Irene Sazer and Real Vocal String Quartet debut ambitious new music in SF
Irene Sazer founded Real Vocal String Quartet about 15 years ago to explore the far-flung musical traditions she loves and showcase a rising generation of highly-schooled string players similarly drawn to jazz and a global array of styles.
The original lineup recorded two critically hailed albums and earned further acclaim via a collaboration with singer Feist on her Polaris Music Prize-winning 2011 album “Metals.”
Sazer’s new album “Culture Kin” is an audaciously ambitious international project featuring a stellar new RVSQ lineup and musicians from around the globe. Made possible by a major grant from the Gerbode Foundation in partnership with Women’s Audio Mission, “Culture Kin” features Brazilian percussionist Roberta Valente, Côte D’Ivoire vocalist Fely Tchaco, Barcelona cellist Marta Roma, Sicily’s Laura Inserra on the metallic Hang drum, Berkeley composer George Brooks, and Irish vocalist Máirtín de Cógáin.
They’ll all be on hand May 25 at YBCA Forum, joining Sazer and her new RSVQ bandmates Sumaia Jackson (five-string violin), David Tangney (cello) and Sam Shuhan (bass).
“I didn’t want to give up on Real Vocal String Quartet when people had babies and went to grad school,” Sazer says. “I tried a bunch of different players and I ended up with this group of spectacularly talented young people who were all game for collaborating with the ‘Culture Kin’ artists.”
Details: 8 p.m.; YBCA Forum, San Francisco; $25; 415-978-2700, www.ybca.org.