A 19th-century depiction of the Bach family at morning music practice. Bach is at the keyboard, and the other family members are playing or singing.

Fall 2009

On December 5 and 6, the San Francisco Choral Society, in collaboration with the Baroque

specialist orchestra Jubilate and solo-ists Shawnette Sulker, Jennifer Panara, Clifton Massey, Brian Staufenbiel, and Kittinant Chinsamran, will perform J. S. Bach’s Magnifi cat and the second half of his Christmas Oratorio (these same forces performed the fi rst half of the Christmas Oratorio last year).This will be a celebra-tory holiday concert that sparkles with some of the greatest music ever written.

Since the fi rst week of September, the chorus has been studying and practicing the fi ne art of interpreting the Baroque style. Mastering the vocal virtuosity; un-derstanding the phrasing; balancing the concerto relationship between chorus, soloists, and orchestra; respecting the subtlety and nuances; and unleashing the dance elements implicit in Baroque music create an alchemy that results in music that is brilliant, unique, and completely compelling. For those of us involved in the preparation, it is a labor of love. I am absolutely confi dent that everyone who hears the concerts will fi nd the perfor-mances uplifting and joyful.

The revolution involving Baroque performance-practice took hold in the early 1970s. Musicologists who studied old paintings, fi rst-hand accounts, and the instruments that were in use in the 17th and early 18th centuries realized that what Bach wrote was not what was being heard by modern audiences. Modern instruments are much louder and create a more sustained and legato tone. That, along with the rise of bel canto singing in the Romantic period, resulted in performances of Bach’s music that sounded much like performances of Brahms’s. In fact, the stylistic differences

are profound and not to be overlooked. It is impossible for a modern symphony orchestra to produce music that sounds even remotely the way Bach intended. In addition, the Baroque emphasis on sing-ing fl orid and virtuosic lines, along with highly articulated and intricate phrasing in the choral parts, places demands on the singers that require a different and more refi ned approach than might be necessary for much of the music of the 19th and 20th centuries. If one is to appreciate the real essence of the Baroque, the rhythmic and dance-like energy, the delicacy of sound, the quick and subtle changes of dynamics, and the micro-phrasing that makes every four-measure phrase magical, then the performance must be heard with the proper singing style and with original instruments or reproductions of them.

The spectacular rise of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Mu-sicus Wien (Vienna) in the early 1970s

revolutionized the world of Baroque performance-practice. For me as a con-ductor, the impact was profound. When I fi rst heard a recording of their work, it was as if the lights had been turned on. I realized that up until that point, there was so much in this music that was not being conveyed. Like most people, I had already developed a great love and admiration for the music of Bach, but upon hearing those recordings, I found the energy and zest of the dance forms and the expressiveness within the small phrases enlightening and the sound far different from that of the “broad brush” recordings and performances from the 1950s and 1960s.

In the past 30 years, orchestras and choruses specializing in Baroque performance-practice have formed all over the world. Because of the fine work of local groups such as Philhar-monia Baroque, American Bach Solo-ists, Jubilate, and Magnificat, the Bay Area has become one of the centers

BACH continued on page 4

INSIDE:Repertoire for 2010, p. 4New board member Casey Leones, p. 5Letter from Donald McCullough, p. 5Bryan Baker and Friends concert, p. 6Spotlight on Peter Sandberg, p. 7

BY BOB GEARY

Bach to the BaroqueThe Maestro on Baroque Performance-Practice

T H E S O C I E T Y PA G EPage 2 Fall 2009

A donor reception at the historic Gas Light Building. Photo by Adrian Wadley.

The word development is likely the most misunderstood term in the per-

forming arts world. Most people associate development with fund-raising, and that is true, but only to a point.

Development comes in many diverse forms and packages that help arts orga-nizations move forward. Let’s look at some examples within the San Francisco Choral Society. We have developed busi-ness associations, an education program, a scholarship program, a Tickets For Kids outreach program, a new-music program, a funding base with foundations, and relationships with small businesses. We have developed relationships with churches and other performance venues. We have developed connections with soloists, instrumentalists, and a number of com-munity agencies.

