San Francisco Girls Chorus closes 2009-2010 season with multi-media world premiere by Chen Yi with Cypress String Quartet

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Scott Horton
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SAN FRANCISCO GIRLS CHORUS CLOSES 2009-2010 SEASON WITH

San Francisco, April 12, 2010 – The five-time Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus concludes its current season with the world premiere of Angel Island Passages, a multi-media work by composer Chen Yi in collaboration with the Cypress String Quartet and award-winning Bay Area film maker Felicia Lowe, in two performances Friday and Saturday, June 4 and 5, at 8 p.m. at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The new work commemorates the 100th anniversary of Angel Island Immigration Station, known as “the Ellis Island of the West,” and evokes the experiences of Chinese immigrants in music, ancient and contemporary poetry, film, video and photography. Also on the program, entitled “A New Land, A New Song,” are works by Stravinsky, Dvorak and others. The San Francisco Conservatory of Music is located at 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, 94102.

Says Chen Yi: “I was born and raised in China and went through the dark period of Cultural Revolution 40 years ago, during which general education was interrupted and Western music was prohibited for 10 years. My passion and hard work helped me overcome this hardship and to become the first woman to earn a masters degree in music composition in China.

As a Chinese-American woman composer who blends Chinese and Western traditions, I seek to transcend cultural boundaries through my music and my teaching. By creating music, I share my life experience and my cultural perspective with people all around the world, and I particularly hope to connect with people with similar backgrounds.

I've painfully learned about the history of Chinese immigration through Angel Island. I am eager to create my next musical work together with SFGC and Cypress String Quartet, whom I have admired for years.  I want us to use our music to share the true history, to voice our belief in equal rights, to improve our society, and to look forward to a brighter future.

My experience writing Chinese Poems for the San Francisco Girls Chorus in 1998 convinced me that it is a world-class performing arts organization whose singers can handle any repertoire.  I am confident that these young women have what it takes to bring this powerful subject matter to life.”

Chen Yi is a highly regarded and popular Chinese American composer whose work, Chinese Poems, received its world premiere as part of the San Francisco Girls Chorus’ twentieth anniversary season in 1998. Dr. Chen was born in Guangzhou, China and in 1986 was the first woman in her country to receive a master’s degree in composition. She was also the first woman to present a full evening multimedia orchestral concert in the US (for orchestra, choir, Chinese traditional instrumental soloists, dancers, and image projection--the Chinese Myths Cantata), in 1996. Dr. Chen's major works have been widely performed around the world by orchestras such as the National Symphony, the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony, the Singapore Symphony, and the China National Symphony. Her new work is supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

From 1993 to 1996, she was Composer in Residence with The Women's Philharmonic and the vocal ensemble Chanticleer. She joined the composition faculty of the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1996, and in 1998 became the
Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Her works are published by Theodore Presser Company and can be heard on numerous recordings. By combining Chinese and Western traditions, Dr. Chen transcends cultural and musical boundaries and serves as an ambassador for the arts, creating music that reaches a wide range of audiences and inspires people of different cultural backgrounds.

The Cypress String Quartet, a nationally recognized ensemble based in San Francisco, will partner with SFGC in the development and performance of the Chen Yi premiere. The Quartet has a special interest in commissioning and performing new music, and in multimedia programming. Their recent program, Inspired by America, combined live music, original film by Emmy Award winning film producer Michael Schwarz, and spoken word by best-selling author Jacob Needleman, to create an evocative, thought-provoking portrait of the American spirit.

As a key component of Chen Yi’s world premiere, SFGC has also commissioned Bay Area documentary film maker Felicia Lowe to create a compelling visual accompaniment to the piece. Ms. Lowe’s past films include Carved in Silence, a documentary about the experience of detainees on Angel Island; Chinatown, a short film about the history of the Chinese in San Francisco; and China: Land of My Father, a film about her father’s immigrant journey from a small Chinese village to the United States. Her imagery for the premiere will interact with the text and music to bring the story of the Angel Island detainees to life.

About the San Francisco Girls Chorus

Celebrating more than 30 years of extraordinary music with its 2009-2010 season, the San Francisco Girls Chorus is recognized as one of the world’s most respected vocal ensembles. This high caliber of music making was most recently recognized with two 2010 Grammy Awards—Best Classical Performance and Best Choral Performance--with the San Francisco Symphony and Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. The San Francisco Girls Chorus’ level of training, performance, quality, range, passion and leadership in commissioning music for treble voices are lauded by musicians, critics and audiences. In 2009 the Chorus was invited to perform for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington DC, and the same year made it’s New York debut at Lincoln Center to acclaim. San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas says, “The San Francisco Girls Chorus is a treasure. Their training, musicality and vibrant spirit are evident whenever they perform. I have enjoyed our long association and look forward to many years of collaboration.”

The 41 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.

TICKETS

Tickets for are priced $18-$32 and are available for purchase by phone at City Box Office, 415-392-4400; online at www.cityboxoffice.com ; or in person at City Box Office, 180 Redwood Street, Suite 100, San Francisco (Monday – Friday, 9:30a.m.-5p.m.).

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CALENDAR EDITOR PLEASE LIST:

SAN FRANCISCO GIRLS CHORUS 2010 SEASON CONCLUDES WITH
MULTI-MEDIA WORLD PREMIERE BY CHEN YI

WHEN:  Friday and Saturday, June 4 and 5, at 8 p.m.
WHERE: San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, 94102
PROGRAM: A New Land, A New Song featuring CHEN YI: Angel Island Passages, a multi-media work with the Cypress String Quartet and film maker Felicia Lowe (WORLD PREMIERE); works by STRAVINSKY, DVOŘÁK, KRENEK and others.
TICKETS:  $18-$32 and are available for purchase by phone at City Box Office, 415-392-4400; online at www.cityboxoffice.com ; or in person at City Box Office, 180 Redwood Street, Suite 100, San Francisco (Monday – Friday, 9:30a.m.-5p.m.).