Wednesday, April 3, 2019

2019 Sunset Music and Arts Choral/Opera Series

This month will mark the beginning of the last of the series that Sunset Music and Arts has planned for its 2019 season. This will be the Choral Music series, which will offer five concerts between the end of this month and the end of the year. Three of those concerts will be produced in partnership with San Francisco Renaissance Voices (SFRV). In addition, there will be a “bonus” in the form of a full-length opera performance by the Bay Shore Lyric Opera. Details have not yet been finalized for the holiday concerts in December. However, specifics that are currently available are as follows:

Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m.: Level III of the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) School and SFGC’s Soloist Intensive will perform a varied program of choral music, art songs, opera, and musical theater scenes. Composers include Leonard Bernstein, Eleanor Daley, Henry Purcell, Franz Schubert, and more. There will be music in English, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Czech, and Hebrew, and both groups of young artists will come together for some vibrant ensembles. The conductor will be Level III Director Luçik Aprahämian.

Sunday, April 28, 7:30 p.m.: As had been previously announced in the summary of SFRV’s fifteenth anniversary season, the first concert in 2019 will be a program of music for Holy Week entitled Passion & Lamentation. The program will feature a Requiem setting by Portuguese composer Manuel Cardoso and the “Miserere mei, Deus” Psalm setting by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri, best known for having been transcribed from memory by a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Guest Conductor for this performance will be Don Scott Carpenter, Executive Director of American Bach Soloists and Music Director at Lakeside Presbyterian Church. Specific information about tickets has not yet been announced. [added 4/11, 12:05 p.m.: New program details and ticketing information have been posted to the article about alternatives for April 28.]

Saturday, August 10, 7:30 p.m.: The title of the final concert in SFRV’s fifteenth anniversary season is Manila Galleon Music. The program will be organized by Philippine guitarist and composer Florante Aguilar. Aguilar is a recognized expert on the music of Harana, Philippine music inspired by the music of the Spanish Renaissance; and he has produced a documentary on the topic. He will perform music from his CD, The Manila Galleon Guitar Project; and the chorus will perform Mexican polyphony and music of the Aztecs and Incas. They will be joined by the San Francisco Renaissance Dancers performing dances of the period. Again, specific information about tickets has not yet been announced.

December: The two seasonal concerts will be given by the San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC) and SFRV. SFBC is comprised of the Concert Chorus, the Graduate Chorale, the Hand Bell Program and the four-level Chorus School, which includes the Preparatory Chorus. The Concert Chorus is led by Artistic Director Ian Robertson. SFRV will perform its annual Festival of Lessons & Carols with organ accompaniment provided by Stacy Cullison. Event pages have been created for both SFBC and SFRV, and details will be provided once specifics regarding dates and ticketing are available.

All performances will take place in the Sunset district at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, located at 1750 29th Avenue, about halfway between Moraga Street and Noriega Street. Ticket prices for SFRV tend to differ from the usual Sunset prices of $20 for general admission with a $15 rate for students and seniors. Readers will need to consult the event pages for those concerts closer to their respective dates of performance. Tickets for all other Sunset events may be purchased online through Eventbrite. Each of the hyperlinks on the above dates leads to the event page for single ticket purchases. Further information may be obtained by calling 415-564-2324.

The full-length production by the Bay Shore Lyric Opera will be of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma. This will be given a single performance on Saturday, August 17, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Casting information has not yet been announced, but the Sunset event page includes a complete synopsis of the opera’s plot. Ticket prices will be slightly higher than the usual Sunset rate: $25 for general admission and $20 for seniors and students. Like other Sunset events, the performance will take place at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation. The event page includes a hyperlink to an Eventbrite Web page for the online purchase of tickets.

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