Workshop Performance at 6pm
Free with RSVP
Zachary James Watkins’s Exciting Sites of Opposition III is the latest in a series of works by Watkins exploring the multiplicity of the term resonance in human relations and in acoustics, especially as it relates to histories of struggle and resilience. The initial work in this series, completed in 2015 at the invitation of Indigenous art collective Postcommodity, involved a community activation of the Black Heritage Society’s Heritage Hall in Guelph, Ontario, built by formerly enslaved Africans who escaped the United States aided by abolitionists and First Nation Tribes.
In 2024, Watkins returned to this theme while clearing out his mother’s art studio where he grew up in Lubbock, Texas, after her passing, collaborating with family members and soprano Lisa E. Harris on a collection of site-specific recordings. For his commission from The Lab and third entry into this series of works, Watkins is joined again by Lisa E. Harris and Bay Area-based bassoonist Jamael Smith. The trio will work within the newly excavated, raw space of the historic San Francisco Labor Temple, as a pre-renovation site of The Lab, with Watkins tuning his equipment to the site and exploring the location through improvisation and activation of natural resonances.
About the Artists
Zachary James Watkins is a composer and performer based in Oakland, working with just-tuned frequencies on guitar, oscillators, and an array of pedals, in addition to his work with chamber ensembles of all sizes. He has been commissioned by documenta 14, Kronos Quartet, The Living Earth Ensemble, sfSound, and the Seattle Chamber Players, among others. For many years, he toured and recorded as part of the duo Black Spirituals, and currently performs in Foreign/Domestic. He studied composition and electronic music at Cornish College and Mills College, where he received an MFA.
Interdisciplinary artist, musician, and researcher Li(sa E.) Harris uses voice, theremin, electronics, movement, improvisation, meditation, and new media to explore healing in performance and living. Li is trained as a classical voice/opera singer and performs across a wide range of genres and mediums. Li starred in the 2017 world premiere of The Nubian Word for Flowers: A Phantom Opera by Pauline Oliveros and Ione, and performed at Carnegie Hall in Pauline at 90. The founder/creative director of the socially engaged creative arts studio, Studio Enertia, Li has received awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Dorothea Tanning Award, among many others.
Jamael Smith is a San Francisco-based bassoonist and educator. A dedicated performer of contemporary and chamber music, they are a member of the San Francisco Contemporary Players and Eco Ensemble; as a chamber musician, they perform as a member of Quinteto Latino and the Avenue Winds. They also serve as a core member of the conductorless chamber orchestra One Found Sound, and perform frequently with the San Francisco Symphony. A passionate educator, Smith serves as the Director of Wind Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the instructor of bassoon at San Jose State University.
The Lab graciously acknowledges the support of the National Endowment forthe Arts’ Grants for Arts Projects program in the production and presentation of Exciting Sites of Opposititon III.