Common Sense Composers' Collective

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The Common Sense Composers Collective is a San Francisco/New York City based collective of eight composers. Although 'well-pedigreed,' having completed music programs at Yale, Harvard, Columbia and Cornell, we emerged from our schooling dissatisfied and restless. The impetus for the group's creation can best be described by the catch-phrase "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own," (coined by San Francisco's own Zen journalist, Wes "Scoop" Nisker) which, along with the name Common Sense, helps to define the spirit of our group.



After eleven years (and counting), our group continues to explore alternative ways of conceiving, developing, and presenting new musical works. Each year the eight composers comprising Common Sense seek out and collaborate with a different performing group. Our initial project was the creation of, and collaboration with, an eleven-member performance ensemble. In December 1993 the nineteen musicians and composers involved began meeting periodically for workshop sessions. In June 1994 we presented the world premieres of eight new compositions. A CD of the resulting pieces, Common Sense, was released in January 1997 by CRI as part of their acclaimed Emergency Music series.



We have since gone on to complete eight such collaborations with the following diverse ensembles: San Francisco's Alternate Currents Performing Ensemble, the acclaimed Bay Area period instrument ensemble American Baroque, the innovative NYC duo Twisted Tutu, the Meridian Arts Ensemble, Albany Symphony's chamber orchestra, Dogs of Desire, and the New Millennium Ensemble. Our most recent project for 2003 was a collaboration with NYC's Essential Music.



Our second CD, a recording of the works written for American Baroque entitled Shock of the Old, was released in June 2002 on the Santa Fe New Music label and is now in international distribution by Harmonia Mundi. It recently received the prestigious Chamber Music America/WQXR 2003 Record Award.



We have new CD out on Albany Records titled TIC. Just released this year and once again the result of a collaboration with a dynamic, virtuosic performing ensemble. The pieces contained on TIC were originally written in 1996 in collaboration with the members of the Alternate Currents Performance Ensemble. And though Common Sense comrade Melissa Hui was unable to participate for this particular project, the seven remaining works made the rounds, eventually finding a home with the New Millennium Ensemble. The new CD can be purchased directly by clicking on the link above.



In addition to our creative projects, for five years we extended our philosophy of collaboration and bridge-building into the creation of the OPUS415 series of quasi-annual day-long Bay Area New Music Marathons. Presented in San Francisco, these marathons showcased the diverse voices of Bay Area composers and performers, along with a selection of special guests from around the country. Through five such marathons to date, we have presented over 130 composers and hundreds more performers from the Bay Area and beyond.



The members of the Common Sense Composers Collective are convinced that both the high quality and success of our projects are due in great part to the experience of group work and collaboration. We experimented with (and daresay improved upon) the process in which most new concert works are midwifed. To our great delight, the joyous spirit of celebration which has accompanied each project to date has convinced us that we're on to something! Stay tuned as we forge ahead on this fruitful collaborative path!