UPCOMING

Sat, February 4th, 2012; 8PM
San Francisco Premiere of "The Nine Muses" for chorus,  2 pianos, and percussion
Sanford Dole Ensemble
San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concert Hall
http://www.sde.org/performances

Wed., February 15th, 2012; 8PM
World premiere:  "I Dream A World" for Chorus and String Orchestra
Commissioned for the centennial of the city of Shaker Heights, OH
Shaker Heights High School Chorus and Orchestra
Robert Schneider and Donna Jelen, music directors

Friday, March 2nd, 2012; 8PM
San Francisco - St. Mark's Lutheran Church
Sat., March 3rd, 2012; 8PM Mill Valley - Mt. Tamalpais Methodist Church
Sun,, March 4th 2012; 4PM Berkeley - David Brower Center
"The Homecoming"  for mixed chorus
Volti;  Robert Geary, conductor
http://www.voltisf.org/

Sunday, March 4th, 2012
"Firebird Motel" - an opera in one act
Hot Air Music Festival
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Elliott Encarnacion, conductor; Gabrielle Traub, stage director

Sun, March 25th, 2012; 4PM 
"In Praise of Music"  for SSAA chorus and piano
San Francisco Girls Chorus;  Susan McMane, conductor
Calvary Presbyterian Church; 2515 Fillmore St., San Francisco
http://www.sfgirlschorus.org/current_sfgc_season

Friday, April 20th, 2012; 8PM
World Premiere: "O Setting Sun" for a cappella chorus
Madison Chamber Choir;  Anthony Cao, conductor
First United Methodist Church; 203 Wisconsin Ave; Madison WI
http://www.madisonchamberchoir.com/

Sat, Sun, Mon, April 27th, 28th, 29th, 2012
World Premiere:  "Songs of Love and War" for TTBB Chorus and Piano four-hands
Golden Gate Men's Chorus; Joseph Piazza, conductor
http://www.ggmc.org/index.php?option=com_eventlist&view=categoriesdetailed&Itemid=54

Sun, May 27th, 2012
World Premiere:  "Facing West" for a cappella chorus
Commissioned for the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge
International Orange Chorale; Zane Fiala, conductor
http://www.iocsf.org/

NEW PUBLICATIONS

E.C. Schirmer Music Company

Love #7279, (TTBB Chorus and Chamber Orchestra or Piano), [Secular] view score
pre-publication edition
text by Philip Littell

Two Hymns in Honor of the Blessed Sacrament:
O Salutaris hostia view score - click to listen
Tantum Ergo view score - click to listen
#6598, (SATB unaccompanied), [Communion], $2.05

Hope Carol, A, #6605, (SSAA & piano), [General], $2.05 view score - click to listen
Hope Carol, A, #7188, (solo voice & piano), [General], $7.50 view score
text by Christina Rossetti

The Snow Lay On The Ground SATB with harp and organ or piano
Snow Lay on the Ground, The, #6419, (SATB, harp & keyboard), [Christmas], $2.05 view score - click to listen
Snow Lay on the Ground, The, #6420, (SSAA, harp & keyboard), [Christmas], $2.05 view score
Snow Lay on the Ground, The, #6421, (TTBB, harp & keyboard), [Christmas], $2.05 view score
Snow Lay on the Ground, The, #6422, (Harp Part), $2.50

"Many of us know the lovely Sowerby setting, and now it is great to have another one.  David Conte keeps the 6/8 rhythm but has created a new melody that has a lit and grace that makes it most attractive. There are also arrangements for SSAA and TTBB."
- Philip Brunelle, The American Organist

RECENT

Fri, December 16, 7:30; Sat, December 17, 2:30; Sun, December 18th, 2:30; 7:30
The Gift of the Magi (opera in one act)
Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Carmel, CA; Stewart Robertson, conductor
http://www.hiddenvalleymusic.org/

Sun, December 3, 2011; 3PM
Menlo-Atherton Performing Arts Center
http://www.facebook.com/SymphonyParnassus

Sun, November 27, 2011; 3PM
In Praise of Music
Symphony Parnassus, Stephen Paulson, conductor
Viva La Music Chorus, Shulamit Hoffman, conductor
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco

July 3-7, 2011
San Francisco AGO Convention
World Premiere: New Work for solo organ
Rodney Gehrke, organist
http://www.sfago2011.org/

July 4-30, 2011
European American Musical Alliance, Paris
Two Masterclasses in Composition; Composition Instruction;
Course in Choral Writing
http://eamusic.org/

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
World Premiere:  Piano Trio
Shanghai Spring Chamber Music Festival
Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China

Thursday, March 10, 2011; 8-9AM
ACDA National Convention, Chicago
Comprehensive Choral Musicianship, David Conte, presenter
International Ballroom North, Hilton
http://acda.org/conferences/2011/session_information

Sunday, March 6th, 2011
World Premiere:  Two Pieces for Brass Quintet and Organ
Donald Sutherland, organ
The C Street Brass
Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, MD

