San Francisco Girls Chorus Announces 2022-2023 Season

Highlights Include Performances with Chanticleer Featuring Co-Commissioned World Premiere by Ayanna Woods; World Premiere Commissioned Choral-Opera Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch; Annual Holiday Concert at Davies Symphony Hall Featuring World Premiere Commission Dreaming Horizons by Susie Ibarra; World Premiere of I See You, I Hear You, I Believe You by Ursula Kwong-Brown; World Premiere Choral Version of Kamala’s Hope by Candace Forest; Collaborations with New Century Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera and Noe Music; and Numerous Guest Artists Including Shawnette Sulker, Emil Miland, Jerome Lenk, Christabel Nunoo, Sean San José, and Susie Ibarra
 
Season Also Includes Launch of SFGConnect Online Course with JackTrip Virtual Studios; World Premiere of Opera Prospero’s Island by Allen Shearer and Claudia Stevens Featuring SFGC Chorus School Level III Choristers; Chorus School Collaboration with San Francisco Conservatory of Music in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Lycée Français de San Francisco, Purdue Varsity Glee Club, and San Francisco Boys Chorus; and Masterclasses and Workshops with Lisa Mezzacappa and Dashon Burton
 

San Francisco, CA – September 19, 2022 - The San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) today announced its 2022-2023 season. Led by Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC will present four self-produced programs featuring its acclaimed Premier Ensemble in venues throughout the Bay Area as well as numerous appearances in collaboration with leading arts organizations and artists.

Continuing its commitment to the music of today, SFGC will present five world premieres this season: an SFGC co-commission with Chanticleer by GRAMMY-nominated composer Ayanna Woods that will be premiered as part of a joint production; Matthew Welch’s choral-opera Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary, an SFGC commission based on the diary of Filipina-American author Angeles Monrayo that features stage director Sean San José; an SFGC commissioned work by Susie Ibarra (2020-2021 Chorus School Composer in Residence) entitled Dreaming Horizons as part of SFGC’s popular annual December concert tradition at Davies Symphony Hall that also features soprano Christabel Nunoo; and the world premiere of I See You, I Hear You, I Believe You by Ursula Kwong-Brown, featured on the ensemble’s season opening performance alongside the world premiere of Kamala’s Hope by Candace Forest rescored for chorus with soprano Shawnette Sulker, cellist Emil Miland, and pianist Jerome Lenk.

In addition to its self-produced productions, SFGC’s Premier Ensemble will make appearances with New Century Chamber Orchestra that includes a return to the Green Music Center (Sparkling Connections); Santa Fe Opera (The Pigeon Keeper by David Hanlon, workshop and presentation); Lycée Français de San Francisco (community performances); and Noe Music (She Who Creates: A Mother’s Day Celebration). Collaborations featuring SFGC Chorus School choristers include the world premiere of an opera by Allen Shearer and Claudia Stevens, Prospero’s Island, presented by Ninth Planet in co-production with InTandem; San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Mahler Symphony No. 3); San Francisco Boys Chorus (75th Anniversary Performance); the Purdue Varsity Glee Club (joint performance during their tour to San Francisco); and various masterclasses and workshops with acclaimed guest artists including 2022-2023 Chorus School Composer-in-Residence Lisa Mezzacappa, leadership speaker Ann G. Miller, and bass-baritone Dashon Burton.

This season also sees the launch of SFGC’s brand new pilot online course SFGConnect, in partnership with JackTrip Virtual Studios, which brings the curriculum from SFGC Chorus School Level I to the homes of choristers all over California using JackTrip’s innovative technology. JackTrip allows singers, accompanists, and conductors to make music simultaneously without the delays of online meeting platforms and will allow participating virtual choristers to sing together simultaneously as an ensemble from their own homes. Singers will work with educator and SFGConnect Composer-in-Residence Danny Clay, with a new work to premiere in Spring, 2023.

“This season perfectly encapsulates everything that makes the San Francisco Girls Chorus one of the leading youth choral organizations in the country,” said Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe. “Our ever-growing choral repertoire continues with numerous world premieres and commissions, as does our commitment to collaborating with some of the finest arts organizations and guest artists from across the Bay Area and beyond. Most importantly, we are proud to present a diverse selection of music that reflects both the diversity of our choristers and community and addresses important issues that we must all face together.”

