As Grace Cathedral’s 2025 Artist-in-Residence, composer, DJ, and creative architect, Mason Bates returns with the transcendent Mercury Soul, a surreal mix of DJs, classical performances, and imaginative visuals. These all-ages events, which kick off this Friday, April 25th, transform the majestic Cathedral and elevate the senses of everyone who walks through the doors. “Mercury Soul started as a club show with classical music reimagined, and it has now moved towards magically transforming these iconic SF spaces like Grace Cathedral, US Mint, Hibernia Bank, and Saint Joseph’s Arts Society,” says Bates who founded the project.
The attraction and appeal of Mercury Soul is for one to enter a place they thought they knew, and be presented with something they've maybe never seen or heard before. On one level, there’s the excellent music and performances, then there’s the surrounding environment adding another layer to the experience.
Upon entering the space, the overall sensory reception draws you in. “It’s created stagecraft merging different kinds of music projections – a fun and beautifully surreal world we’re creating. You’re free to roam, grab a drink, and go from listening to a lush downtempo DJ set to music of the Renaissance. It is nice to have a new way to experience this, to get to play with the whole experience in a way that just doesn’t happen that much. It gives permission for one to listen to music and composers whose work may not always be encountered. We keep up this idea of mystical meditative music,” says Bates.
One can dance, roam the Cathedral, have a seat in the pews, and allow themselves to be immersed in the sounds and visuals orchestrated by Bates and his talented artistic and technical crew. Grace Cathedral is a majestic, large, reflective space, with sonic acoustical delay times and physical distances to manage and navigate. Yet for each of the performances there also exists an element of musical intimacy that is carefully maintained by Bates’ thoughtful curation of music, people, and space.
He crosses and fuses different musical genres while exploring the boundaries of the musical collaborations and rethinking the physical space where the events happen. This Friday’s music features DJ sets by DJ Masonic (Bates’ nom de plume), Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation, and DJs Justin Reed and Striz (illmeasures Chicago). Some of the performers include the Grace Cathedral Choir, Mercury Soul Brass All-Stars, SFCM Baroque, and Christopher Keady on the grand Aeolian-Skinner organ. Attendees will hear performances of the music of Carlo Gesualdo, John Cage, Gabriela Lena Frank, Nadia Boulanger, Bates, and many more contemporary and classic composers.
In addition to elevating and melding the worlds of classical and club, Bates upcoming opera The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, opens The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025-2026 season. For this adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Bates collaborated with librettist Gene Scheer. The production is directed by Bart Sher and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
“I am so excited for it. It’s been quite a journey – we’re ready for New York!”
Mercury Soul
Grace Cathedral
1100 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
For more info. and to purchase tickets:
Mercury Soul
https://mercurysoul.com/grace/
Mason Bates
https://masonbates.com/
Grace Cathedral / Artist in Residence
https://gracecathedral.org/artist-in-residence/
Explore all that Grace Cathedral offers:
https://gracecathedral.org/
