SFGC Announces 2021–2022 Season

SFGC with Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe (photograph by Carlin Ma, courtesy of SFGC)

This month will see the beginning of the 2021–2022 concert season of the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC). This group has fared well by working in the virtual world when pandemic conditions made it impossible to perform in front of a “physical” audience. Last year cyberspace provided a viable platform for a four-concert June festival, followed by virtual performances in October, November, and December, the last being the traditional holiday concert. As of this writing, the two concerts scheduled for the remainder of this year will only be streamed; but venues have been determined for the two concerts in 2022 (one of which does not yet have a finalized date). Those specifics that have been finalized as of today are as follows:

Saturday, October 16, 1 p.m., The Line Between: The title of this program will be the title of the one work that will be performed. It was created by Oakland-based multidisciplinary artist Cava Menzies, who is also an SFGC alumna. It was first performed at the end of this past May, when a video recording was streamed to the drive-in setting of FORT MASON FLIX. SFGC was joined the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, which, at that time, was SFGC’s Virtual Artists-in-Residence. The video design and production were by Roomful of Teeth bass baritone Dashon Burton. This performance will be streamed at no charge through the SFGC YouTube channel.

Sunday, December 19, 4 p.m., Annual Holiday Concert: Once again, the annual tradition of a December holiday concert at Davies Symphony Hall will be replaced by a concert streamed, again, through the SFGC YouTube channel. The guest soloist will be violinist Edwin Huizinga; and, as a result, there will be a bit of a bias toward music from the seventeenth century or earlier. However, there will also be the usual holiday favorites, even if engagement is limited to singing along with the video feed.

Saturday, March, Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesongs: The first “physical” performance will take place at the Bayview Opera House. Vocalist McFerrin will be the SFGC Artist-in-Residence. His contributions to the program will be excerpts from his Circlesongs and his setting of Psalm 23. Composer Theresa Wong will be represented with the world premiere of “In Stillness I Sing,” written under an SFGC commission. Two other commissioned works will be Pamela Z’s “Penpal” and Tania León’s “Timas tropicales.” Pianist Sarah Cahill will appear as guest artist.

June 22–25, Tomorrow’s Memories: The final program will be given four performances at the Magic Theatre. Once again, the title of the program will be the title of the work being performed, given its world premiere on an SFGC commission. It is a choral-opera composed by Matthew Welch, whose fourth scene was previewed during the performance of the SFGC holiday concert in December of 2020. The production will be staged by Sean San José. Featured instrumental soloists will be guitarist Florante Aguilar, violinist Patti Kilroy, and percussionist Levy Lorenzo.

Where necessary, tickets will be available for purchase through the 2021–2022 Season Events Web page on the SFGC Web site; this Web page also lists relevant related events in addition to the SFGC offerings.