A Sad Transition

It has been a while since I have written about one of the Noontime Concerts™ at St. Patrick's Church in Wednesday's here in San Francisco. This is not a sign of disappointment with the organization of the series or the nature of the offerings (also presented on alternate Tuesday's at Old St. Mary's Cathedral, our city's first cathedral) but just a consequence of the current demands on my time. I have valued the opportunity for a "Musical Lunch Break," when circumstances allow me to take one; and this was particularly true during the summer, when the two "official" concerts in the Midsummer Mozart Festival were supplemented by a series of concerts under Noontime auspices. What I had not really appreciated was either the legacy or the extent of the institution, as described on the Noontime Concerts™ Web site:

Noontime Concerts are modeled after those developed by Dame Myra Hess, 1890–1965. In the first months of the Second World War, all live music performances ceased in Britain. Dame Hess inaugurated what was to become a remarkable and popular series of lunchtime concerts at the National Gallery, a building then emptied of its treasures for safekeeping during the Blitz. This was exactly what people needed, since the blackouts made it difficult for London’s suburban residents to travel up to town after dark. The audience, which included regular devotees as well as many who had never heard such music before, grew from Hess’s brainchild to replace one kind of art with another.

Noontime Concerts™ is part of an international network of churches, museums and other venues offering a welcome midday respite amidst the hustle and bustle of urban life in the tradition of Dame Hess. New York’s Concerts at One, for example, take place on Mondays in St. Paul’s Chapel on Broadway and on Thursdays in Trinity Church on Wall Street at 1:00 p.m. When in New York, call (212) 602-0747 for concert information or check their website, www.trinitywallstreet.org. In England, the current London version of Noontime Concerts takes place in the Royal Parish Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which enjoys one of the finest musical reputations in the world. Every Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 1:00 p.m., renowned musicians have an opportunity to perform at this central London venue for a discriminating audience. To find out more about London’s historic midday concert series, see www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org. Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts take place at the Chicago Cultural Center in Preston Bradley Hall. Their concert calendar can be found at www.chicagoperformances.org.

Sadly, the "Lunch Break" on January 30 will be the last at St. Patrick's. No "official" explanation has yet been given, either on the Web site or in the recently published Noontime News, in which Board President Robin Wirthlin calls it a "pending dismissal." The good news is that Old St. Mary's will continue to provide a venue for Noontime Concerts™; but, unfortunately, there will now be only four, rather than six, concerts each month. Meanwhile, I have added a link to the Noontime Concerts™ Web site to my "What I Read" list. This should make it easier for those visiting San Francisco to check out the offerings while making their travel plans (as well as compensating for the lack of local coverage provided by San Francisco newspapers).