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 who love to sing. It was started in 1978 by Elizabeth Appling. This group helps girls from 4 to 18 years old learn about music and perform.
Every year, over 300 singers from many different cities around the San Francisco Bay Area join the chorus. The group has a professional singing team that performs and records music. They also have a special school with six levels to train young singers.
The San Francisco Girls Chorus often performs with big groups like the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. They have also worked with other famous groups. These include the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center and The Knights orchestra in 2016. They also performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, in 2017. In 2018, they sang at Carnegie Hall with the Philip Glass Ensemble.
Valérie Sainte-Agathe became the Artistic Director of the chorus in 2018. She had been the Music Director since 2013. Other leaders before her included Elizabeth Appling, Sharon J. Paul, Susan McMane, and Lisa Bielawa.
Contents
The Main Singing Group
The main singing group of the San Francisco Girls Chorus is called the Premier Ensemble. This group performs concerts, records music, and goes on tours. Valérie Sainte-Agathe leads this special group.
The Premier Ensemble sang at the swearing-in ceremony for President Barack Obama in January 2009. They sang for about 20 minutes before the main event.
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 many U.S. citizens could easily visit Cuba.
They also sang at the New York Philharmonic's 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. This event took place at the Kennedy Center.
In 2019, the chorus performed a new song by Fred Frith. When live shows stopped in 2020 because of the pandemic, the chorus held a virtual festival online. They worked with the Berkeley Ballet Theater and the Philip Glass Ensemble. Also in 2020, the chorus won two awards. They also helped with an online show of Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans. The chorus's singing was also heard in the Netflix movie Athlete A. This movie was about gymnasts and Dr. Larry Nassar.
In 2022, the chorus performed a new song called Kamala's Hope. This song was based on the speeches of Kamala Harris. In June 2023, the Premier Ensemble performed a choral-opera called Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary. They had asked composer Matthew Welch to write this piece. It was based on the diaries of Angeles Monrayo, an immigrant from the Philippines.
Also in 2023, members of the chorus sang in a new opera called Prospero's Island. This opera was based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. They also performed in The Three Feathers, a family-friendly opera.
The Chorus School
The San Francisco Girls Chorus has a special school called the Chorus School. Elizabeth Avakian started it. It has six levels for singers. These levels are Prep Chorus, Training Chorus, and Levels I-IV. Singers move up as they get better at music. Girls usually spend one to three years in each level.
Composer-in-Residence Program
Each year, a composer works with the Chorus School. This person is called the Composer-in-Residence. They create a new song with the singers. The singers then perform this new song each spring. This program lets singers work with real composers. They learn new music styles and perform brand new songs. Some past composers include Danny Clay, Lisa Mezzacappa, Angélica Negrón, Pamela Z, Sahba Aminikia, and Gabriela Lena Frank.
Voice Lessons
Professional singing teachers work with the girls. They help singers at all levels improve their voices. Singers in Levels I through IV work towards a voice recital each spring. They perform under the guidance of these teachers. Each singer gets to shine as a soloist and as part of the 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 school. Each level has goals for what singers should learn. When singers finish the Chorus School, they take an exam. This exam helps them get ready for advanced music studies.
Special Projects
Chorus School singers often get to be part of special projects. These include operas, symphonies, and recording sessions. They work with other art groups in the Bay Area. These projects help singers learn how to perform on stage. They also learn to be flexible and act. In the past, singers have performed with the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet.
Recordings
The Premier Ensemble has recorded nine solo music CDs. One CD, Voices of Hope and Peace, includes "Anne Frank: A Living Voice." Another, Christmas, has many holiday songs. Crossroads is a collection of folk music from around the world. Music From the Venetian Ospedali has old Italian music. The New Yorker magazine said the chorus was "tremendously accomplished" for this CD. Their first double CD was Heaven and Earth, with recordings from 2008–09.
Their CD Final Answer came out in 2018. It was released by Philip Glass's music label. It features songs by Philip Glass, Lisa Bielawa, Gabriel Kahane, John Zorn, and others.
Their newest album, My Outstretched Hand, came out in 2019. It includes new songs by Colin Jacobsen and Lisa Bielawa. It also has Remembering the Sea by Aaron Jay Kernis. In 2019, they also sang on the recording of Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser. This was an opera by Lisa Bielawa.
The Premier Ensemble has also sung on recordings with the San Francisco Symphony. Five of these CDs have won GRAMMY awards. These include Orff: Carmina Burana (1992) and Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (2008). 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 movie Athlete A (2020).
New Music Projects
The chorus loves to help create new music for girls' voices. They work with composers to ask them to write and perform new songs. Composers like Richard Danielpour, Aaron Jay Kernis, Gabriela Lena Frank, Philip Glass, and Libby Larsen have written songs just for the chorus.
Chorus Home
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
Each summer, the chorus holds a week-long 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. At camp, the girls get ready for the new singing season. They also have classes in music theory, sight-singing, and dance. They also do fun activities like a Counselor Hunt and a Square Dance.
Music Albums
- My Outstretched Hand (2019)
- Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser (2019)
- Final Answer (2018)
- Heaven and Earth (2009)
- Voices of Hope and Peace (2006)
- Christmas (2003)
- Crossroads (2000)
- Music from the Venetian Ospedali (1998)
- I Never Saw Another Butterfly; Songs of the Twentieth Century (1996)
- A San Francisco Christmas (1996)
Awards and Honors
- The Premier Ensemble was invited to sing at President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C., in January 2009. They were one of the only children's choruses to receive this special invitation.
- They have appeared on five albums that won GRAMMY awards.
- They have received four awards for their adventurous music programs.
- In 2000, they became the first youth chorus to win the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence.
