San Francisco Girls Chorus

This week’s postcard comes from Céline Ricci and Corey Jamason, collaborators on SFGC’s upcoming Juditha Triumphans virtual production on Friday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m.

Céline is Artistic Director of early music group Ars Minerva - our co-presenter for this production - and is Stage Director for Juditha Triumphans. Corey is Chair of Historical Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is featured as harpsichordist for this project.

Céline Ricci, Artistic Director, Ars Minerva

Dear Friends of the San Francisco Girls Chorus,

I am delighted to have the opportunity to introduce myself to you. My name is Céline Ricci. From French and Italian heritage, I was born in Florence but lived most of my life in Paris before moving to San Francisco in 2008. Music has always been in my life! At school we started singing around the age of five and I never stopped. I started my career as an opera singer and have been very fortunate to be invited to perform with many renowned baroque ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants, Akademie für Alte Musik, Wiener Akademie, and Philharmonia Baroque to name a few. I have also been part of wonderful productions in venues such as L’Opéra Comique, the Berlin Staatsoper, the Musikverein, the Mariinsky Theater, the Lincoln Center, the Disney Hall and le Théâtre des Champs Elysées among others. During this part of my life I had the privilege of singing operas that hadn't been performed since their creation in the baroque time. One of them was Aminta, composed by Antonio Mazzoni and originally commissioned and produced by the most famous castrato Carlo Broschi Farinelli who was director of the court opera in Madrid after the 1755 earthquake. I consider this recording to be one of the greatest memories of my life.

Many recordings have paved the way for my artistic development and growth, and many composers I fell in love with! I would like to share here an excerpt of a cantata by Domenico Scarlatti I have recorded with Ars Lyrica Houston - Conductor Matthew Dirst - Sono Luminus Label: Pur nel sonno almen talora.

Caption: Domenico Scarlatti: Sono Luminus Label: Pur nel sonno almen talora.

The fascination for forgotten, rare music and also for stage direction has led me to create a performing arts nonprofit organization in San Francisco: Ars Minerva www.arsminerva.org. Ars Minerva’s main mission is to bring forgotten operas back to life. Since 2015, Ars Minerva has recreated and fully staged five operas that hadn’t been performed since their creation in the 17th or 18th centuries.

La Cleopatra, composed by Daniele da Castrovillari for the 1662 Venice Carnival Season.
The Amazons in the Fortunate Isles, composed by Carlo Pallavicino in 1679.
La Circe, composed by Pietro Andrea Ziani in 1665.
Ifigenia in Aulide, composed by Giovanni Porta in 1738.
Ermelinda, composed by Domenico Freschi in 1680.

Ars Minerva is proud to perform forgotten music in collaboration with artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Reviving Baroque operas is a rare and captivating experience, one which we are happy to share with the diverse local community. I am also grateful for having the opportunity to stage direct forgotten treasures. Our recent production of Domenico Freschi's Ermelinda garnered great critical praise: “Ars Minerva revives an unknown opera with beauty and style.” -Joshua Kosman, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Caption: Excerpts from Ermelinda (also featuring SFGC’s Director of Voice Studies Justin Montigne!)

Juditha Triumphans

I would like to share that SFGC Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe and I met about 20 years ago at the Opéra de Montpellier. Valérie was working there at the young artists program, Opéra Junior, and I was rehearsing with them the first piece I would be cast in on a stage of a main opera house. This piece was Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans.

Today I am thrilled about the collaboration between the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Ars Minerva around Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans! The San Francisco Girls Chorus is such a unique and inspiring organization which creates young, talented musicians and provides them with a high quality of education. One thing the performers who created Juditha Triumphans and the SFGC choristers have in common is that they are all young talented ladies who dedicate their life to music.

To me, the story of Judith is a legacy of empowerment, strength, and independence that women have passed to each other since the ancient times. The SFGC performers go through this journey as the young orphans girls of L'Ospedale della Pietà in Venice did 300 years earlier when they created Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans. The choristers were surprised by the modernity of the story despite it coming from ancient times. The story also provided them with a feminine role model to look at. In their own words, Judith is not a woman who is waiting around for a man to end the war. She is competent and in charge. She is the heroine, not the assistant or lover of a hero.

The choristers have experienced the learning of this piece during the pandemic and its isolation which resonates with the isolations of the choristers of La Pietà who originally created the role in 1716. The orphan girls were cloistered and their life was entirely devoted to music. Times are different today; passion for music is better when coupled with freedom and the choristers are aware that. Music is a big part of their identity but what would it be without freedom?

Here are some pieces of their artwork inspired by the story of Judith. They created it during the process of learning about the piece and the music. I am very attached to the process of creating an “in-house” artwork for every production I create. I use the same process with Ars Minerva. Every production has its own poster, its own specific identity.

For Juditha Triumphans, the choristers have already created all sorts of identities with their artwork.

*Caption: SFGC chorister artwork inspired by the story of Juditha Triumphans (Top L-R: Annika Pyo, Caroline Freeman-Cherry; Bottom L-R: Hannah Gonzales, Samantha Fung-Lee)*

Corey Jamason, Harpsichordist, Chair of Historical Performance at San Francisco Conservatory of Music

How did you first learn about SFGC?

I learned about SFGC years ago when I first moved to San Francisco and have enjoyed every interaction I’ve had in collaboration with them, as well as being an audience member at their wonderful concerts.

How did you become a musician? Tell us about what you’ve done and what you do now.

I never really considered doing anything else with my life. I was blessed with having parents who were great music lovers. Music and well known musicians were a major topic of conversation in my family throughout my childhood. I was also incredibly fortunate to have many wonderful teachers and mentors throughout my life who opened so many doors and were incredibly patient and encouraging. I owe them everything. I work now primarily as a harpsichordist, playing continuo and solo music as well as teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. My work at SFCM has been one of the greatest joys of my life and I feel honored to work with the incredible young artists that make up our student body and with my amazing faculty and staff colleagues there.

A lot of our choristers have parents who are not musicians - what would you like to tell them about what it means for a young person to be doing music?

Making music is one of the profoundly human things we can do. It is as natural as speech, perhaps even more so. When we make music we connect with each other and with everything alive around us, the entire natural world is musical.

Sitting in the forest and listening, really listening, offers us a chance to hear the most magical counterpoint. When we make music we also contribute to the counterpoint of our world. I think all young people should make music as it is a wonderful way to find one’s voice and to feel a part of something bigger.

For those girls who do wish to become professional musicians - anything you’d like to share with them?

I would encourage them to follow their dreams and to not allow anyone to discourage them from pursuing anything that fascinates and inspires them, especially music.

Why is it important to continue practicing music and have online performances in this time of pandemic?

I believe it is especially important to continue practicing and performing music as our responsibility and role as musicians only grows during times of crisis. Our communities need our music so we must continue to provide it in whatever format is possible.

Anything you would like to add? Especially about the work with our choristers?

It was a joy for me to be a part of their exploration of this incredible piece composed by Vivaldi. I was inspired by the choristers’ performances that I heard in my coaching and was very moved by their excitement for learning. I loved working with the choristers and it was a great pleasure to collaborate with the incredible leadership team and teachers.

Postcard from Juditha Guest Artists: Céline Ricci and Corey Jamason