Spring, 2011

The Whole Noyse: Music for Choir and Percussion

Sacred and Profane continues our celebration of the ancient by singing modern settings of classic poetry. The choir will be joined by master percussionist William Winant as we perform two fabulous works for choir and percussion. We will sing American composer Dominick Argento’s I Hate and I Love, settings of poems by Gaius Valerius Catallus, the finest lyric poet of ancient Rome. The ensemble will also perform Swedish composer Sven-Eric Johanson’s Fancies, settings of Shakespearean texts for choir and piano, performed here with marimba instead. As we are never without our signature a cappella sound, the concert will also feature settings of Shakespearean verses by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Karin Rehnqvist, one of our favorite composers.

Saturday, May 14, 8 PM St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 1111 O'Farrell Street (at Franklin) San Francisco

Sunday, December 16, 4 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Winter, 2011

A Joyous Songe: Italian and English Music of the Renaissance

Anyone familiar with the films of Merchant-Ivory and the works of countless English authors knows that the British have always been enchanted by the passionate ways of the Southern European continent. This trend had no small effect on English music of the 16th and early 17th centuries, as its composers adopted the passionate madrigal of the Italians and made it their own. Sacred & Profane will perform sacred and secular music of both countries, featuring William Byrd's transcendent Mass for Four Voices, and works by Tallis, Morley, Weelkes, Wilbye, Josquin, Palestrina, Gesualdo, Monteverdi, and others.

Sunday, February 26, 8 PM St. Francis Lutheran Church 152 Church Street (btwn Duboce & Market) San Francisco

Sunday, February 27, 4 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Fall, 2010

A Baroque Holiday Celebration

Sacred and Profane continues our new tradition of performing great works with orchestra! Join us as we sing masterpieces of the Baroque period, featuring the Bay Area’s finest early music instrumentalists. This very special concert will include Charpentier’s elegant Messe de Minuit pour Noël, Buxtehude’s delightful In dulci jubilo, Bach’s brilliant motet for double choir, Komm Jesu komm, and Psalm 24, a charming motet by “the father of Swedish music,” Johan Helmich Roman.

Friday, December 10, 8 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Saturday, December 11, 8 PM First Presbyterian Church of Alameda 2001 Santa Clara Ave (at Chestnut) Alameda

Sunday, December 12, 7:30 PM St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 1111 O’Farrell Street (at Franklin) San Francisco