90/100: Celebrating Stuart Dempster, Bill O. Smith, and West Coast Experimentalism

SMO returns for their annual University of Washington residency to celebrate the legacies of West Coast luminaries Stuart Dempster (b. 1936) and William O. Smith (1926-2020). Curated by longtime SMO clarinetist Rachel Yoder, the evening integrates elements of improvisation, deep listening, and playfully creative movement while rebooting elements of the composer/performer duo’s historic antics. SMO is joined by all-star guests C. Neil Parsons (Boston) on bass trombone and movement and Yoder on clarinets. Expect movement throughout the space and embodied, theatrical music-making, as well as the sonic high of Smith’s wild and wonderful extended clarinet techniques.

Order a subscription to the entire SMO season – three concerts for one price!

Program:

PAULINE OLIVEROS: The Well and the Gentle (1985)
WILLIAM O. SMITH: Encounter (1970)
RACHEL YODER: Double Void (2026) – World Premiere
CURTIS K. HUGHES: chewing gum tornado (2026)
WILLIAM O. SMITH: Explorations for clarinet and chamber orchestra (1998)
STUART DEMPSTER: S.M.O.R.E.S (2017)* – SMO Commission