Seattle Modern Orchestra’s (SMO's) University of Washington residency celebrates the legacies of longtime former School of Music professors and West Coast luminaries Stuart Dempster (b. 1936) and William O. Smith (1926-2020) with "90/100, Celebrating Stuart Dempster, William O. Smith, and West Coast Experimentalism." 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 Dempster himself on conch, as well as 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.
Program
Stuart Dempster: Improvisation for Conch (2026)
Pauline Oliveros: The Well and the Gentle (1985)
William O. Smith: Encounter (1970)
Rachel Yoder: TBD (WORLD PREMIERE)
William O. Smith: Explorations for clarinet and chamber orchestra (1998)
Stuart Dempster: S.M.O.R.E.S (2017)