Old First Concerts: 3 New Events in 2 Months

This morning I learned of the three latest additions to the Calendar for Old First Concerts (O1C). The first two of these will conclude the current month, but the third will have to wait for the middle of next month. Most readers probably know by now that O1C events take place at Old First Presbyterian Church. This is located at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southeast corner of Van Ness Avenue. Tickets are available for purchase through the hyperlinks attached to the dates, which are also available for live stream viewing. General admission is between $30 and $35 with reduced rates for seniors, students, and children age twelve and under.

Sunday, September 20, 4 p.m.: The penultimate event for the current month has just been added. Harpist Noël Wan has prepared a new solo program entitled Les fleurs du mal. The program will feature works by three contemporary composers. The earliest of these was written in 2002 by Per Nørgård, “Consolazione: Flos ut rosa.” The most recent composition, “Arches and Strings,” was completed by Clifton Callender in 2026. Between these is a work by Gabriel Jenks entitled “Stalk.” Each of these selections will be presented as the “response” to the “call” of an early composition. The only “call” composed for solo harp is Gabriel Fauré’s “Une châtelaine en sa tour.” Wan provided her own transcriptions for the other two “calls:” Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Lilacs,” the fifth of the twelve songs collected in his Opus 5, and Giacomo Puccini’s “Crisantemi” string quartet. The program will end with a transcription by Sylvain Blassel of “Isoldes Liebestod,” the conclusion of Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde.

The Atom String Quartet, whose members are Dawid Lubowicz, Mateusz Smoczyński, Michał Zaborski and Krzysztof Lenczowski

Sunday, September 27, 4 p.m.: The Atom String Quartet is based in Poland, but they are no stranger to the United States, having performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival. However, jazz is only a portion of their repertoire, which also includes Polish folklore and world music, as well as contemporary and classical music. The violinists are Dawid Lubowicz and Mateusz Smoczyński, performing with Michał Zaborski on viola and cellist Krzysztof Lenczowski. As of this writing, the program for their performance has not yet been finalized.

Friday, October 16, 8 p.m.: The Women of Note project is the result of the celebration of the cello and piano repertoire by the women of the Kloetzel Chapman Duo: cellist Jennifer Kloetzel and pianist Allegra Chapman. The duo was formed in 2023 to record a cello sonata composed for Kloetzel by Richard Aldag. This led to a shared mission to discover and perform works for cello and piano by women composers. The recital will present the first round of results from this project. Specific compositions have not yet been named; but the composers on the program will be Hélène Liebmann, Luise Le Beau, Mel Bonis, and Leokadiya Kashperova.