SAN FRANCISCO GIRLS CHORUS ANNOUNCES 2010-2011 SEASON

MEDIA CONTACT:
Scott Horton
(510) 229-9739
Bluescott260@hotmail.com

EDITOR NOTE: Downloadable, High-Resolution photos are available here:
http://photos.shcommunications.org/GalleryThumbnails.aspx?gallery=84631

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

San Francisco, June 10, 2010 –The five-time Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus’ 2010-2011 concert season will feature the world premiere of a new work by Cuban-American composer Tania León, guest artists including the New Esterházy String Quartet, Cypress String Quartet and Sonos Handbell Ensemble, Susan McMane, now in her tenth season as Artistic Director, announced. In addition, the internationally acclaimed 40-voice Chorus will perform Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and John Adams’ El Niño with the San Francisco Symphony; appear in Massenet’s Werther with San Francisco Opera and undertake a summer 2011 tour to Cuba. The four-concert, eight-performance Bay Area season runs October 22, 2010-June 11, 2011 at various venues in San Francisco and the East Bay. www.sfgirlschorus.org

For more than thirty years, the thrilling sounds of the extraordinarily gifted young women of the San Francisco Girls Chorus have captured the attention and fired the imaginations of audiences worldwide. Following a phenomenal 30th anniversary season that included featured performances at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, a New York debut at Lincoln Center and unprecedented ticket sales, the San Francisco Girls Chorus has furthered its status as an internationally celebrated professional choral ensemble. In 2010, the ensemble won its fourth and fifth Grammy® Awards, for Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.

The 40 members of the professional-level ensemble are 12-17 years old and come from all over the Bay Area. Each singer represents as much as a decade of musical training and performance experience. Audience members and critics have come to expect a soaring, exquisite sound, remarkable versatility and concerts of great beauty and depth.

The 2010-2011 Season

Concert 1

The Power of Place

With The New Esterházy Quartet

Friday, October 22, at 8 pm
Calvary Presbyterian Church
2515 Fillmore Street, San Francisco

Sunday, October 24, at 7:30 pm
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley

Program: VALJO TORMIS: Spring Sketches (SFGC premiere); MICHAEL HAYDN: Magnificat; BRAHMS: Psalm 27; ERIC WHITACRE: Five Hebrew Love Songs; and music by HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, VICTORIA, JOS, R. H. HAYDN, and others.

A musical exploration of places holy, heart-stirring, majestic and homey marks the opening of Artistic Director Susan McMane’s Tenth Anniversary Season, with a retrospective of her programming plus several new works. Joining the Chorus will be highly regarded period instrument specialists the New Esterházy Quartet, which is known for its ongoing exploration of the complete string quartets of Haydn.

Concert 2

Tidings of Great Joy

Friday, December 17, at 8 pm
Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian
49 Knox Drive, Lafayette

Tuesday, December 21, 7:30 pm
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

With organ, brass quintet and percussion

PROGRAM: DAVID BRUNNER: Sir Christemas; DANIEL PINKHAM: Christmas Cantata; music by VICTORIA, LIBBY LARSEN, carols of the season and popular audience sing-along.

Two substantial and celebratory seasonal works by David Brunner and Daniel Pinkham ground a program of soaring holiday joy with the full complement of 300 voices of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Chorus School at Davies Hall. The December 17 concert features a warm and intimate program with the 40-voice Chorus.

Concert 3

¡Celebración!

Friday, March 25, at 7:00 pm
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

Gala Benefit for San Francisco Girls Chorus Programs and Tour Funds

PROGRAM: VILLA-LOBOS: Cantilena from Bachianas Brasileiras with eight cellos; music by GAVILÁN, AQUILAR, Latin American folksongs and more.

Music from Mexico, Cuba and South America sets the stage for the San Francisco Girls Chorus’ 2011 Latin American tour in a glittering gala benefit. The full gala event includes a festive cocktail reception, dinner and live auction.

