Last night marked the first time in three years that the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) could return to Davies Symphony Hall for its annual December appearance, led by its Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe. Beyond the music itself, this marked the first time that much of the duration of the evening no longer involved lengthy entrances and exists to account for the many SFGC ensembles of different levels of maturity. Last night everyone was on stage for most of the time, with each group in its own designated sector. As a result, the program proceeded at a much more engaging pace.
On the other hand it would be fair to say that all of the SFGC divisions are still ramping up their performance chops. Mind you, this is an event that has more to do with the presence of extended family than with an audience of serious music lovers. Nevertheless, that last category was satisfied with a thoroughly engaging world premiere performance, which had little to do with the seasonal occasion. Susie Ibarra was SFGC Composer-in-Residence during the 2020–2021 season; and the result of her efforts was “Dreaming Horizons,” a setting of a text by Laren McClung, scored for a chorus of female voices accompanied by three percussionists. Ibarra was one of those percussionists for last night’s premiere, joined by Andy Meyerson and Eric Whitmer. For those few of us that had showed up for the music, this was a thoroughly compelling performance, which left me curious about other works that Ibarra has in her portfolio.
The other offerings on the program provided a mix of familiarity and novelty. It is worth nothing that one of the favorite warhorses of the season, the “Carol of the Bells,” is Ukrainian in origin. As a result, Peter J. Wilhousky’s arrangement for the English text was followed by an arrangement by Mykola Leontovych of the text in Ukrainian.
Most important, however, is that SFGC is “back in business.” The next item on their agenda will be their Neighbor Tones, program, which will take place in Herbst Theatre this coming March. On the basis of past history, we have every reason to expect that the Premiere Ensemble will build up its skill set to present a program that has more to do with music than with family-based festivities.
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