Old First Concerts: December, 2025

I suspect that many readers are just beginning to make their plans for Thanksgiving. However, this year only two recitals were planned for performances at Old First Church in November,  the first marking the beginning of the new Ensemble for These Times season this coming Friday followed exactly one week later by pianist Tanya Gabrielian’s solo recital. As a result, now is as good a time as any to start preparing for the December holiday concerts. All of the 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. Hyperlinks to the event pages (which include hyperlinks for streaming) will be attached to the date and time of the performances as follows:

Saturday, December 13, 7:30 p.m.: The Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco is a regular visitor at this time of year, presenting its annual Carols by Candlelight program. They will sing choral movements from Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 243 setting of the Magnificat text, as well as the San Francisco premiere of the multimovement Snow Angel with accompaniment by piano and cello, the traditional Puerto Rican carol “Abreme la Puerta,” and Joni Mitchell’s “River.” The performance will be led by Dr. Matthew Otto.

Sunday, December 14, 4 p.m.: The Ragazzi Boys Chorus will return, led by Artistic and Executive Director Kent Jue; and, as in the past, the program will draw upon familiar seasonal offerings.

Saturday, December 20, 8 p.m.: The next regular visitor for the season will be Golden Bough. The performers are Margie Butler, Paul Espinoza, and Kathy Sierra. In addition to providing vocals, they are all instrumentalists backing themselves with an array of rare and more common acoustic instruments including: Celtic harp, penny-whistle, violin, octave-mandolin, mandolin, accordion, guitar, harmonica, recorder, and bodhrán. Like their previous performances, their program will specialize in Celtic songs of winter; but they also offer their unique take on better known Christmas carols.

The Kitka vocalists (from the Old First Concerts event page)

Sunday, December 21, 4 p.m.: Kitka will present its traditional Wintersongs program under the co-direction of Shira Cion, Janet Kutulas, and Kelly Atkins. The vocalists are Stacy Barnett, Kristine Barrett, Juliana Graffagna, Erin Lashnits Herman, Maclovia Quintana, Katya Schoenberg, and Talia Young-Skeen. This year’s program will pay particular attention to music from the Ukraine and Republic of Georgia. However, there will also be offerings of Balkan, Baltic, Mediterranean, and other Slavic sources.