Once again, it is as good a time as any to start preparing for the December holiday concerts. All of the events will remain “hybrid,” allowing both live streaming and seating in the Old First Presbyterian Church at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue. Hyperlinks to the event pages (which include hyperlinks for streaming) will be attached to the date and time of the performances as follows:
Friday, December 4, 8 p.m.: Italian pianist Claudio Sanna will play works from his recent Col Legno recording of solo piano music by Luciano Chessa. Those compositions will be “Lands End,” “Louganis” (which will be performed with a video created by Terry Berlier), “Wordsworth’s Daffodils,” and “Inkless Imagination III – For Fedele Azari.” The program will be co-presented with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco and the Francesco Venezze Conservatory of Music in Rovigo.
Saturday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.: The Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco is a regular visitor at this time of year, presenting its annual Carols by Candlelight program. The program will present holiday favorites and festive works for choir and harp, with accompaniment provided by harpist Molly Langr. There will also be California premiere performances of Olivia Sparkhall’s “Lux Aeterna” setting and “Ushās – Goddess of Dawn and Priestess,” composed by Shruthi Rajasekar. On the more familiar side, the program will also include “Silent Night!” Dara Phung will provide accompaniment at the piano, and the conductor will be Artistic & Executive Director Matthew Otto.
Sunday, December 13, 4 p.m.: The Ragazzi Boys Chorus, Silicon Valley, will return, led by Artistic and Executive Director Kent Jue; and, as in the past, the program will draw upon familiar seasonal offerings.
Friday, December 18, 8 p.m.: A “newcomer” to the seasonal programming will be the professional vocal ensemble Aeternum. They have prepared a diverse program, entitled Rejoice and Be Merry, spanning music history from a Magnificat setting by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina at one end and a contemporary setting of “Joy to the World” at the other. The conductor will be Bailey Cooke.
The Kitka vocalists wearing scarves by Stephanie Mohan (from their Old First Concerts event page)
Sunday, December 20, 4 p.m.: “Something new” by Aeternum will be followed by the traditional Wintersongs holiday concert performed by Kitka. The program will be co-directed by Shira Cion and Kelly Atkins. The vocalists are Stacey Barnett, Penina Biddle-Gottesman, Leslie Bonnett, Barbara Byers, Alex Ianchenko, Erin Lashnits Herman, Elizabeth Setzer, Talia Young-Skeen, and Abi Tenenbaum. This year’s program will pay particular attention to a repertoire that ranges from rousing Slavic folk carols to lush meditative Eastern Orthodox sacred choral works, from Baltic pagan incantations for the return of the Sun Goddess to Caucasus Georgian alilos (hallelujahs), from Yiddish songs to secular Sufi odes, and much more.
