Old First Concerts: February, 2023

As of this writing, it appears that Old First Concerts has planned out its programming for the first quarter of the new year. Plans for January were announced on this site a little over a week ago. As a result, I am willing to assume that those that like to plan ahead will be just as interested in the four events planned for February. Given that we are still dealing with COVID recovery conditions, O1C will continue to allow both live streaming and seating in the Old First Presbyterian Church at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue. General admission tickets will be sold for $25 with reduced rates for seniors ($20) and students ($5). The suggested donation for those viewing the live stream is $20. Hyperlinks to the event pages (which include hyperlinks for streaming) will be attached to the date and time of the performances as follows:

Friday, February 3, 8 p.m.: The month will begin with a program entitled Uproot: Music from Asia Minor performed by the musicians of the Greek Chamber Music Project. Some readers may recall that, a little over a year ago, this site documented a performance by this ensemble, which was live-streamed from the Technology Hall of the new Bowes Center building of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The new program will again be a quartet performance featuring two of the musicians that performed last year: flutist Ellie Falaris Ganelin and cellist Lewis Patzner. For this offering they will be joined by vocalist Katerina Clambaneva and pianist Elektra Schmidt. Program specifics have not yet been announced; but the selections will be modern arrangements of Greek music from the region of Asia Minor, celebrating a vibrant musical heritage and capturing the refugee experience through song.

Sunday, February 5, 4 p.m.: Costa Rican pianist Gabriela Calderón Cornejo will present a solo recital based on her Musas album. The full title of her program is Musas: Uncovering Lost Piano Works by Latin American Women Composers. On the basis of the Amazon.com Web page, it appears that her recital will provide a full account of all the selections on this recording, all by composers unlike to be familiar to most readers: Carmen Barradas, Nelly Mele Mara, Maruja Hinestrosa, Aurora Román Casares, and María Mendoza de Baratta.

Friday, February 24, 8 p.m.: The duo of cellist An-Lin Bardin and pianist Naomi Niskala will present a program entitled Songs Reimagined. The program will be yet another “journey of discovery,” presenting West Coast premiers of works by ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) composers, each inspired by a childhood song or folk song from the composer’s heritage. Works commissioned for this program were composed by Yiheng Yvonne Wu (Taiwanese American), Juantio Becenti (Navajo), Miguel del Aguila (Uruguayan), Michael-Thomas Foumai (Chinese-Samoan), and Jean “Rudy” Perrault (Haitian). The program will also include compositions by Chihchun Chi-sun Lee (Taiwanese-American), William Grant Still (African American) and Reena Esmail, (Indian American).

Pianist Daniela Mineva (from her O1C Web page)

Sunday, February 26, 4 p.m.: Pianist Daniela Mineva will present a solo recital entitled Transfigured Voices. She is currently Director of Keyboard Studies in the Music Department of the Humboldt campus of the California State Polytechnic University. She has organized her program around three Eastern European women composers. The “core” of her recital will present two compositions by Galina Ustvolskaya, her fifth piano sonata and her set of twelve preludes. The sonata will be preceded by “Music for Piano” by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, and the program will conclude with Sofia Gubaidulina’s piano sonata.