The Fourth San Francisco World Music Festival 2003
Festival 2003 was an exciting gathering of some of the most interesting musicians in the world, which ran September 4-18, 2003 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Dance Center, featuring artists from Afghanistan, Altay, China, Eastern Europe, India, Kamchatka, Lebanon, Russia, and Tuva.
Performances at Yerba Buean Center for the Arts:
The centerpiece of the festival was a specially commissioned orchestral work with libretto
by the internationally acclaimed Lebanese composer Marcel Khalife, which premiered September
11th as an international music experiment and artistic statement for global peace. It was
performed by a select orchestra of locally based world music masters, including KITKA, an all
women Eastern European vocal ensemble, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra as directed by
Benjamin Simon, Chinese erhu virtuoso Zhang Xiao Feng, Chinese master percussionist Hai Pu,
and a leading female Lebanese vocalist Omayma El Khalil, and included visual and lighting
design by Matthew Antaky. This opening concert promoted San Francisco as a world center for
international music collaborations. On September 12th & 14th, some of the worldps most
interesting indigenous throat singers, folk dancers and musicians, and shaman spiritual
elders of Central Asia, Siberia, and Kamchatka unveiled their centuries-old folk rituals.
On September 13th, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, India's most celebrated santoor instrumentalist
and vocalist, his gifted son Rahul Sharma and the acclaimed tabla player Ustaad Shafaat
Ahmed Khan performed the timeless music of North India (this concert was produced in
association with Bay Area Performing Arts).
Performances and Lectures at the Asian Art Museum:
Kicking off the festival on September 4th was a North Indian Master Class by the
distinguished Vijay Kichlu. Another highlight was the first annual Youth World Music
Showcase on September 6, featuring elementary and high school students of world music
masters in the Bay Area -- from Alice Fong Yu Chinese Orchestra & Percussion Troupe,
San Francisco Gu Zheng Society, Habib Khan School, and others. On September 18, Chinese
Beijing Opera artists Sun Ji-Hai, Guan Yi, and Zhang Ying-Chao held a live demonstrations
in A Closer Look At Peking Opera, which included a make-up and costume
demonstration, a lecture about Chinese opera by scholar Chen Tsai-Yen, and excerpts of
Farewell My Concubine.
Workshops at the San Francisco Dance Center:
Tuvan throat singing and Kamchatkan dance groups taught Bay Area audiences.
Residency at the Alice Fong Yu School:
Tuvan musicians taught the school percussion troupe the music of Tuva and held an evening
concert for the community.
Masterclass at San Francisco State University:
Marcel Khalife performed a solo lecture demonstration for the music students and general public.
