Xuefei Yang to Present Third Omni Solo Recital

Guitarist Xuefei Yang (courtesy of the Omni Foundation)

Some readers may recall that only four of the programs to be presented in the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts Dynamite Guitars season will be solo recitals. For the third of those recitals, Xuefei Yang will return to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church this coming Saturday, having given her last performance there in December of 2019, prior to the COVID pandemic. Those readers probably know that she was not idle during the pandemic. A little over a month ago, this site announced the release of her latest album, Guitar Favorites.

Program details for this Saturday’s recital have not yet been announced. Presumably, the program will include at least one of the longer selections on her album, while all of the shorter tracks are viable candidates for encore material. Regardless of the album content, listeners can expect that Yang’s program will be as diverse as the one she prepared for her last visit. [added 3/14, 1:40 p.m.:

The program book has now been completed. The long selection will be Fernando Sor’s Opus 9, given the title “Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart,” which will conclude the first half of the program. The second half of the program will include the three short pieces by Agustín Barrios Mangoré and the first of the five preludes, which Heitor Villa-Lobos dedicated to his wife Arminda Neves d'Almeida.

The program will begin with Johann Sebastian Bach's BWV 1009 (third) cello suite in C major (presumably performed from the cello part, rather than edited). This will be followed by the one Chinese selection, the “Sword Dance” by Xu Changjun. The second half will include an arrangement by Roland Dyens of “A felicidade” by Antônio Carlos Jobim, which will be paired with “Manhã de Carnaval” by Luiz Bonfá. The remaining composers will be Leo Brouwer (“Canción de Cuna”), Emilio Pujol (“Guajira”), and Paco Peña (“Colombiana”).]

St. Mark’s is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner of Franklin Street. Ticket prices for general admission will be $60. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through a City Box Office event page. K–12 students are always admitted at no charge. Those wishing to arrange for such tickets are required to call City Box Office at 415-392-4400.