February 27, 2011; 2PM
World premiere:  Sonata for 'Cello and Piano
Emil Miland, 'Cello; Miles Graber, Piano
Faculty Artist Recital
San Francisco Conservatory Recital Hall
http://www.sfcm.edu/calendar/calendar.aspx?performanceID=2604

Saturday, February 5th, 2011; Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, Bethesda, MD
Sunday, March 6th, 2011; Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, MD
World premiere:  "Two Pieces for Brass Quintet and Organ"
C Street Brass; Donald Sutherland, organ

Sunday, January 30th, 2011
World premiere: "Yeats Songs" for Tenor and String Quartet
Brian Thorsett, tenor
Calvary Presbyterian Church
2515 Fillmore St, San Francisco
http://www.calvarypresbyterian.org/

January 5-17, 2011
Cornell University Men's Glee Club California Tour
California premiere: "Crossing the Bar" commissioned by CUGC
concerts in Sacramento, Brentwook, Palo Alto, San Francisco, 
San Anselmo, Pebble Beach, Palm Desrt, San Diego, Los Angeles
http://www.gleeclub.com/events/2011catour/index.php

Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, December 18-21, 2010
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, January 3-6, 2011
German premiere of "The Gift of the Magi"
Berlin International Opera
English Theater Berlin; Fidicinstrasse 40, Berlin
http://www.berlininternationalopera.de

Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
World Premiere: A Bell for SATB Chorus and Organ; 
Commissioned by The Memorial Church at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
for the 101st Annual Christmas Carol Services
and the Harvard University Choir, Edward Elwyn Jones, director
The 101st Annual Christmas Carol Services
The Memorial Church at Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
http://www.memorialchurch.harvard.edu

Friday, December 10th; Saturday, December 11th, 2010
Boston premiere: "The Gift of the Magi"
Boston Metro Opera
Christopher A. Smith, General and Artistic Director
http://www.bostonmetroopera.com/winter-one-acts---overview.html

Friday, December 10th; Saturday, December 11th, 2010
World premiere:  "Ring Out, Wild Bells"
St. Philip's Cathedral, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus
Kevin Robison, conductor
http://agmchorus.org/

Friday, December 3rd, 2010
"O Salutaris Hostias;" "Tantum Ergo;" "Alleluia"
UC Davis Chorus
Jeffrey Thomas, conductor
http://calendar.ucdavis.edu/event_detail.lasso?eventID=11416

Friday, December 3rd, 2010
"The Gift of the Magi" an opera in one act
SF Conservatory Opera Theatre
Concert Hall, SFCM

Saturday - Sunday, November 20th - 21st, 2010
A Copland Portrait - Bay Area premiere
American Philharmonic; Gabriel Sakakeeny, conductor
http://www.apsonoma.org/html/concerts.html

Saturday - Sunday, October 23rd - 24th, 2010
Los Angeles premiere of "America Tropical"  an opera in one act
University of Southern California

Saturday - Sunday, October 16th - October 17th, 2010
World premiere:  "To Music"
The San Diego Master Chorale
Gary McKercher, conductor
commissioned for the SDMC's 50th anniversary
http://www.sdmasterchorale.org/

Saturday, October 9th, 2010
SF Conservatory, Concert Hall 8PM
Premiere of the complete "Sexton Songs" 
Blueprint Series
Marnie Breckenridge, soprano
Nicole Paiement, conductor
SFCM New Music Ensemble

Friday, March 26th 2010
on the KALW radio show VoiceBox, hosted by New York Times arts critic Chloe Veltman. 
To listen: voicebox

Sunday, February 28, 2010
Faculty Artist Recital 
David Conte, composition, with the Ives Quartet; Douglas Rioth,
harp; Catherine Cook, mezzo-soprano
Steven Bailey, piano; Emil Miland, cello

April 5th, 2009
Carolyn Schuster, organ, Church of the Madeleine, Paris
"Prelude and Fugue: In Memoriam Nadia Boulanger"

April 15th, 2009
Chanticleer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
"The Homecoming"

March 14th, 2009 - San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Faculty Artist Concert with Catherine Cook, Mezzo-soprano

February 13th, 2009
World premiere of "Lincoln" for baritone and chamber ensemble text by John Stirling Walker
commissioned by the city of Concord, MA in celebration of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth

January 20th, 2009, Obama's Inauguration
featuring Conte's new choral work "An Exhortation",
with text by Barack Obama from his Victory Speech of November 4th, 2008

December 20th, 21st, 22nd, 2008- "The Gift of the Magi"
Trinity Lyric Opera, John Kendall Bailey, Conductor
Castro Valley Center for the Arts; San Francisco Conservatory of Music
http://www.trinitylyricopera.org

November 21st, 2008, 8PM - New York premiere of "Everyone Sang"
Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, New York
song cycle for Baritone and Piano
Andrew Garland, baritone; Donna Loewy, piano
texts by A. E. Stallings, Dana Gioia, Diane Thiel, Sigfried Sassoon
http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/series/brochure/ser_582.html

