the Miller Theater on Saturday night, Mr. Taylor, a lanky 31-year-old pianist who graduated summa cum laude in mathematics from Harvard, gave an astonishing performance of Messiaen's complete 'Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus,' more than two hours of some of the most complex and difficult music ever written for the piano. And he played the 176-page score from memory."

Christopher Taylor has been heard in performance with the New York Philharmonic, the Buffalo and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the National Symphony, and the Symphonies of Atlanta, Houston, Fort Worth, among many others in the U.S. and abroad. Recently honored with an Avery Fisher Career Grant, he is the winner of the Kapell Competition, the Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the Bronze Medal at the Van Cliburn Competition.

During the 2005/2006 concert season, Taylor's schedule included performances of the extraordinary Ligeti Etudes at UC Berkeley and at the Gardner Museum in Boston. He performed the complete Bach Goldberg Variations at the Tuscan Sun Festival, the University of Wisconsin, and the Arts Club of Chicago. This season includes the first performances his three-year Complete Beethoven Sonata cycle, as well as concerto appearances with the Memphis Symphony and the National Philharmonic at the new Strathmore Hall, among others.

Christopher Taylor was propelled into critical recognition in 1993 when he became the first American since 1981 to reach the finals in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He went on to win the Bronze Medal, and his resulting CD won him critical acclaim. Previouly, Mr. Taylor was an early recipient of the Gilmore Young Artists Award (1990), a scholarship for exceptionally promising American pianists aged 22 or younger. Shortly thereafter he took first prize in the William Kapell International Piano Competition at the University of Maryland and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Since his first solo recital at ten he has given concerts in many cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Baltimore and Denver, and dozens of communities in the U.S. and abroad. He has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and with numerous other orchestras. He has appeared at the Ravinia Festival, and (on several occasions) at the Colorado Music Festival, among others.

Mr. Taylor began his piano studies in his native Boulder, Colorado, under Julie Bees, and has since studied with Francisco Aybar, Russell Sherman, and Maria Curcio Diamand. While pursuing his musical career he also attended Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in mathematics in 1992. Mr. Taylor maintains many other active interests, including composition (a field in which he has won several awards), music theory, linguistics, bicycling, and hiking. Christopher Taylor is on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

JENNIFER CULP, Cello. Jennifer Culp has been an active chamber musician for the past 25 years. She is currently on the collegiate faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms. Culp was a member of the Kronos Quartet for seven years from 1998, during which time her busy international career included appearances at Sydney Opera House, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, London's Barbican Centre, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and WOMAD Festival in New Zealand. The quartet won many international and national awards including Musical America's 2003 "Musicians of the Year" and a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance of Berg's Lyric Suite in 2004. Ms. Culp has collaborated with artists such as Zakir Hussein, Dawn Upshaw, Tom Waits, Sandor Vegh, Asha Bhosle and Irina Schnittke. She received a B.M. and M.M from the San Francisco and New England Conservatories, studying with Bonnie Hampton and Laurence Lesser. Ms. Culp was also cellist with the Dunsmuir Piano Quartet, Empyrean Ensemble, Philadelphia String Quartet, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has recorded numerous world premieres for Nonesuch, New Albion, CRI, Orion, New World and Sony.

MICHAEL MANRING, Bass. Michael Manring is an electric bassist from the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to a tenure as the in-house bassist for Windham Hill Records, Manring has recorded with Michael Hedges, Alex Skolnick (in the bands Skol-Patrol and Attention Deficit, also featuring Tim Alexander from Primus), Larry Kassin, Tom Darter, Steve Morse, David Cullen, and many other noted musicians. He has been a member of Yo Miles!, Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith's Miles Davis tribute band, since its inception. He remains active, touring the world for performances and clinics. Manring studied with Jaco Pastorius.

Manring is regarded as a technical virtuoso, using the bass as a solo instrument and frequently taking advantage of unusual alternate tunings. Manring occasionally plays on two (or even three) basses at the same time during live performances. He is known for playing and endorsing Zon basses -- specifically, the Zon Hyperbass, an unusually flexible four-stringed instrument which Manring co-designed with Joseph Zon. Manring is now performing with guitarist Alex de Grassi and percussionist Chris Garcia in the De Mania trio.

