In San Francisco, the younger performers will warm hearts with a selection ranging from Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” Mark Weston’s “Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” and the Spanish Traditional “Arre Borriquito.”

Older singers will celebrate wintertime with songs including the Turkish Traditional “Üsküdar,” “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, and Cynthia Gray’s “Afternoon on a Hill.”

The National Children’s Chorus guides kids to thrive. Each year, under the leadership of Artistic Director Luke McEndarfer and Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone, over 1,100 young people who carry a love of singing in their hearts find their voice and achieve their best through unparalleled vocal training in eight chapter cities nationwide.

Through the NCC, students connect with each other, growing as artists and as citizens. The young vocalists, ages 5 to 18, engage in a superlative regimen that includes an extensive musicianship curriculum.

The students are celebrating that their album Illumine hit #3 on the Billboard Classical charts. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios in London last summer, in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on Lexicon Classics. The album highlights holiday music from different countries, cultures, and traditions around the world resulting in an exquisite musical collection — a diverse, world-encompassing array of holiday expressions by underrepresented voices in choral music.

The festive December concert appearance marks the start to the group’s 120th anniversary season where the group will launch a new chapter city, exponentially expand its scholarship program, and set off on an eighth international tour.

Tickets start at $35.

Christopher Hewitt, pianist
Michaela Overall, pianist
Ray Capiral-Speers, pianist

PRELUDE LEVEL
Ann Elizabeth Jones, conductor
“My Favorite Things,” Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Roger Emerson
“The Night Wind,” Mark Patterson
“Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” Mark Weston

MINUET LEVEL
Enya Murray, conductor
“Arre Borriquito” (Spanish Traditional), arr. D. Farrell Smith & Shelley J. Smith
“Somewhere in My Memory,” John Williams & Leslie Bricusse, arr. Audrey Snyders
“Cold Snap,” Mark Hayes

SONATA LEVEL
Peter Meredith, conductor
“Afternoon on a Hill,” Cynthia Gray
“Üsküdar,” (Turkish Traditional), arr. Mark Burrows
“Velvet Shoes,” Randall Thompson
“On With the Snow!,” Douglas E. Wagner

PREMIER ENSEMBLE
Dr. Pamela Blackstone & Julia Morris, conductors
“Salmo 150,” Ernani Aguiar, arr. Donald Patriquin & Alberto Grau
“Winter.” Anthony Giamanco & Walter de la Mare, arr. Andy Beck
“Flight,” Craig Carnelia, arr. Ryan Murphy
“The Christmas Song,” Mel Tormé & Robert Wells, arr. Mark Hayes

Talented young singers from the National Children’s Chorus kick off the holidays with a joyful and moving concert, “a truly ethereal sound” (Gramophone). The San Francisco concert will feature students ages 5-18 offering an extraordinary performance of a brand-new winter collection of songs that inspire gratitude, mindfulness, and self-knowledge.

In San Francisco, the younger performers will warm hearts with a selection ranging from Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” Mark Weston’s “Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” and the Spanish Traditional “Arre Borriquito.”

Older singers will celebrate wintertime with songs including the Turkish Traditional “Üsküdar,” “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, and Cynthia Gray’s “Afternoon on a Hill.”

The National Children’s Chorus guides kids to thrive. Each year, under the leadership of Artistic Director Luke McEndarfer and Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone, over 1,100 young people who carry a love of singing in their hearts find their voice and achieve their best through unparalleled vocal training in eight chapter cities nationwide.

Through the NCC, students connect with each other, growing as artists and as citizens. The young vocalists, ages 5 to 18, engage in a superlative regimen that includes an extensive musicianship curriculum.

The students are celebrating that their album Illumine hit #3 on the Billboard Classical charts. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios in London last summer, in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on Lexicon Classics. The album highlights holiday music from different countries, cultures, and traditions around the world resulting in an exquisite musical collection — a diverse, world-encompassing array of holiday expressions by underrepresented voices in choral music.

The festive December concert appearance marks the start to the group’s 120th anniversary season where the group will launch a new chapter city, exponentially expand its scholarship program, and set off on an eighth international tour.

Tickets start at $35.

