San Francisco Girls Chorus facts for kids
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The San Francisco Girls Chorus is a special place for girls and young women, aged 4 to 18, to learn about music and perform. It was started in 1978 by Elizabeth Appling in San Francisco. Every year, over 300 singers from many different cities in the Bay Area join the chorus. The group has a professional singing team that performs, records music, and travels. It also has a six-level school program to train young singers.
The chorus often performs with famous groups like the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. They have also worked with other big names, such as the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center in 2016. In 2017, they performed at the SHIFT Festival in Washington, DC, and at Carnegie Hall in 2018 with the Philip Glass Ensemble.
Valérie Sainte-Agathe became the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus in the 2018–2019 season. She had been the Music Director and Principal Conductor since 2013. Other leaders before her included Elizabeth Appling, Sharon J. Paul, Susan McMane, and Lisa Bielawa.
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The Premier Ensemble: Top Singers
The Premier Ensemble is the main group of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. These singers perform in concerts, record music, and go on tours. Valérie Sainte-Agathe is their conductor.
Performing for the President
The Premier Ensemble performed at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009. They sang for 20 minutes before the ceremony began. This was a very special honor for them.
Traveling the World
In July 2011, the Premier Ensemble went on an international tour to Cuba. They visited cities like Havana, Santa Clara, and Matanzas. This was before Cuba was widely open for U.S. citizens to visit.
They also sang at the New York Philharmonic's NY Phil Biennial in 2016. They were the only group from outside New York invited to perform there. In 2017, they sang with The Knights orchestra at the SHIFT Festival at the Kennedy Center.
Recent Performances and Awards
In 2019, the SFGC performed a new piece by Fred Frith. When live performances stopped in 2020 due to the pandemic, the chorus held a virtual festival online. They worked with the Berkeley Ballet Theater and the Philip Glass Ensemble for this event. Also in 2020, the chorus won two SFCV Audience Choice Awards. They also helped with an online show of Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans. The SFGC's music was also featured in the Netflix documentary Athlete A.
In 2022, the SFGC performed Kamala's Hope for the first time with a chorus. This work was based on the Vice Presidential acceptance speeches of Kamala Harris. In June 2023, the Premier Ensemble finally performed their choral-opera Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary. They had asked composer Matthew Welch to create this piece, which was based on the diaries of Filipina immigrant Angeles Monrayo.
Also in 2023, members of the SFGC sang in the first-ever performance of Prospero's Island. This opera was based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. They also performed in the West Coast premiere of the family-friendly opera The Three Feathers.
The Chorus School: Learning to Sing
The SFGC's Chorus School was started by Elizabeth Avakian. It has six levels for singers:
- Prep Chorus (no audition needed)
- Training Chorus
- Levels I-IV
Singers move through these levels as they improve their musical skills. They might spend one, two, or three years in each level.
Composer-in-Residence Program
Each year, the Chorus School has a Composer-in-Residence. This composer works with the singers to create a brand new song. The singers then perform this new piece each spring. This program lets young singers work with real composers. They learn about modern music styles and get to perform new songs for the first time. Past composers have included Danny Clay, Lisa Mezzacappa, Angélica Negrón, Pamela Z, Sahba Aminikia, and Gabriela Lena Frank.
Voice Lessons
Professional vocal artists work at the school to help singers at all levels improve their voices. Singers in Levels I through IV prepare for and perform in a voice recital each spring. They work with professional voice teachers. Each singer is treated as a solo artist, but also learns to be part of a group.
Music Theory Program
Singers in Levels I through IV also get weekly lessons in music theory. This helps them understand how music works. Learning to read and understand music is a key part of the SFGC program. Each level has specific goals for what singers should learn. When singers finish the Chorus School, they take an exam that prepares them for advanced music studies.
Special Projects
Chorus School singers often get to be part of special projects. These can include performing in operas, symphonies, or recording sessions with other Bay Area arts groups. These projects help the singers learn how to perform on stage, be flexible, and act. In the past, singers have performed with the San Francisco Opera, the Berkeley Symphony, the San Francisco Conservatory, and the San Francisco Ballet.
Recordings: Music to Listen To
The Premier Ensemble has recorded and released nine of their own CD albums. Some of these include:
- Voices of Hope and Peace: This album features "Anne Frank: A Living Voice" by Linda Tutas Haugen.
- Christmas: A collection of different holiday songs.
- Crossroads: A collection of folk music from around the world.
- Music From the Venetian Ospedali: An album of Italian Baroque music. The New Yorker magazine called the chorus "tremendously accomplished" for this recording.
- Heaven and Earth: Their first double album, with recordings from 2008–09.
Their album Final Answer was released in February 2018 on Philip Glass's Orange Mountain Music label. It includes music by composers like Philip Glass, Lisa Bielawa, Gabriel Kahane, John Zorn, and Sahba Aminikia.
Their most recent album, My Outstretched Hand, came out in 2019. It features Colin Jacobsen's piece If I Were Not Me and Lisa Bielawa's My Outstretched Hand. They also appeared on the 2019 recording of Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser, an opera by Lisa Bielawa.
The Premier Ensemble can also be heard on several recordings with the San Francisco Symphony. Five of these recordings have won GRAMMY awards! These include:
- Orff: Carmina Burana (1992)
- Stravinsky: The Firebird, The Rite of Spring, Persephone (1999)
- Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (2008)
- Mahler: Symphony No. 3 and Kindertotenlieder (2004)
The Premier Ensemble has also appeared in two movies, The Talented Mr. Ripley (2000) and What Dreams May Come (1998). They were also in the Netflix documentary Athlete A (2020).
New Music: Commissions
The chorus encourages new music for treble voices (high voices, like those of girls). They work with composers to ask them to create and perform new songs just for the chorus. Composers like Richard Danielpour, Aaron Jay Kernis, Gabriela Lena Frank, Philip Glass, Augusta Read Thomas, Libby Larsen, Jake Heggie, and Chen Yi have written music specifically for the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
Kanbar Center: Home of the Chorus
The Kanbar Performing Arts Center is the home of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. It opened in 2005 and is located at 44 Page Street in San Francisco.
Summer Music Camp
Every summer, the SFGC holds a week-long chorus camp. This camp is for singers in Levels II, III, IV, and the Premier Ensemble. It takes place at the Rio Lindo Adventist Academy in Healdsburg, California. During camp, the young women get ready for their regular season performances. They also have classes in music theory, sightsinging (reading music and singing it right away), and dance. They also enjoy fun activities like the Counselor Hunt, Big Sister/Little Sister Night, and a Square Dance.
Awards and Honors
The San Francisco Girls Chorus has received many awards and honors:
- The Premier Ensemble was invited to perform with the San Francisco Boys Chorus at President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2009. They were the only children's choruses to be given this honor.
- They have appeared on five albums that won GRAMMY awards.
- They have received four ASCAP/Chorus America Awards for Adventurous Programming. This means they are recognized for performing new and interesting music.
- In 2000, they became the first youth chorus to receive the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence from Chorus America. This is a very important award for choruses.
