New York pianist, activist and “modern music evangelist” Adam Tendler’s composition “Hate Speech,” for piano + audience cellphones, has its West Coast premiere Saturday. It’s a protest piece dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard, with whispered words culled from a Tea Party politician’s Facebook page. Adam Tendler performs “Hate Speech” and other pieces Saturday night (Oct. 19) in Modern Piano Lineages, a concert at San Francisco’s Center for New Music with KALW Revolutions Per Minute host and acclaimed pianist Sarah Cahill.

Hear some of “Hate Speech” and Adam’s other music, and Adam talking with Out in the Bay host Eric Jansen about creating “Hate Speech,” other modern music,  and coming out during his “America 88×50” piano recital tour of every state in the U.S. And, in an Out in the Bay exclusive, Adam played live in our studio on a cheap Casio electronic keyboard to demonstrate the intricacies of a rarely-performed Philip Glass composition,”Two Pages,” that he’ll play Saturday. (Aired Thursday, Oct. 17)

Big thanks to Virgin America for changing Adam’s flight to SFO without extra fees so that he could be here for Thursday’s interview.

Modern Piano Lineages, featuring Adam Tendler and Sarah Cahill, starts 8pm, Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Center for New Music, 55 Taylor St., San Francisco. Click here for concert info.