GYAN RILEY, Guitar. Born in Northern California in 1977, Gyan Riley has emerged as a prominent figure of guitar and contemporary music, both as a performer and composer. In 1999, he became the first graduate level guitarist ever to be awarded a full merit-based scholarship from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His awards include First Prizes in the Portland International Guitar Festival Competition, the San Francisco Conservatory Guitar Concerto Competition, and the Music in the Mountains Young Musicians Competition. Gyan played in the American premiere of John Adams' El Nino, with David Tanenbaum, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and the San Francisco Symphony. Concert tours have taken him to some of the world's most prestigious concert halls in the UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Croatia, Turkey, Norway, and throughout the United States. Gyan tours regularly with the Europe-based World Guitar Ensemble, the Los Angeles-based Falla Guitar Trio, and his father, composer/pianist Terry Riley. Gyan has been commissioned to compose various works, some of which were released on his debut CD Food for the Bearded, on the New Albion label. Following Gyan's solo appearance at Carnegie Recital Hall, he was invited to premiere a newly commissioned solo original work as part of a performance for the 2006 New York Guitar Festival. Gyan served as the artistic director for the San Francisco Classical Guitar Society from 2002-2004, and as professor of guitar at Humboldt State University for the 2005-2006 academic year.

SCOTT AMENDOLA. Drums. Since landing in San Francisco in 1992, Scott Amendola has been nominated for a Grammy with the band T.J. Kirk, recorded three records with Charlie Hunter for Blue Note, toured the world and appeared on national television with The Charlie Hunter Quartet, formed his own inventive house-packing quintet, and has recorded or performed with dozens of musicians, including Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Tony Furtado, Noe Venable and Jacky Terrasson, and many others. Amendola's inspiration stems from such stylistic influences as African music, jazz, blues, spirituals, rock, and the avant garde. Scott has never been satisfied with just being a masterful drummer. He has spent his career pushing music in new directions; most notably with his latest project: The Scott Amendola Band, for which he composes and arranges all the music. The self-titled debut CD features Jenny Scheinman on violin, guitarist Dave Mac Nab, bassist Todd Sickafoose, and Eric Crystal on reeds. His music ranges from hard-hitting grooves to lush ballads, and from his original compositions to covers by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Fela, and Nick Drake.

"One thing for certain, the music doesn't sound quite like anything else," writes Steven Raphael of Modern Drummer magazine. "There is a phenomenal interaction of five distinct musical voices. Amendola and his hand-picked crew take responsive improvisation to new heights." For Amendola, "it's all about improvisation and opening up the music so that anything can happen." Just as importantly, Scott strives to create a "band sound," a oneness among the players that at once challenges and complements each musician. Once the band is in that deep pocket, the audience can't help feeling it.

In addition to his own new release, other recent recordings on which he appears include: The Nels Cline Singers Instrumentals (Cryptogramophone), Jenny Scheinman Quartet Live at Yoshi's (Tzadik), The Tony Furtado Band (Cojema), Jim Campilongo's Live at the Du Nord (Ethic), Noe Venable's Boots (Petrydish), Paul Sprawl's Blue Suitcase (Intuition), and Paul Plimley's Safe-Crackers (Victo). Over the past ten years Scott has toured, recorded, or performed with Bill Frisell, Dave Liebman, John Zorn, Wadada Leo Smith, Jacky Terrasson, Shweta Jhaveri, Larry Goldings, Sex Mob, Robin Holcomb and the Joe Goode Dance Group, Wayne Horvitz, Johnny Griffin, Viktor Krauss, Paul Plimley, Tony Furtado, Jack Walrath, Julian Priester, Sonny Simmons, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Pat Martino, Nels Cline, Peter Apfelbaum, Jim Campilongo, Bobby Black, Paul McCandless, Ben Goldberg, Mark Turner, Michael Franti, Primus, Nina Hagen, Phil Lesh, Leight and Matt from Six Pence None the Richer, and others, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, and Australia. -- www.feinsmithquartet.com