The season opens on Friday, October 21, 2022 at SFJAZZ Miner Auditorium with a program of choral works by women composers that includes the choral world premiere of Kamala’s Hope by Oakland-based composer Candace Forest, a world premiere by Ursula Kwong-Brown, and three previous SFGC commissions by Angélica Negrón, Amy X Neuburg, and Pamela Z. Originally written as a trio chamber work, Kamala’s Hope has been revised to feature SFGC’s Premier Ensemble alongside soprano Shawnette Sulker, cellist Emil Miland, and organist Jerome Lenk, and bases its libretto on two Vice-Presidential acceptance speeches given by then Senator Kamala Harris in August 2020. Following its September 2020 premiere at San Francisco’s Mission Dolores Basilica, the work was then featured during a virtual event in January 2021 given by the City of Oakland in celebration of Senator Harris’s election to the Vice Presidency of the United States. The program will also highlight the world premiere of I See You, I Hear You, I Believe You by American composer Ursula Kwong-Brown, a work written in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Completing the program is a selection of works including three previous commissions, Cosecha by Angélica Negrón (Virtual Premiere – December 2020), Before I Forget by Amy X Neuburg (June 2017), and Pen Pal by Pamela Z (May 2018), and excerpts from SFGC commission Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch which will receive its full world premiere in June, 2023.

For the first time in three years, SFGC returns to Davies Symphony Hall for its annual appearance on Monday, December 12, 2022. A staple in the Bay Area December calendar, SFGC will bring hundreds of choristers from all six levels of the Choral School, the Premier Ensemble, and SFGC alums to perform a selection of spirituals including Ride on King Jesus, Keep Your Lamps!, Jordan’s Angels, Ain’-a That Good News, Follow the River, and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. An SFGC commissioned work by Susie Ibarra, Dreaming Horizons, receives its world premiere on this program. Ibarra will also feature as percussionist in this performance. This new choral work was written during the composer’s time as 2020-2021 Composer-in-Residence with an excerpt from this work featuring on SFGC’s “The Line Between” concerts at the Fort Mason FLIX drive-in theatre in May 2021. The performance will also include festive favorites to open the holiday season as well as excerpts from The Journey of Harriet Tubman by Ron Kean featuring guest soprano Christabel Nunoo, and Fire from Canadian composer Katerina Gimon’s The Elements.

SFGC continues its season March 17-21, 2023 with GRAMMY Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer performing a program of choral works that includes the world premiere of a co-commissioned work by Chanticleer’s 2022-2023 composer-in-residence Ayanna Woods. This marks the second new work that Chanticleer has commissioned from the composer following the 2021 premiere of close[r], now which explores shared experiences during the height of the pandemic. Chicago-based Ayanna Woods is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after composers of her generation with commissions by Third Coast Percussion, The Crossing, Boston Children’s Choir, and Chicago Chamber Choir, among others. Her music also features in a range of film and theater projects including the Emmy-nominated web series Brown Girls and the live film No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, co-composed with her sister Jamila Woods. Alongside this world premiere is a selection of works showcasing both vocal ensembles, including a joint performance of O Daedalus, Fly Away Home by Weston, previous SFGC commission The Womanly Song of God by Libby Larsen (2003), Father Death Blues by Philip Glass, arranged by Lisa Bielawa, and excerpts from Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch.

Concluding the season in June 2023 is the world premiere of Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary, a new SFGC-commissioned choral-opera from American composer Matthew Welch. Originally scheduled for a June 2022 premiere and canceled due to COVID, this semi-staged work is based on the 1924-1928 diary writings of Filipina immigrant Angeles Monrayo and highlights the importance of the Filipino diaspora’s cultural impact throughout the United States, particularly in the Bay Area. Speaking about the work, Matthew Welch says, “This piece really challenges certain notions as to what “opera” is, in that the chorus is the main feature of the work and has such an extended role far beyond the conventional one of providing commentary and interpretation on the solo roles and parts. It is also only one of a few operas for children. Being able to fundamentally shift the basic building blocks of opera, yet maintain focus on storytelling and drawing inspiration from the original diary by Angeles Monrayo upon which the opera is based.”

Single tickets to “Kamala’s Hope” and “SFGC at Davies Hall” will go on sale Tuesday, September 20, 2022 and range in price from $25-$65. Single tickets to “Neighbor Tones” are available for purchase now through CityBoxOffice.com and range in price from $21-$63. Single tickets to “Tomorrow’s Memories” will be announced at a later date.

The 2022-2023 season is made possible, in part, by support from San Francisco Grants for the Arts, The Bernard Osher Foundation, and New Music USA’s New Music Organizational Development Fund.