Old First Concerts: June, 2026

It has been a while since I have devoted a monthly article entirely to Old First Concerts. The last one was written this past January 18, accounting for the February performances. To be fair, however, the Bleeding Edge article for this past April 20 concluded with an Old First performance on April 26 presented by the Wooden Fish Ensemble. The good news is that Old First will host three concerts next month, but they will all take place during the second half of that month. As usual, 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 live streaming and ticket purchasing) will be attached to the date and time of the performances as follows:

Saturday, June 20, 8 p.m.: Following up on the traditional Wintersongs event presented every December, Kitka will present a program entitled Songs for the Summer Solstice. The program will be based on the release of the thirteenth album on their own independent Diaphonica label, entitle Kolo. The album was released almost exactly two months ago and is available for both streaming and download through a Bandcamp Web page. The title refers to spiraling communal line dances found across Eastern Europe.

Jason Sia at the piano keyboard (from the Web page for his coming recital)

Sunday, June 21, 4 p.m.: Jason Sia will perform a solo piano recital with an impressively diverse program. The most familiar selections will be by Claude Debussy (“L’isle joyeuse”) and Maurice Ravel’s finger-busting suite, Gaspard de la nuit. These will “sandwich” a transcription by Carl Reinecke of the Larghetto movement from Frédéric Chopin’s Opus 21, his second piano concerto composed in the key of F minor. The program will begin with “Poème: A Song Without Words” by Carmencita Guanzon Arambulo and conclude with Earl Wild’s “Grand Fantasy,” based on the music from George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess.

Sunday, June 28, 4 p.m.: The month will conclude with a program of four new arrangements and four original world premieres presented by Duo Soriga. The performers will be soprano Josephine Lee, accompanied on gayageum by Hwayoung Shon. The duo’s title is a “creative fusion” of “Sori,” the Korean word for both voice and sound, and the name of the instrument performed by Shon.