Seasonal Music from a “More Eastern” Tradition

Readers may recall that, here in San Francisco, the San Francisco Early Music Society will use the first Sunday of next month to present Annus Novus: One Yeare Begins – Medieval Poetry, Music & Magic to Ring in the New Year, presented by Vajra Voices. It turns out that Cappella Romana, a professional vocal ensemble, based in Portland, Oregon, that performs early and contemporary sacred classical music in the Christian traditions of East and West, will be visiting San Francisco on the same day. The group, led by Music Director Alexander Lingas, is currently touring with a program entitled The 12 Days of Christmas in the East, which was originally performed in New York as part of the Twelfth Night Festival at Trinity Wall Street. The program will interleave medieval Byzantine chant with more recent works by composers such as John Tavener and Greek Americans Frank Desby and Tikey Zes.

This program will be given only one performance in San Francisco, beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 7. The venue will be Saint Ignatius Church, which is located on the campus of the University of San Francisco at 650 Parker Avenue on the northeast corner of Fulton Street. Ticket prices will be $74 for Section A, $54 for Section B, and $35 for Section C.These tickets may be purchased in advance online from a Cappella Romana Web page. Furthermore, there will be a 50% discount for all tickets in Sections A and B that are purchased by December 29. Once those tickets have been placed in the shopping cart, users will be able to enter the discount code SFOEARLY during the checkout process. Finally, the concert itself will be preceded by a talk providing useful background information, which will begin at 1:30 p.m.