San Francisco Girls Chorus Celebrates Holidays with three Bay Area concerts

San Francisco, November 13, 2009 – The 27th annual, 300-voice holiday musical extravaganza featuring the full complement of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Chorus School Tuesday, December 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Davies Hall in San Francisco, highlights three seasonal concerts by the three-time Grammy Award-winning ensemble in December. Entitled Let Heaven and Earth Sing, the evening features the award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus that performed at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, plus all levels of the San Francisco Girls Chorus School, that will fill the Davies Hall stage with the sounds of the season including a popular audience sing-along of favorite carols. The program features Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols with Karen Gottlieb, harp; holiday music by Rutter, Willcocks, Thompson, Močnik and others, conducted by Artistic Director Susan McMane.

In addition to the 27th annual Davies Hall concert, the 43-voice Girls Chorus will present a concert in Lafayette with different repertoire Friday, December 18, at 8 p.m. at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church. The San Francisco Girls Chorus Alumnae will perform Saturday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco.

Let Heaven and Earth Sing at Davies Hall Dec. 22

Tuesday, December 22, 2009, at 7:30 p.m.
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
 
PROGRAM: BRITTEN: A Ceremony of Carols with Karen Gottlieb, harp; holiday music by Rutter, Willcocks, Thompson, Močnik and others plus the popular annual audience carol sing-along.
 
Benjamin Britten’s festive A Ceremony of Carols is the masterful centerpiece of this year’s annual holiday concert and sing-along—now in its 27th season at Davies Hall. Join the full complement of 300 exquisite young voices of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Chorus School plus organ, piano and harp at Davies Hall. This concert features the 41-voice San Francisco Girls Chorus plus 300 voices of the San Francisco Girls Chorus School and guest artists.

Tickets: City Box Office 415-392-4400 or cityboxoffice.com
Premier $58 ; Preferred $48; Second Tier $32; Terrace $22

Let Heaven and Earth Sing in Lafayette Dec. 18

Friday, December 18, 2009, at 8 p.m.
Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church
49 Knox Drive, Lafayette

PROGRAM: BRITTEN: A Ceremony of Carols with Karen Gottlieb, harp; holiday music by Rutter, Willcocks, Thompson, Močnik and others plus the popular annual audience carol sing-along.
 
Benjamin Britten’s festive A Ceremony of Carols is the masterful centerpiece of this year’s annual holiday concert and sing-along—now in its 27th season at Davies Hall. Join the full complement of 300 exquisite young voices of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Chorus School plus organ, piano and harp at Davies Hall. The December 18 performance in Lafayette is an intimate holiday concert with the 41-voice Chorus and guest artists.

Tickets: City Box Office 415-392-4400 or cityboxoffice.com
Reserved $32; General Admission $25/$18 (for students).

San Francisco Girls Chorus Alumnae Perform Ave! Ave! Dec. 5

Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco

The San Francsico Girls Chorus Alumnae perform Ave! Ave!, a program featuring festive music on the ancient theme of angels descending to earth. Works by Fauré, Praetorius, Orbán, La Rocca and others will be presented. The Alumnae Chorus heralds in the season with contemporary arrangements of traditional carols as well as an audience favorite, “Ave Maria” by David MacIntyre, and features the dramatic work, “Mary’s Song,” by Norwegian composer Knut Nysedt.

Now in its third season, the San Francisco Girls Chorus Alumnae Chorus provides Bay Area audiences with concerts of the highest caliber of women’s choral music and affords continuing opportunities for the graduates of the San Francisco Girls Chorus program.

Tickets: City Box Office 415-392-4400 or cityboxoffice.com
$25/$18 (with student discount)

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 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 the new Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

The organization comprises a 41-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.

The San Francisco Girls Chorus has produced CD recordings including: Voices of Hope and Peace, which includes many SFGC commissions; Christmas, a collection of diverse holiday selections; Crossroads, a compilation of world folk music; Music from the Venetian Ospedali, a disc of Italian Baroque music and its newest release in November 2009: Heaven and Earth, a two CD set. The San Francisco Girls Chorus can also be heard on several San Francisco Symphony recordings, including three that earned Grammy® Awards. 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.

For more information about the San Francisco Girls Chorus and its concerts and programs, visit www.sfgirlschorus.org.