Christopher Hewitt, pianist
Michaela Overall, pianist
Ray Capiral-Speers, pianist

PRELUDE LEVEL
Ann Elizabeth Jones, conductor
“My Favorite Things,” Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Roger Emerson
“The Night Wind,” Mark Patterson
“Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” Mark Weston

MINUET LEVEL
Enya Murray, conductor
“Arre Borriquito” (Spanish Traditional), arr. D. Farrell Smith & Shelley J. Smith
“Somewhere in My Memory,” John Williams & Leslie Bricusse, arr. Audrey Snyders
“Cold Snap,” Mark Hayes

SONATA LEVEL
Peter Meredith, conductor
“Afternoon on a Hill,” Cynthia Gray
“Üsküdar,” (Turkish Traditional), arr. Mark Burrows
“Velvet Shoes,” Randall Thompson
“On With the Snow!,” Douglas E. Wagner

PREMIER ENSEMBLE
Dr. Pamela Blackstone & Julia Morris, conductors
“Salmo 150,” Ernani Aguiar, arr. Donald Patriquin & Alberto Grau
“Winter.” Anthony Giamanco & Walter de la Mare, arr. Andy Beck
“Flight,” Craig Carnelia, arr. Ryan Murphy
“The Christmas Song,” Mel Tormé & Robert Wells, arr. Mark Hayes

The post Nationwide Youngsters’s Refrain Winter Showcase in San Francisco at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church – San Francisco in San Francisco – December 5, 2023 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

It was an intimate setting for a choir, the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco. Rows of benches slanted on either side of the polished grand piano, which stood like grand pianos. Thirty-five choir members, all dressed in black, took their places in a solemn procession. Ian Robertson, San Francisco Chorus Master, and Fabrizio Corona, Associate Chorus Master, followed.

It was immediate and personal, but far from informal. The entire performance was sovereign in its polished performance. It was festive and bittersweet as the choir bid farewell to Ian Robertson after his 35-year tenure. This concert was full of miracles.

The concert spanned 300 years of music, from excerpts from Charpentier’s “Te Deum” and Bach’s “Wohl mir, das ich Jesum” from Cantata BWV 147 to Leonard Bernstein’s “Make Our Garden Grow” from “Candide”. It included choices in Latin, French, German, Spanish, English; Opera from Handel and Mozart to Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini; Poetry; Folk songs and much more. The moods ranged from devout to a little salty, melancholy to happy, each piece its own island of beauty and commentary, the texts projected onto a large wall that worked smoothly and effectively. Who could ask for more?

A lively leader

Ian Robertson conducted and related his attunement to the audience, the content and style of the music, and the choir members and accompanist Fabrizio Contorno created a performance narrative that remained both interesting and aesthetic. No wonder the San Francisco Opera Chorus performed so well during the years of Ian Robertson’s tenure. It was the perfect combination of leadership, music and performance.

The soloists and choir members worked in perfect harmony. Clare Demer, Sara Colburn, Whitney Steele, Andrew Truett, Mitchell Jones offered a rich and beautiful start to the concert with the “Te Deum”. Thomas and Demer have reproduced selections from “Idomeneo” and “L’Elisir d’Amore” with extraordinary finesse. Michael Jankosky delivered a touching Edgardo from “Lucia di Lammermoor”. The choir supplemented this with a moving performance of the “Humming Chorus” from Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, which was sung especially to commemorate the many losses caused by the pandemic.

This was followed by colorful portraits of “Noi siamo zingarelle” and “Di Madride noi siamo mattadori” from Verdi’s “La Traviata”. To highlight these, as Robertson and Contorno did, was to highlight just a few of the varied textures that a great opera like “La Traviata” contains. They remind us that it’s not just the centerpieces that make it shine. The well-known choir “Va, Pensiero” from Verdi’s “Nabucco” ended the first half.

Putting women composers in the spotlight

The second half was great with repertoire choices, especially with a number of female composers. While choirs from Offenbach’s “La Belle Helene” started, the moving chorus of “Dead Soldiers” by Jennifer Higdon, “Cold Mountain”, set the tone with haunting lyrics to Civil War dead with a men chorus. In addition to Jennifer Higdon, we heard works by Joan Szymko, Gabriela Lena Frank, Kate Rusby and Cava Menzies, whose “Invitation to Love”, based on a wonderful poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, premiered. Menzies, who was present, got up to bow. The music was rich and original, the lyrics moving and captivating. The future was there, unfolding, and it was right.

Among the soloists we heard Kathleen Bayler, soprano, and Phillip Pickens, tenor, in a Picante duet “Bailèro” from Canteloube’s “Songs of the Auvergne”; and Angela Moser, Silvie Jensen, Alan Cochran, Mitchell Jones, who perform Ravel’s delightful “Trois Chansons”. This was followed by Joan Szymko’s “All Works of Love” with texts by Mother Teresa, which inspired the reflective strand of the concert, which was interwoven throughout.