Concert 4

Beyond Boundaries
With Sonos Handbell Ensemble and Cypress String Quartet

Thursday, June 9 and Saturday, June 11 at 8 pm
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
50 Oak Street, San Francisco

PROGRAM: TANIA LEÓN: world premiere (title to be announced); CHEN YI: Angel Island Passages; LIBBY LARSEN: The Womanly Song of God; JAMES MEREDITH: Natura; and music by HILDEGARD VON BINGEN.

Expanding the horizons of performance, the San Francisco Girls Chorus presents a dynamic program that redefines choral music with multi-media, staging, lighting, guest artists and musical magic. These concerts are a centerpiece of the 2011 national Chorus America conference in San Francisco, where the eyes—and ears—of the music world will be on SFG2010 guest artists the Cypress String Quartet return to reprise Chen Yi’s stunning multi-media work created in collaboration with award-winning film maker Felicia Lowe, and Sonos Handbell Ensemble adds luster to the Girls Chorus’ internationally acclaimed sound.

Tania León's work is commissioned for the San Francisco Girls Chorus by Classical Movements, Inc. as part of the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program.

About the San Francisco Girls Chorus

Founded in 1978, the San Francisco Girls Chorus is an internationally acclaimed center for choral music performances and education for girls and young women ages 7-18.  More than 300 singers from 160 schools in 48 Bay Area cities participate in what the California Arts Council calls “a model in the country for training girls’ voices”. The 2008-2009 Season represented a watershed year and pinnacle of achievement featuring a performance at the swearing in ceremony at the inauguration of US President Barack Obama in Washington DC jointly with the San Francisco Boys Chorus, and a performance at the Library of Congress. In addition the Girls Chorus made its New York debut at Lincoln Center. In 2010 the Chorus garnered its fourth and fifth Grammy® Awards for Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.

The organization comprises a 40-voice concert, recording, and touring ensemble, conducted by Artistic Director Susan McMane; the four-level San Francisco Girls Chorus School training program and preparatory program, supervised by Director Elizabeth Avakian; and the Alumnae Chorus.

Each year, dedicated young artists present season concerts, tour nationally or internationally, and appear with respected sponsoring organizations, including San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera. The Chorus has been honored to sing at many prestigious national and international venues, including the World Choral Symposium in Kyoto, Japan, in 2005. In March 2006 the Chorus was featured at the American Choral Directors Association Western Division Convention in Salt Lake City, and in 2007 the Chorus toured to China and South Korea.

Known as a leader in its field, the San Francisco Girls Chorus was honored in 2001 as the first youth chorus to win the prestigious “Margaret Hillis Award” given annually by Chorus America to a chorus that demonstrates artistic excellence, a strong organizational structure, and a commitment to education. Other awards include two ASCAP awards for Adventurous Programming in 2001 and 2004.

The San Francisco Girls Chorus has produced CD recordings including: Heaven and Earth, a two-disc set that represents some of the greatest sacred and secular repertoire ever written for treble voices; Voices of Hope and Peace, which includes many SFGC commissions; Christmas, a collection of diverse holiday selections; Crossroads, a compilation of world folk music; and Music from the Venetian Ospedali, a disc of Italian Baroque music. The San Francisco Girls Chorus can also be heard on several San Francisco Symphony recordings, including three that earned Grammy® Awards winners. Highly regarded for collaboration, the Girls Chorus has participated in joint projects with composers Luciana Souza, Rollo Dilworth and others, and choreographers and directors including Brenda Way, Joe Goode and Stephen Petronio.

2010-2011 ANNIVERSARY SUBSCRIPTIONS AND TICKETS

Subscriptions are available now as “Design-your-own” packages with the purchase of 6 or more tickets to any 2 or more concerts on our series. Subscribers will receive 10% discount over single ticket prices. For package orders, please call 415-863-1752 x303 or visit www.sfgirlschorus.org for more information. Single tickets for non-package subscribers are priced $18-$65 and are available for purchase starting September 1st 2010 through City Box Office; by phone at 415-392-4400; online at www.cityboxoffice.com; or in person at City Box Office, 180 Redwood Street, Suite 100, San Francisco (Monday – Friday, 9:30am-5pm).

###