Now, I know that most arts organiza-tions do the same thing, but holding onto these relationships and nurturing them into long-standing connections are clearly two different things.

In the last 15 years, I can’t tell you how many of the people and organizations we

deal with have done a little extra for us just because of who we are — because we have treated them well and showed them the respect they deserve. Having spent the better part of my adult life in the entertainment business, I can tell you with certainty that this isn’t always the norm. I’ve seen many deals go bad — people or organizations feeling as though they had been taken advantage of or that a relation-ship was woefully one-sided.

I strongly believe that one of the reasons the Choral Society has been able to weather storms, grow, and prosper is because of the way we have developed our relationships in the community. When you have the respect of the people and organizations you work with, it is much easier to make things happen. When you show them that same kind of respect in return, you develop a bond that likely will not be broken even when a diffi cult situation arises. With all of the people and organizations we deal with, there has hardly been an instance when our having taken the time to develop a relationship has not come back to benefi t the Choral

Society. I’m very proud of that.One facet of development that I haven’t

mentioned is that of developing and building a relationship with our singers. First off, many of you who sing with us are fi nancial contributors to the organization. Without the relationship built between each of you and Bob Geary as you perform great music at a high level, you might be only singers but not also contributors. I give Bob a great deal of credit for being able to make everyone in this large group feel connected to what we are trying to accomplish. I believe that you develop your love of singing and, hopefully, of this organization because of what hap-pens every Tuesday night and at concert time. When Bob is teaching the music to the whole group, he is also teaching each of you individually. He is making that personal connection. He is developingyour trust.

Your feeling of connection to and trust in this organization allowed us to surpass $60,000 in individual contributions last year — an all-time high. This year, when the economy is slumping, I suspect we won’t see those kinds of numbers. I do know, though, that each and every one of you will do what you can, and we are very appreciative of that.

I think it is important for everyone reading this column to realize that to be a successful organization, we need to continue to develop and nurture our re-lationships in every area. If you fi nd that you cannot contribute fi nancially, there are other avenues to explore. Introducing a possible new business partner, gather-ing a core of audience members who can support what we do, identifying a likely funding source, hosting a fund-raiser, volunteering at our events — contribu-tions of this kind will also help the Choral Society sustain itself into the future.

Development can be daunting if viewed one-dimensionally. But developing, building, and nurturing a strong foun-dation for our organization makes a lot of sense to me. I hope it makes sense to you as well, and that you can fi nd a way to assist us. With each of us doing something to move the chorus forward, we can develop a strong organization for years to come.

— Alan Kleinschmidt

Development and You

T H E S O C I E T Y PA G E Page 3Fall 2009

Singers line up for their chocolate fi x. Photo by Nina Greeley.

If you are a lover of sushi, you probably know that the world’s devotion to

the “big three”— tuna, salmon, and eel — spells doom for these once abundant species of fi sh. The prized bluefi n tuna has been fi shed almost to extinction. Salmon and eel generally come from farms that environmentalists charge breed disease and pollute the oceans. Historically, the tradition of sushi consumption has honored and respected the ocean, and now sustainable alternatives are becoming tastier and easier to fi nd. Try haddock, halibut, hake, and herring; sea bass, prawn, and sablefi sh; arctic char instead of farmed salmon; amberjack instead of yellowtail. Curiously, many folks who search out farmers’ markets and menus featuring “line-caught,” “heirloom,” and “heritage” think the rules of sustainability don’t apply to sushi, maybe because once sushi is rendered into glistening, jewel-colored, bite-size morsels, the origin of their ecstasy just doesn’t look like fi sh. But it’s all about sustainability — in food, and in music.

There always comes a point during our rehearsals when we begin to make music as art: There’s not as much starting and stopping, not as much sitting quietly as another section works on its notes. And when we abandon our sections to mix up, how blissfully sublime to experience the music as part of the whole, to stand next to one another and hear how each section, indeed each person, supports and sustains the others. Something magical and ecstatic happens when our music becomes art. Music is deeply and person-ally expressive, and this is a large part of why we join together to make musical art. When we perform, though, we join as a whole to present a cohesive expression of joy, power, and indeed inspiration to our audience. We invite them to share in a personal experience of our musical art. This is way better than sushi! And sustain-ing ourselves musically and spiritually is as important as sustaining the fi shes of the sea.