A wonderful contrast followed when Michael Belle sang “We’re goin ’round'” from “Treemonisha” by Scott Joplin, which made us want to hear more. The “mountain songs” of the Peruvian Andes came after that and were only sung by the women. They were complex in their rhythms and rendered breathtakingly. Elizabeth Baker, mezzo-soprano, did more than justice to Underneath the Stars, composed by Kate Rusby and arranged by Jim Clements.

Before the “Candide” finale, Matthew Shilvock, General Manager of the San Francisco Opera, gave a formal “Ave” and “Atque Vale (Hail and Farewell)” to Robertson. It was graceful and graceful, listing the 2,000 performances and over 375 productions that Robertson mastered. Shilvock also commended Robertson for creating a family of singers, each with a passion for excellence. Even the happy audience felt the authenticity.

“Make our Garden Grow”, a lyrical interpretation by the well-known American poet Richard Wilbur of Voltaire’s famous “Il faut que nous cultivar notre jardin” was the “Pièce de résistance”. Jesslynn Thomas, Chester Pidduck, Claire Kelm, William O’Neill and Wilford Kelly said goodbye to us wonderfully. This is a good reminder for today – in the world where we seek to be connected, we sometimes push boundaries.

We left the theater, enriched by this diversity of talent and imagination, and we were filled with gratitude shared by Ian Robertson and the San Francisco Chorus as we have so many seasons. Hats off to the conductor, accompanist and all the performers in the group.

The post San Francisco Opera Refrain 2021-22 Evaluation: Farewell Live performance for Ian Robertson appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

John Keene, currently Head of Music Staff and Chorus Master for Seattle Opera, will join the San Francisco Opera staff in January as choir director, the company announced on Tuesday, December 7th.

Keene succeeds Ian Robertson, who is retiring after 35 years in San Francisco.

“It’s amazing to be able to follow Ian with someone who shares the art form and in-depth knowledge of the repertoire,” General Manager Matthew Shilvock told The Chronicle. “I know we switch from one great choir director to another.”

Keene, 62, has been with Seattle Opera nine years since making his debut to prepare the choir for a 2012 production of Beethoven’s “Fidelio”. During this time he also directed a production of Laura Kaminsky’s “As One” and was assistant conductor for the production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle.

Previously, he was Head of Music Staff and Chorus Master at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami and has worked at the Opera Theater of Saint Louis and the New Orleans Opera.

“This is a career you find, and not something you pave your way to,” Keene said in a telephone interview with The Chronicle. “In general, opera spoke to me early on because it’s such a big art form that involves so many people.”

Ian Robertson is retiring after 34 years as director of the San Francisco Opera Chorus. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Keene began his musical career as a pianist, but said he knew almost from the first moment that the life of a soloist was not for him.

“I love the collaborative part of making music,” he said, “especially the collaborative part of rehearsing. In a way, I love the rehearsal process even more than the performance. “

Keene got the job based in part on a single three-hour rehearsal with the choir earlier this fall.

“When we saw John work with the chorus, you could feel the connection immediately,” said Shilvock. “There was a bond of understanding – he trusted her musicality and he knew what he wanted and how to get her there.”

Keene agreed that his session with the choir was final.

“It’s been a very busy time in my current job and I haven’t had a lot of time to think about it. So I just went to show them my sample technique and how I worked, ”he recalls. “I immediately felt a connection with this special group of people. I was aware that they were tired and had come off their busy schedule on a day off, but I could feel their energy immediately. That is unusual and made me sit up and take notice. “

Opera singers who have worked and studied with Keene have been exuberant in their praise. In a written declaration to The Chronicle, the mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack called him “a brilliantly sensitive and giving musician and a beautiful soul”.

Bass baritone Greer Grimsley said, “I’ve known John for a number of years and the gifts San Francisco will receive are, to name a few, his amazing musicality and insight, impeccable professionalism and relentless focus on the task at hand. “

Keene plans to stay in Seattle until the end of January and work remotely when he completes his tenure there. In March he plans to start rehearsals for the summer productions of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s “Dream of the Red Chamber” as well as a Verdi concert under the direction of General Music Director Eun Sun Kim.

The ensemble will also begin work in the 2022/23 season, which marks the company’s 100th anniversary.

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