September 25th-28th, October lst, 2008
new commission for Chanticleer, Joseph Jennings, Music Director
"The Homecoming: In Memoriam Martin Luther King"
text by John Stirling Walker
http://www.chanticleer.org/concerts_shows.cfm

May 16th, 2008
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus 30th Anniversary Concert
Community Women's Orchestra
Kathleen McGuire, conductor
new work for Men's Chorus and Orchestra

May 9th, 2008
Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Sixth Biannual Choral Composition Competition, SFCM students

April 24th, 2008
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Dallas Arts District Chorale, Michie Akin, conductor
Performance of "The Nine Muses" and other choral works. This event coincides with the DMA’s exhibition of works by “proto-impressionist” J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851).
for more information: http://www.artsdistrictchorale.org/documents/ADC2007-08-SeasonofLight-R1.pdf

April 3rd, 2008
USC, Los Angeles
Lecture: "America Tropical: Creating a New Opera"
with librettist Oliver Mayer

February 16th, 2008
Texas Music Educator's Association
All-state Men's Chorus; performance of "Student Song" from "Carmina Juventutis"
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, TX
for more information: http://www.tmea.org/Convention/index.html

December 14th, 2007
St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1111 O'Farrell St.
Christmas concert featuring Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" and Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on Christmas Carols"
Conservatory Chorus, David Conte, conductor

Sunday, November 11th, 2007
San Francisco Faculty Artists Series
Osher Salon, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Famous, a new opera in progress
a workshop presentation of the music
Music by David Conte
Libretto by John Stirling Walker
based on the book "Famous for Fifteen Minutes: My Years with Andy Warhol"
by Ultra Violet

Famous presents a series of impression from the life of Isabelle Dufresne ("UltraViolet" in Andy Warhol's Factory), in eight scenes that are intended to convey something of the spirit of her development from her childhood in France through her encounters with Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and Edie Sedgwick in America, to her return to her family, where she has a transformative encounter with her own past and with the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.

September 29th, 2007
Museum Screening: Orozco: Man of Fire
DeYoung Museum, San Francisco

September 19th, 2007
Television Broadcast: Orozco: Man of Fire
Documentary with music by David Conte
Directed by Laurie Coyle and Rick Tejada-Flores
narrated by Anjelica Huston
American Masters Series, PBS
Wednesday, September 19th
check local listings for time

April 29th-May 20th, 2007
AMERICA TROPICAL - an opera in one act
Music by David Conte
Libretto by Oliver Mayer
click to listen

commissioned and premiered by Thick Description Theater Company, San Francisco
16 performances; conducted by John Kendall Bailey; directed by Tony Kelly

In an act of creation that is both galvanizing and dangerous, the Mexican artist Siqueiros creates a mural for the 1932 Olympics that places a mirror up to the city of Los Angeles, reflecting both its past and future -- from its founding in 1781 by a band of Pobladores from Mexico, to its near self-destruction in the riots of 1992. Through the interconnected stories of original city founder Moreno and George Holliday, who witnessed the savage beating of Rodney King (just as Siqueiros is witness with his paint brush), we see and feel the crises of a city continually caught between its lofty goals and coarse realities. Whitewashed in 1932, Siqueiros' painted mural image of the Crucified India refuses to stay erased and ghosts through, descending from the cross to offer redemption and blessings to Angelinos across the centuries. The India exists alongside the Queen of the Angels (namesake of the City) as a witness to injustice, and as a totem of the hopes and dreams of its people – signifying more than Siqueiros could have dreamed possible.

March 7th, 2007
ACDA National Convention, Miami, FL
THE NINE MUSES - for SATB chorus, SATB soloists, piano four-hands, percussion (two players)
Music by David Conte
Text by John Stirling Walker
click to listen

"The Nine Muses" was commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association Endowment in memory of Raymond W. Brock. The work was premiered by the University of Miami Frost Chorale, Jo-Michael Scheibe, conductor, at their National Convention in Miami, Florida on March 8th, 2007.

The inspiration for “The Nine Muses” came from my desire to write a work about the Transfiguring power of art, to fulfill the Raymond Brock commission for the ACDA National Convention. I turned for a text to my frequent collaborator, the poet John Stirling Walker, who had written the texts for my works “Elegy for Matthew” in memory of Matthew Shepard, and “September Sun,” a 9/11 memorial piece.

The challenge was to compose a single-movement work, lasting about fifteen minutes, that, like the nine stanza poem, holds together as one thought from beginning to end. One way I was able to express the unique character of each Muse was through contrasting choral and vocal solo textures. This design served to complement the work’s unfolding trajectory towards its two climaxes: the declaration that “It is the hour” for humanity to receive the blessings that have been earned through its collective suffering, and the admonition that only the “daring passion” of the courageous will suffice to vanquish the remaining opposition to these  blessings.