San Francisco Girls Chorus Season Opening Concerts October 23, 2009

The internationally celebrated San Francisco Girls Chorus opens its 2009-2010 home season with two performances of "Transcendent Voices," featuring mystical music based on millennia of prophetic words set by Tavener, Holst, Hildegard and others. Performances by the three-time Grammy Award-winning Chorus will be given Friday, October 23, at 8 p.m. at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco and Sunday, October 25, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church in Berkeley conducted by Artistic Director Susan McMane with guest harpist Karen Gottlieb and guest middle eastern instrumentalists to be announced.
For more than thirty years, the thrilling sounds of the extraordinarily gifted young women of the San Francisco Girls Chorus have captured the attention and fired the imaginations of audiences worldwide. Following a phenomenal 30th anniversary season in 2008-2009 that included featured performances at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, a New York debut at Lincoln Center and unprecedented ticket sales the San Francisco Girls Chorus has furthered its status as an internationally celebrated professional choral ensemble.

Prophetic words and mystical visions have been a source of rich inspiration for composers through the ages. American composer Abbie Betinis illuminates the sensual metaphors of medieval Persian poet Hafez, and John Tavener's shimmering sonorities animate the words of Mohammed. Gustav Holst's substantial Rig-Veda Hymns are profound explorations of Indian scripture and the insights of a thousand years of lyric poetry are brought to lustrous sound by composers from Hildegard to Olli Kortekangas.

$18-$58.

Official Website: http://sfgirlschorus.org