Snowden to Give First SFP Solo Guitar Recital

Guitarist Laura Snowden (courtesy of San Francisco Performances)

Readers may recall that the 2021–2022 Guitar Series, presented by San Francisco Performances (SFP) in partnership with the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts, did not begin as originally planned. The opening program by the Dublin Guitar Quartet, scheduled for this past February 12, had to be cancelled due to travel concerns related to the pandemic. Fortunately, the next two concerts in the series have both been scheduled for next week.

The second of these will be the first solo guitar recital of the season. The recitalist will be Laura Snowden, who is also a composer. As a result, she has taken the liberty of including four of her compositions on her SFP recital. Snowden is British-French, and her works will share the program with a sonatina written by British composer Lennox Berkeley. Her nineteenth-century repertoire will include a tarantella by Johann Kaspar Mertz.

However, as might be expected, much of the program will dwell on Hispanic influences from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The program will begin with Fernando Sor’s introduction and variations on “Das klinget so herrlich,” Papageno’s aria from the first act of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 620 opera, The Magic Flute. At the other end the program will conclude with the last of the four waltzes that Agustín Barrios composed and published as his Opus 8. Finally, the Sor selection will be followed by five preludes by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

This performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26. It will take place in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of Franklin Street. The eastbound Geary Bus (number 38) stops within a block of the church after it leaves Geary Boulevard to proceed along O’Farrell. There are also nearby stops for buses on Van Ness Avenue.

Ticket prices are $60 for the main floor and $45 for the balcony. All seating will be general admission. All tickets may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page. As available, single tickets will be sold at the door with a 50% discount for students and a 20% discount for seniors. Single tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-392-2545. Conditions according to the Health and Safety Factsheet, which was updated on February 15, still prevail.