SAN DIEGO ARTS : Classical Music

- The San Francisco Symphony will give the world premiere of UC San Diego composer Roger Reynolds’ latest composition “Symphony(Vertigo)” on Dec. 9 in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall. The performance, a subscription concert conducted by San Francisco Symphony associate conductor Andrew Massey, is part of that orchestra’s weeklong festival of computer music, organized by composer-in-residence Charles Wuorinen and Reynolds.

Known for his compositional ability to combine both electronic music and live performers, Reynolds constructed this work for orchestra and computer-generated tape. According to the composer, the 22-minute piece was inspired by Czech author Milan Kundera’s recently translated novel, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”

Other UCSD musicians who will be featured in the San Francisco festival include faculty violinist Janos Negyesy and composer Lee Ray, who will give an all-electronic chamber music concert at the Palace of Fine Arts on Dec. 11.

On their program they will perform “Zivatar,” a multimedia work for electronic violin created at UCSD’s Center for Music Experiment by Negyesy and Lee. Graduate composer Paul Koonce’s piece “Transient” will be played by the Indiana University New Music Ensemble on its Dec. 10 program at Davies Hall.