SF Classical Voice: SF Contemporary Music Players Step Up (and Down)

“The good vibes began with a cheery collegial exchange between Artistic Director Eric Dudley and Vivian Fung, the ubiquitous San Francisco-based composer whose Ominous got its West Coast premiere as part of Saturday’s program. Fung’s declared mission of “testing what’s possible” with an ensemble of “very virtuosic players” was successfully shared by all four of the evening’s composers, and by the packed audience…

Although only 12 minutes long, Ominous functioned as a generous gallery exhibition of its composer’s panoply of talents. Accumulating acoustic mass, it attained a tangible though ragged pulse, here with smoky, twirling ascending melody lines, there with fortissimo neural bursts. The figuration was often fascinating, and there was a lively, lovely interlude for strings. After the finish, applauded and cheered by the audience, Fung came forward to hug Dudley and applaud the ensemble.”