''For the radio series, see Earplay.'' Earplay is a

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

ensemble founded in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

in 1985. They describe their music as "lyrical and ferocious, modern and Romantic, finely honed and accessible." Earplay was founded in 1985 by a consortium of composers and performers. Each year, Earplay presents live concerts of challenging music by contemporary composers, including works commissioned specially for Earplay, which annually sponsors a competition for new compositions. The group's conductor is member Mary Chun, who first appeared as a guest conductor with the group in 1999 (as a guest conductor replacing George Thompson, who conducted the group for 14 years). Composer Martha Callison Horst served as president for a number of years. The current President is Stephen Ness. Earplay's presentation of new works is designed to assist composers in their craft and provide recordings for archival purposes. To increase audience involvement, the organization stages pre-concert presentations with composers and discussions of their works.

Listen to

2005 season highlights

External links

Earplay official website

References

Musical groups established in 1985 Chamber music groups Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area 1985 establishments in California {{classical-ensemble-stub