Choices for December 8–10, 2023

The holiday season tends to make December the busiest month of the year. However, not all of that busy spirit involves any of the month’s holidays. As a result, every weekend in December has its own “mixed bag” of offerings, not all of which involve any of the holidays being celebrated. For this article, the second weekend in December will be the “home base;” but, when there are events later in the month that share a series with an earlier performance, those will be taken into account in this article, thus aiding and abetting plans as one gets closer and closer to specific holiday dates.

Friday, December 8, and Saturday, December 9, 7:30 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall: These are the two dates for the annual San Francisco Symphony (SFS) performance of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 56 oratorio, better known by its title, Messiah. This year the conductor will be Jonathan Cohen, a leading early music scholar, who will be making his Orchestral Series debut. Jenny Wong will lead the SFS Chorus; and the vocal soloists will be Joélle Harvey (soprano), Jennifer Johnson Cano (mezzo), Nicholas Phan (tenor) and Michael Sumuel (bass).

Ticket prices range from $25 to $169. The hyperlink attached to the above dates may be used for online purchase. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-864-6000 or by visiting the Box Office in Davies Symphony Hall, whose entrance is on the south side of Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The other major holiday offering will be the performance by the SFS Youth Orchestra (SFSYO), which will highlight a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf;” details of the entire program were included in the SFSYO season preview article.

Friday, December 8, 8:30 p.m., The Lab: For those seeking an alternative to any of the holiday spirits, The Lab consistently deserves attention. This will be a two-set program. The first set will begin at 8:30 p.m. with Agnes Marian, which is the duo of Benjamin Rodgers and Zekarias Thompson. They take a ritualist approach to sonic exploration, drawing on friends from a wide variety of musical backgrounds for sprawling warehouse noise sessions. The second set at 9:30 p.m. will be taken by JJJJJerome Ellis, born in 1989 to Jamaican and Grenadian immigrants. Through music, text, performance, video, and photography he researches relationships among blackness, disabled speech, divinity, nature, sound, and time.

Tickets will be $25 at the door with $23.80 for advance purchase and the usual discounts for members. Advance purchases may be made through the DICE Web page for this event. For those unfamiliar with the venue, The Lab is located in the Mission at 2948 16th Street. This is particularly convenient for those using public transportation, since it is a short walk to the corner of 16th Street and Mission Street. Busses stop at that corner for both north-south and east-west travel, and downstairs there is a station for the BART line running under Mission Street. There will be [updated 11/28, 8:15 a.m.: three] other programs for the month of December as follows:

1. Saturday, December 9, 3 p.m.: Fred Frith will perform with the Prepared Guitar Ensemble. He will precede his performance with a workshop that will begin at 1 p.m. The group was founded by Matt Robidoux in 2019 and has been dedicated to expanding the improvising community since then. Admission will be by the suggested donation of $15.
2. Friday, December 15, 8 p.m.: The final performance of the month will be by long-term collaborators François J. Bonnet and Stephen O’Malley. Both are composers, and O’Malley is both a guitarist and a visual artist. Bonnet, on the other hand, is a theoretician. The opening set will be taken by Andy Guthrie, who combines electronic processing with French horn skills. Tickets will be $30 at the door with $29.46 for advance purchase and the usual discounts for members. Advance purchases may be made through the DICE Web page for this event. [added 11/28, 8:25 a.m.:
   
3. Saturday, December 16, 8:30 p.m.: This will be a two-set program. The first set will bring Ben Vida’s work with text and electronic composition together with the Yarn/Wire quartet and vocalist Nina Dante. The second set will be a performance of “Ultra White Violet Light,” composed by vocalist Charles Curtis, who will also play cello. He will be accompanied by the electronics of Dafne Vicente-Sandoval. Tickets will be $25 at the door with $24 for advance purchase and the usual discounts for members.] [updated 12/8, 12:40 p.m.:
4. Sunday, December 17, 3 pm.: Charles Curtis and Dafne Vicente-Sandoval will return to The Lab to perform the music of composer Alvin Lucier. Each of them will perform a solo composition with electronic accompaniment, and each of those performances will run for about one hour. Vicente-Sandoval will begin with “Same and Different,”scored for bassoon and syntheized sine wave. She will be followed by Curtis playing “Slices,” scored for cello accompanied by recordings of an orchestra. There will be no charge for admission.]
   

Sunday, December 10, 4 p.m., Old First Presbyterian Church: Old First Concerts has prepared four seasonal performances for the month of December. The first will present the Ragazzi Boys Chorus of Silicon Valley, a world-class youth choir in the San Francisco Bay Area. Full program details have not yet been announced. However, the celebration of Christmas will double with a universal call for peace in the performance of “Where the Light Begins” by Susan LaBarr. Also of interest will be Katerina Gimon’s “My Light,” which employs unique vocal timbres and improvisational sections to create a resplendent and energetic sonic atmosphere.

O1C offerings will continue to be “hybrid,” allowing both live streaming and seating in Old First at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southeast corner of Van Ness Avenue. All tickets will still be sold for $25 (no reduced rate for seniors or students). Hyperlinks to the event pages (which include hyperlinks for streaming) continue to be attached to the date and time of the performances, as above. The remaining three offerings for December are as follows:

1. Friday, December 15, 8 p.m.: The Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco, led by Artistic Director Matthew Otto, will present their annual Carols by Candlelight performance.
2. Saturday, December 16, 8 p.m.: The Golden Bough trio of Margie Butler, Paul Espinoza, and Kathy Sierra will return to O1C to perform rare versions of Celtic songs of Winter, as well as their unique take on better known Christmas Carols.
3. Sunday, December 17, 4 p.m.: Kitka, an ensemble of nine women based in Oakland, will be its annual return to present its Wintersongs program. [updated 12/15, 11:30 a.m.: This concert has been cancelled due to an outbreak of COVID within the ensemble. It has been rescheduled to take place, again on a Sunday at 4 p.m., on February 11. Those currently holding tickets will be able to used those tickets on the rescheduled date. The alternative is to receive a refund or to convert the value of the ticket to a tax-deductible donation. Those wishing to pursue either of these alternatives should contact Kitka at kitka@kitka.org.]
   

Sunday, December 10, 5 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry: The second LIEDER ALIVE! program will feature mezzo Alice Chung accompanied at the piano by Peter Grünberg. There will also be a special guest appearance by violist Paul Yarbrough, who will join them in a performance of the two songs that Johannes Brahms collected for his Opus 91. Other Brahms songs will include the Opus 3, Number 1 “Liebestreu” (love’s devotion), the Opus 94, Number 4 “Sapphische Ode,” and the Opus 86, Number 2 “Feldeinsamkeit.” The program will also include Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, as well as an aria from Hector Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust, “D’amour l’ardente flamme.” The Noe Valley Ministry is located at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. Single tickets for all concerts are $80 for reserved seating, $40 for general admission and a $25 discounted rate for students, seniors, and working artists. These may also be purchased in advance through Eventbrite.