May 19: San Francisco Girls Chorus Presents Premier Ensemble with Leading Percussionist and Composer Haruka Fujii
Photo of Haruka Fujii by DNPhollyhock ERIKO WATANABE. Press photos at www.sfgirlschorus.org/press-room
The San Francisco Girls Chorus Presents its
Premier Ensemble with Percussionist & Composer Haruka Fujii
Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC Artistic Director
Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm
San Francisco Conservatory of Music | 50 Oak Street | San Francisco, CA
Tickets & Information: www.sfgirlschorus.org/performances
San Francisco, CA –The San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) continues its 2023-2024 season, celebrating 45 years of empowering young women, with a performance by the SFGC Premier Ensemble joined by percussionist and composer Haruka Fujii and conducted by SFGC Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (50 Oak Street).
The concert will take listeners around the world, listening to messages of hope for future generations. It features the world premiere of Fujii’s new work titled Dareno Chikyu, commissioned by and written for SFGC; Belong Not by Aviya Kopelmann, originally written for SFGC’s 2019 fully staged choral music and dance co-production with Berkeley Ballet Theater, Rightfully Ours; Bring Me Little Water, Silvy by Huddie Ledbetter arranged by Moira Smiley; Letters to God by Akira Miyoshi based on the 2008 Japanese book compiling children’s letters to God; the South African prayer song Ndikhokhele Bawo arranged by Michael Barrett; and the world premiere of Toro Ya Alkebulan by Mokale Copeng, commissioned for SFGC's upcoming South Africa tour by Classical Movements as part of the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program, featuring words adapted from the poem “He Had a Dream, an African Dream” by Njeri Wangari.
“I am thrilled to welcome Haruka Fujii as our guest artist. Since our first meeting in June 2023 during our opera production Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch, our collaboration has been effortless and an obvious match,” says SFGC Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe. “Haruka's experience as a professional performer, her precision, musicianship, and creativity set a high standard for young professionals. I am also proud that we have commissioned her first work for choral singers, contributing to our mission to develop the repertoire of choral music for young singers. Together, with chorus and percussion, we are forging new paths in the world of new music.”
Haruka Fujii’s new piece sets survey responses she received from members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus answering two questions: What are the words that come to your mind when you think about the state of the world we live in today? And, what do you want the adults in your world to do to make your future brighter?
Fujii says, “Their words, expressing their views, frustrations, anger, and hopes, were painfully raw and pure, and so inspiring that it did not require much time to come up with the music to accompany their beautiful emotions. These young artists’ perspectives, and the process of creating this work have given me hope to share with my ten-year-old daughter for her future.”
One of the most prominent solo percussionists and marimbists of her generation, Haruka Fujii has won international acclaim for her interpretations of contemporary music, having performed numerous premieres of works from luminary composers, and appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and more. Since 2010, she has performed as an artist of the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble, joining a group of international musicians founded by Yo-Yo Ma, and serves as one of the artistic leadership team alongside with the artistic director Rhiannon Giddens. Her interest in percussion was influenced by her mother, noted marimbist Mutsuko Fujii. She studied music at the Tokyo National University, the Juilliard School, and the Mannes College of Music. Fujii previously collaborated with SFGC on the world premiere of the choral opera Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch.
Since 1978, SFGC has provided girls and young women the unique opportunity not only to perform at the highest artistic caliber, but also to develop self-confidence, leadership skills, and an awareness of the role of the arts in civic engagement. A leader in the Bay Area and national music scenes, SFGC produces award-winning concerts, recordings and tours; empowers young women in music and other fields; and sets the international standard for the highest level of performance and education. SFGC has been recognized through numerous honors including five GRAMMY Awards, four ASCAP/Chorus America Awards for Adventurous Programming, and in 2002, becoming the first youth chorus to receive Chorus America's prestigious Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence. Each year, hundreds of singers of diverse backgrounds from 45 Bay Area cities ranging in age from age four to eighteen participate in SFGC’s programs. The organization consists of a six-level Chorus School training program and the Premier Ensemble, a professional-level chorus of treble voices.
Under the direction of Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC has achieved an incomparable sound that underscores the unique clarity and force of impeccably trained treble voices fused with expressiveness and drama. As a result, the SFGC vibrantly performs 1,000 years of choral masterworks from plainchant to the most challenging and nuanced contemporary works, many created expressly for them, in programs that are as intelligently designed as they are enjoyable and revelatory to experience.
SFGC's season continues on May 30, 2024, when the Chorus School will showcase singers from Levels 1 through IV at its annual Chorus School Spring Concert at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, coming together to celebrate their accomplishments from the year individually and as a school. The performance will feature the world premiere of a new work by SFGC Chorus School composer-in-residence Sahba Aminikia. On June 22, SFGC will perform at the Kronos Quartet’s 2024 Kronos Festival at SF Jazz. This summer, Level IV Choristers will travel to Caen, France for a two-week intensive rehearsal and performance process culminating in the world premiere multi-disciplinary opera O Future by composer Thierry Pécou.
More about the San Francisco Girls Chorus: www.sfgirlschorus.org/about
More about Valérie Sainte-Agathe: www.sfgirlschorus.org/valerie-sainte-agathe
More about Haruka Fujii: www.harukafujii.com/about
San Francisco Girls Chorus - Upcoming Highlights
SFGC Premier Ensemble with Percussionist & Composer Haruka Fujii
May 19, 2024 at 3pm
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St, San Francisco, CA
Chorus School Spring Concert
Featuring a World Premiere by SFGC Composer-in-Residence Sahba Aminikia
May 30, 2024
Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Dr, Oakland, CA 94612
Tickets & information: www.sfgirlschorus.org
The San Francisco Girls Chorus receives support from Grants for the Arts, The Kimball Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Sequoia Trust, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The Sam Mazza Foundation, The Bernard Osher Foundation, and the Joseph and Vera Long Foundation.