The Choir
SFBACC was founded in 1978 and sings under the direction of Scot Hanna-Weir, who was named the choir’s Music Director in March 2021. Since its origin, the choir has been highly acclaimed for its sensitive and exciting performances of extremely varied and demanding literature.
2022 Season Performance Information
Sacred Songs: 500 Years of Motets
Friday June 10, 2022
As part of the “Fringe” at the SF Early Music Society’s biannual Berkeley Festival and Exhibition
Sunday June 12, 2022
As part of Old Mission San Jose’s 225th Anniversary Festival
Sacred texts have inspired centuries of composers to create beautiful music. The a cappella motet tradition, in particular, often harkens back to the genre’s Medieval and Renaissance originators. SFBACC explores commonalities and divergences in motets from across the centuries. Presenting new and old settings alongside each other makes commonalities apparent. Duruflé pulls contemporary harmonies out of the Gregorian “Ubi caritas” chant. Poulenc’s “Timor et Tremor” and “Vinea mea electa” are harmonically wild in a similar way to Lassus’ “Timor” and Gesualdo’s “Vinea”. Sensibilities of Brahms’ motet “Warum ist das Licht gegeben” are evidenced first in the motets of Schütz.
PROGRAM:
Ubi caritas – Anonymous Gregorian chant
Ubi caritas – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
Locus iste – Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Gaude virgo – Josquin des Prez (c. 1450/1455-1521)
Die mit Tränen säen werden, SWV 378 – Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
Warum ist das Licht, Op. 74, no. 1 – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Timor et tremor – Orlandus Lassus (c. 1532-1594)
Vinea mea electa – Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613)
Timor et tremor – Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Vinea mea electa – Poulenc
Beati quorum via – Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Psalm 23 – Bobby McFerrin (b. 1950)
Auditions
Are you an experienced choral singer in the Bay Area who’s looking for a friendly choral home where you have the opportunity to perform challenging music for appreciative audiences?
Are you a tenor or bass? Have you ever contemplated singing with SFBACC? If so, please consider auditioning for the upcoming fall season. We have an amazing program planned by our new director, Scot Hanna-Weir. The program will include Eleanor Daley’s Requiem as well as works by Ralph Vaughn-Williams, Stephen Paulus, Undine Smith Moore, William Dawson and Moses Hogan.
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