The 2016–2017 Season of Third Sunday Concerts will Begin at the End of Next Week

In addition to preparing and leading the professional Schola Adventus choir at the Church of the Advent of Christ the King, the church’s Music Director, Paul Ellison, arranges the Third Sunday Concerts series of chamber music recitals. As the name implies, these performances take place on the third Sunday of every month, except for April, between now and June. That means that the first concert for the 2016–2017 season will be on Sunday, September 18.

The opening concert of the season will present the Sylvestris Quartet, whose members are Anna Washburn and Tyler Lewis on violin, Aaron Westman on viola, and Gretchen Classen on cello. The title of the recital will be Mozart, Haydn, and Pleyel Quartets for the (Sometimes) Good Patron of Prussia. All three quartets on the program were dedicated to King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, and they will be played with instruments with gut strings. The opening selection will be the last quartet written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1790, K. 590 in F major, the last of three quartets Mozart dedicated to the monarch near the end of his life in the hope of receiving some financial support. (He never got the support, which explains the "sometimes" qualifier in the program title.) This will be followed by Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken III/49 quartet in D major, the last of a set of six composed for the same monarch. Due to some of the rhythmic patterns, Haydn called this his “Frog” quartet. The final quartet on the program is the G major quartet by Ignaz Pleyel (B. 339).

Performers have been arranged for the remainder of the season. However, program details have not yet been announced. Specific dates and their respective performers are as follows:

• October 16: guitarist Ryder Fitzpatrick
• November 20: plainchant sung by Schola Adventus tenor Jonathon Hampton and organ music performed by Ellison
• December 18: soprano Christie Springer performing with harpist Brian Swager and narrator Daniel Pociernicki
• January 15: In Other Words, a vocal recital by Schola Adventus members Jennifer Ashworth (soprano), Lauren Carley (alto), and James Monios (bass) along with tenor Kevin Baum
• February 19: guitarist João Kouyoumdjian
• March 19: a program entitled Music for the Lenten Season performed by Schola Adventus
• May 21: the Agave Baroque ensemble
• June 18: a solo recital by Carley

The Church of the Advent of Christ the King is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center. All concerts will start at 4 p.m. A festive reception will follow the performance in Lathrop Hall. All concerts are free, but donations are encouraged.