Old First Concerts: March, 2025

As is the case this month, Old First Concerts will again present four events next month. These events will remain “hybrid,” allowing both live streaming and seating in the Old First Presbyterian Church at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue. Each of the event pages (which include hyperlinks for streaming) provides specific price information. The following dates and times provide hyperlinks to those event pages as follows:

Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m.: The Pro Arte Quartet has an impressive history, having been founded by conservatory students in Brussels in 1912. Its current members are violinists David Perry and Suzanne Beia, Sally Chisholm on viola, and cellist Parry Karp. The program they have prepared will feature female composers from both the twentieth and nineteenth centuries (in that order). The program will conclude with the H. 277 string quartet in E-flat major by Fanny Mendelssohn. This will be preceded by a quartet composed about three-quarters of a century later by Germaine Tailleferre. The program will begin with the second string quartet composed in 2011 by Denys Lytvynenko, who is currently the cellist of the Phoenix String Quartet, as well as the principal cellist for the Lviv Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

Sunday, March 2, 4 p.m.: As was announced at the end of last year this will be the second performance by the Sixth Station Trio.

 

George Brooks and Utsav Lal (from their Old First event page)

Sunday, March 9, 4 p.m.: Saxophonist George Brooks will give a duo performance with Utsav Lal, who is known as the “Raga Pianist.” They formed their partnership to craft new music that draws from the profound traditions of Indian classical music and American jazz, seamlessly infused with the aesthetics of contemporary minimalism. Program details will be announced by the performers.

Sunday, March 16, 4 p.m.: The final program of the month (at least as of this writing) will be the annual Junior Bach Festival. The Junior Bach Festival Association has been presenting these concerts at Old First for over a decade. The ages of the performers usually range from eight to eighteen; and, as of this writing, the program has not yet been finalized. [added 2/20, 1:15 p.m.:

 Sunday, March 30, 4 p.m.: Soprano Naama Liany will present a program entitled Daydream. Originally planned for this month, the program will present surreal and dreamlike works. These will include song cycles by Leonard Bernstein (I Hate Music), Federico Mompou (Combat del somni), and Francis Poulenc (Banalités). The program will begin with Samuel Barber’s “Despite and Still” and will also include “The Piano Blue” by Albena Petrovic.]