Closing Night Concerts Release
MEDIA CONTACT:
Scott Horton
(510) 735-9200
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 GIRLS CHORUS CLOSES
30TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
With Premieres and Guest Jazz Vocalist Paula West
June 5 and 6 Concerts In SF and Berkeley Feature Music of the Americas
San Francisco, April 24, 2009 – Wrapping up an extraordinary 30th anniversary season that featured its New York Lincoln Center debut and an appearance at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the San Francisco Girls Chorus closes its 2008-2009 Bay Area home season with two performances of “Made in the Americas,” Artistic Director Susan McMane has announced. The concerts feature jazz vocalist Paula West and her trio in arrangements with the Girls Chorus and a set of her own. Also on the program are the West Coast premiere of Two Mountain Songs by Gabriela Lena Frank and the World premiere of the complete Just Imagine suite of Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim and Irving Berlin songs arranged by Bay Area composer Dwight Okamura, which features guest cellist Emil Miland. The concerts will be conducted by Susan McMane with accompanist Susan Soehner
30th Anniversary Season Closing Concerts
Made in the Americas
Friday, June 5, 2009, at 8 p.m.
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley
Saturday, June 6, at 8 p.m.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
50 Oak Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
With Paula West, Jazz Vocalist, and Emil Miland, Cello
Program: Made in the Americas: Gabriela Lena Frank: Two Mountain Songs (WEST COAST PREMIERE); Dwight Okamura Just Imagine Suite WORLD PREMIERE featuring cellist Emil Miland; Paula West jazz arrangements TBA, plus music of Brazil, Cuba, Canada and Venezuela by Villa-Lobos, Edoardo Plaza, G. Lopez Gavilan and others.
About Paula West
With a particular dusky soulfulness, West has captured the hearts of critics and audiences alike from coast to coast. Known and respected for her creative and distinct repertoire, West adds her own depth and drama to whichever song she chooses for the moment, creating whole new frameworks of meaning for American favorites. Without fail, the songs come from a place of sincerity. “In the end,” she explains, “it's just getting the story across. To me, the words are the most important thing.”
West has performed to sell-out houses annually at The Plush Room in San Francisco and at The Oak Room in New York's Algonquin Hotel, increasing her exposure via films, radio broadcasts and performances in France, Italy and Switzerland. West has also sung at major jazz festivals and has shared the bill with numerous jazz luminaries including Rosemary Clooney, Stacey Kent, Mose Allison, Freddy Cole, Jimmy Scott, Oscar Brown Jr., Rita Rudner, Mavis Staples and Dave Frishberg. Performing consistently with The Eric Reed Trio, recent appearances include Jazz at Lincoln Center, Sculler’s, Jazz Aspen and a performance at The White House in a salute to American writers. In addition to Eric Reed, West has worked with such jazz greats as Bobby Hutcherson, Bill Charlap, Frank Weiss, Mulgrew Miller, Peter Washington, Victor Lewis, Bruce Barth and Regina Carter.
In January 2004, West tied with Dianne Reeves for the New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Female Jazz Vocalist. Her critically acclaimed CDs include Temptation, Restless and Come What May, which received the California Music Award for Outstanding Jazz Album, as well as guest appearances on Eric Reed’s Max Jazz Christmas CD, Merry Magic, and Frank Mantooth’s final project, Ladies Sing for Lovers, featuring Karrin Allyson, Ann Hampton Callaway, Sheila Jordan and Oleta Adams. West has been featured on numerous television programs including A&E’s Breakfast with The Arts and also on The Oxygen Network. Her film appearances include Chris Columbus’ Bicentennial Man starring Robin Williams and The Lynn Hershman film Teknolust starring Tilda Swinton.
About the San Francisco Girls Chorus
Four home season performances, an appearance at the inauguration of US President Barack Obama, a New York debut at the new Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, acclaimed guest appearances with San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, guest artists and a new recording highlight the 30th anniversary season of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Featured premieres include commissions by composers Augusta Read Thomas, Gabriela Lena Frank, Eleanor Daley and Dwight Okamura. Season guest artists include organist David Higgs, jazz vocalist Paula West, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and cellist Emil Miland. The four-concert, eight-performance Bay Area season runs October 24 2008-June 6 2009 at various venues in San Francisco and the East Bay.
Celebrating 30 years of extraordinary music with its 2008-2009 season, the San Francisco Girls Chorus is recognized as one of the world’s most respected vocal ensembles. Its level of training, performance, quality and range, passion and leadership in commissioning music for treble voices are lauded by musicians, critics and audiences. 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 San Francisco Girls Chorus has become a regional center for choral music education and performance for girls and young women ages 7-18. More than 350 singers from 160 schools in 44 Bay Area cities participate in this internationally recognized program, deemed “a model in the country for training girls’ voices” by the California Arts Council.
The organization comprises a professional level performance, recording and touring ensemble and an Alumnae Chorus, both conducted by Artistic Director Susan McMane; the four-level Chorus School training program, supervised by Director Elizabeth Avakian; and a Preparatory Chorus for 5-7 year olds.
In addition to three Grammy Awards, the Girls Chorus has won many honors, including the prestigious “Margaret Hillis Award”, two ASCAP awards for Adventurous Programming, in 1999 and 2004. The Girls Chorus is invited annually to perform with prestigious musical organizations including San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and others. The Girls Chorus has been honored to sing at many prestigious national and international venues, including the World Choral Symposium in Kyoto, Japan, in 2005. They have been featured at the American Choral Directors Association Western Division Convention in Salt Lake City and represented North America in the prestigious World Vision Children’s Choir Festival in Seoul, Korea, and in the Gateway to Music Festival at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.
The Girls Chorus School offers a program of unparalleled excellence, designed to take young girls from their first introduction to the art of choral singing through a full course of choral/vocal instruction. The comprehensive music education includes the study and development of choral artistry, vocal technique, music theory, music history, and performing style. The discipline, teamwork, and concentration young girls learn in the Chorus School rehearsals and performances instill in them the values necessary for high achievement in music and in life.
The Girls Chorus’ discography continues to grow with the 2006 release of Voices of Hope and Peace, a recording that includes many exciting SFGC commissions. Other recordings include: Christmas, featuring diverse holiday selections; Crossroads, a collection of world folk music; and Music from the Venetian Ospedali, a disc of Italian Baroque music. The Girls Chorus can also be heard on several San Francisco Symphony recordings, including three Grammy® Award –winners.
TICKETS
Tickets for the June 5 and 6 concerts are priced $15-$28. at City Box Office, 415-392-4400; online at www.sfgirlschorus.org; 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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