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Join us on January 31, 2026, at 5:00 PM for Sound & Wine, our annual fundraising event celebrating the Contemporary Music Players’ role in the Bay Area’s vibrant cultural landscape. Our Guest of Honor for Sound & Wine 2026 is composer Chen Yi. Born in Guangzhou, China, Chen YI transcends musical and cultural boundaries in her blending of Chinese and Western traditions. Her music has been performed and commissioned by the world’s leading musicians and ensembles. The Players will honor Chen Yi for her contribution to the music of our time as composer, educator, and cultural bridge between China and the West.
Patrons attending Sound & Wine will also attend our "Fire - and Lightenng" concert in the Taube Atrium Theater, immediately following Sound & Wine, which will include the West Coast premiere of Dr. Chen's powerful work "Fire."
Feel the heat rise from music that sparks, crackles, and shines with brilliance.
Viet Cuong — Electric Aroma
Lightning-fast harmonic shifts leap from one tonal center to another in dazzling progression.
Elizabeth Ogonek — Lightenings
Inspired by Seamus Heaney’s poetry, this radiant work reflects on childhood, nature, and metaphysical wonder, drawing on the ancient hymn Phos Hilaron.
Chen Yi — Fire (West Coast Premiere)
Elemental and human forces collide in this work of tension, transformation, and release.
Justin Weiss — through depths and shadows (West Coast Premiere)
A musical journey into Jackson Pollock’s The Deep, peeling back layers of sound and meaning in continual exploration.
Elliott Carter — Mosaic (West Coast Premiere)
A fiery tribute to harpist Carlos Salzedo, whose virtuosity reshaped the harp’s voice for a new century, performed by harpist Amy Ahn.
Fire—and Lightening ignites the stage with elemental power, radiant poetry, and electrifying virtuosity.
