Left Coast Chamber Ensemble throws a birthday party for 20th-century composers
By Bruce Bellingham


The celebrated Left Coast Chamber Ensemble pays homage to 20th century masters Messiaen, Carter and Rorem with two concerts this month in honor of the composers’ winter birthdays.

Ravel’s Chansons Madècasses will also be performed. This piece caused an enormous stir when it premiered in 1926. Soprano Susan Rode Morris joins the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble for this set of erotic and insurgent songs.
  
The concert closes with a world premiere of a composition by Ryan Brown.
The first performance will be held on Dec. 11 in downtown Mill Valley, and the program is repeated on Dec. 15 in San Francisco.

Happy Birthdays! Messiaen, Carter & Rorem: 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Avenue (at Bayview), Mill Valley; Thursday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m. and Herbst Theatre Green Room, 401 Van Ness Avenue (near Grove); Monday, Dec. 15, 8 p.m. Tickets $15-$20 at the door, 415-642-8054 or www.leftcoastensemble.org.