PROGRAM NOTES AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE
Two world premieres by San Francisco’s own Hyo-shin Na are presented alongside Ruth Crawford’s String Quartet, a selection of piano works by the 20th Century master Ferruccio Busoni, and a new, re-imagined version of Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s The Banjo by the ensemble’s pianist, Thomas Schultz.
One of the world’s most distinguished string quartets, the Pro Arte Quartet perform contemporary Ukrainian composer Denys Lytvynenko’s String Quartet No. 2, which, according to the composer, tells a story “without a happy ending”, along with works by Germaine Tailleferre and Fanny Hensel (Mendelssohn).
A bounty of music gathered from across the Republic of Georgia, as well as songs from Balkan, Baltic, Mediterranean and Slavic lands, utilizing the power of collective singing to summon warmth, cheer, and spiritual connection to sustain ourselves through the challenges and uncertainties of the coldest and darkest season.
Soprano Heidi Moss Erickson and pianist John Parr perform a multi-faceted program of Ravel, Fauré and Heidi’s trademark Strauss, culminating in soprano excerpts of Kurt Erickson’s Each Moment Radiant in its West Coast Première.
Every year, pianist Mike Greensill is joined by a changing roster of friends in a Labor Day weekend performance at Old First Concerts celebrating the melodic joys of the Great American Songbook … with a hefty dose of Greensill original compositions included.
