As Matilda Hofman takes the reins as Left Coast’s Artistic Director, here is your chance to learn more about Matilda in her own words, from her perspective on and off the podium.
First, let’s talk about Left Coast. What are some of your most memorable experiences or performances with this ensemble?
The productions of Kurt Rohde’s first opera, Death with Interruptions, were intense, and intensely rewarding experiences. I also loved joining Left coast performances as a violist, starting in the pandemic, a time which changed so many ways of looking at life. But what is most memorable about Left Coast for me is the continuity of music-making over time, which develops and evolves in wonderful ways.
With so many genres out there, what draws you to new music?
New music today encompasses so many different sounds and styles, which is what makes it endlessly fascinating. New music opens my ears to new ways of listening and new ways of connecting with the future and the past. I also love being able to work with living composers!
What makes Left Coast unique among other Bay Area chamber ensembles?
Left Coast is in its 31st season, which is a fabulous length of time for a chamber ensemble. Many of the members today are founding members. Left Coast feels like an incredible and inclusive musical family. It has a long history, but just keeps on growing and inviting in new people. Audience, staff, volunteers and musicians alike are all equally part of what makes Left Coast unique.
What are you looking forward to most this season as we celebrate California?
I am excited that we are featuring more than 20 different Californian composers this season, whose music spans more than 100 years. I am also especially looking forward to workshops we are presenting which will explore Paiute stories, and the relationship between language and music. Pathways is another exciting new venture for Left Coast, where we will be featuring emerging composers from California and building on our relationship with the Ruth Williams Opera House in San Francisco (formerly the Bayview Opera House).
What do you envision for the future of Left Coast?
I’m really enjoying and looking forward to conversations with everyone for whom Left Coast is important so that together we can imagine and bring to life our musical path in ways which continue to enrich our community. Bringing the infectious joy of chamber music to communities of all ages in the Bay and beyond through Left Coast’s signature combination of old and new music is what motivates us!
Now to learn a little more about Matilda personally…
What are some of your interests and activities outside of music?
Backpacking. Recently discovered the Trinity Alps!
Favorite local trails are Claremont Canyon in Berkeley and all of Mount Tamalpais
Gardening. Love growing herbs and veggies
A few things I want to learn more about are trees, plants, wilderness protection, and woodworking.
What’s on your reading list?
I especially enjoy Biography. Lifting the Latch: a Life on the Land by Sheila Stewart - it’s the autobiography of a farm laborer in Oxfordshire, England.
I’m also reading The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and anything I can find about the Ohlone.
I studied Classics and especially enjoyed being able to read Ancient Greek poetry in the original, especially Sappho and Euripides
This is a tough question for a musician, but if you had to choose, what are some of your favorite pieces of music?
Some music which I especially love, or am especially into at the moment include:
Beethoven - Quartet Op.130
Luigi Nono - Prometeo and Al gran sole carico d’amore
Elisabeth Lutyens - “Verses of love”
Coleridge-Taylor - Clarinet Quintet
Gabriella Smith - Lost Coast
Olly Wilson - A City Called Heaven
Ligeti - “Clocks and Clouds”
Britten - Peter Grimes
Mozart - Marriage of Figaro
Gabriela Lena Frank - El último sueño de Frida y Diego
Sibelius - Symphonies
Fanny Mendelssohn - String Quartet
Choro ensemble music
Songs/vocal music of Claudia Villela, Nina Simone, John Dowland, Bob Marley, Watchhouse, James Brown, Schubert, Villa Lobos
Traditional mbira ensemble music
What do you enjoy doing with your family?
I love spending time with my kids: learning about cooking from my younger son, Lorenzo, and about making movies from my older son, Dante. We love spending time together outside, and making music.
Thank you, Matilda, for taking us behind the scenes!
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Left & middle pictures: Matilda and sons. Right picture: Anna Presler, Matilda, and Leighton Fong.