Improvisor-composer Jordan Glenn’s proud of score for dance-theater ‘Iphigenia’ premiere   

Commissioned to compose a score for San Francisco dance-theater troupe Sharp & Fine’s upcoming world premiere of “Iphigenia,” percussionist Jordan Glenn is pleased to once again work with the group’s co-founders, choreographers Megan and Shannon Kurashige. 

“I will just go on record and say that they are an inspiring pair, those sisters,” says Glenn, elaborating on their hard work and consistent focus. 

“Iphigenia,” based on the mythical Greek princess in Euripides’ drama whose father Agamemnon sacrificed her in time of war, marks Glenn’s sixth collaboration with Sharp & Fine since 2016, and his fourth score for the group.  

Calling the story “strikingly relevant” — Shannon Kurashige asks “How often do we see less powerful people being sacrificed by those with more power? How often do leaders make choices we don’t agree with?” — “Iphigenia” features six performers, dialogue and live music by a five-piece band.  It’s onstage this weekend at Z Space in San Francisco.  

The production, devised by Kurashige sisters and cast, including Eric Avery, Charmaine Butcher, Kira Fargas, Molly Levy, Hadassah Perry and Ryan Rouland Smith, marks the first time Glenn has created accompaniment for a tragedy. 

“I’m really proud of the music,” says Glenn, an Oregon native and Alameda resident with a strong foothold in what he calls the Bay Area’s “healthy underground-DIY” music scene. He adds, “It’s been great. It’s actually been easier than I thought it would be,” musing that his abstract compositional approach might work better with trauma than with joy, mentioning a previous project when he struggled to write a requested “celebratory” ending that “didn’t sound corny.”    

Glenn, who started playing jazz drums as a young teen and went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz studies at the University of Oregon in Eugene and Mills College in Oakland, respectively, has nothing but praise for his “fantastic” band: cellist Ben Davis, flutist/reed player Cory Wright and guitarist Matt Wrobel, who played with him in Sharp & Fine’s 2024 “A Detective Story,” and new for this production, violinist Jessica Folson.  

In “Iphigenia,” Glenn, who calls himself “mainly an improvisor,” will be playing drums, accordion and a unique box with a contact mic, delay pedal and a spring inside that makes “eerie, noisy sounds in a couple of parts of the score.”  

Glenn — a Bay Area resident since 2006 whose numerous projects include leading the percussion-heavy collective JG’s BEAK; working in Flatways, an electroacoustic improvising trio with Sudhu Tewari and Matt Robidoux; and drumming in Lisa Mezzacappa’s ensemble 5(ish) and Fred Frith’s band Fremakajo — says the primary differences between making up his own compositions versus writing a score for a production have to do with mood and duration, which are set by his collaborators. For example, for “Iphigenia,” he was told early on that they wanted to end it with a 15-minute stretch of music.  

The creative process includes sharing and commenting on recordings and videos, followed by rehearsals with the musicians, and, finally, a few intensive rehearsals with the actor-dancers.  

Asked what he’s looking forward to, Glenn admittedly says he wants to get some rest following a recent gig in Los Angeles, and rehearsals and performances of “Iphigenia.” It’s a contrast to a brief existential crisis he had at the start of the pandemic. However, the downtime prompted unique projects, including a reconnection and new collaboration with an old friend, the late poet-saxophonist Jim Ryan, pivotal in the Bay Area experimental music world, at the time in his 80s, living in Maryland, doing spoken word before his death in 2023.  Glenn says, “I wrote some music. I’m hoping to maybe take a couple of those and put them on a record at some point.”  

Calling himself “lucky,” Glenn says, “Things just keep coming up that I can do. There’s still a lot going on if you dig around and look for it, in terms of the kind of creative music that I’m into.”  

Sharp & Fine’s “Iphigenia” is at 8 p.m. Oct. 23-24 and 2 p.m. Oct. 25 at Z Space, 450 Florida St., San Francisco. Tickets are $25 to $45 at sharpandfine.org/iphigenia.