So, how do we sustain our chorus? We become a part of the whole in com-

Sustainable Music

bining our voices, cooperating with our section leaders’ instructions, dressing to blend in, and maintaining a professional demeanor on stage. It’s not about us as in-dividuals; it’s about the music. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

We reach beyond our own experience to bring the joy and power of choral music to our community. We tell others, sell tickets, put up fl yers, spread the word. We give what we can: time, money, effort, creativity, energy, fresh ideas. This is a phenomenal thing we do together!

Some people work behind the scenes; some people lead. And some of our board members and other volunteers have been working and leading for a very long time. We aren’t on the brink of extinction, but it’s time for some of us to make room for others to bring fresh energy and fresh ideas. It’s time for others to share in the great fun, camaraderie, and satisfaction of guiding our chorus to new levels of excellence and accomplishment. If you are new to the chorus, there’s no better way to make friends in a hurry. If you’ve thought, Wouldn’t it be great if we . . . (fi ll in the blank) — well, see if you can make it happen! If you love the chorus and are committed to its future, join the board, join a committee, tackle a project. It’s all about the music, and a lot must happen to keep us sustainable.

— Sydni Roberson

Meet Nancy Roeser, Our “Chocolate Lady”

Nancy, an alto, lives in Brisbane and has been singing with the chorus for about nine years. She says, “Selling the candy at break is a way for me to contribute to the organization. Cindy Brehmer, the owner of Brehmer’s Handmade Candies, is a friend of mine. She charges us a wholesale price, and the chorus keeps the profi t. For the $2 toffee, Cindy gets $1 and the chorus keeps $1; for the smaller, $1 pieces, Cindy gets 60 cents we keep 40 cents. I give Alan about $30 a week. This is obviously not a money-making endeavor for Cindy, but hope-fully the exposure will lead to a big order — for the holidays, a corporate gift program, perhaps a wedding or special event.” The Choral Society thanks both Cindy Brehmer and Nancy Roeser for their generosity. Chocoholics, line up!

T H E S O C I E T Y PA G EPage 4 Fall 2009

From top left: Bob Geary, Casey Leones, and composer Donald McCullough at the post-premiere reception; McCullough coaches the chorus prior to the performance; the chorus warms up.

Photos by Nina Greeley.

of early-music performance.The San Francisco Choral Society

has been working with the Jubilate orchestra for almost 15 years. All of its players specialize in the music of the Baroque era and play on historically accurate instruments. Many of these players live locally, but some fly in especially for our performances.

On behalf of the chorus, the orches-tra, the soloists, and myself, I would like to invite every Baroque music aficionado to join us for these perfor-mances of the music of Johann Sebas-tian Bach, sung in the beautiful Gothic sanctuary of San Francisco’s St. Paul’s Church, in the true spirit and practice of the magnificent Baroque era.

BACH continued from page 1

Beethoven, Schubert, Mendels-sohn, and Britten will be the

featured composers for our 21st year. In 1807 Beethoven wrote his Mass in C, in 1828 Schubert wrote his Mass in E fl at, and in 1846 Mendelssohn composed the oratorio Elijah. These three great works are the core of our season. I am a big fan of Beethoven’s Mass in C. It is a cogent and energet-ic piece that doesn’t succumb to the glorious and excessive ramblings of the later Missa Solemnis. Schubert’s Mass in E fl at is one of his great works, plentiful for the chorus and richly orchestrated. I’ve wanted to conduct it for years. Elijah is a mas-terpiece of choral writing and story-telling. Additional pieces rounding out the year will be the Beethoven Choral Fantasy for chorus, orchestra, and piano soloist, with the brilliant Bryan Baker at the piano, and one of my favorite 20th-century choral works by Benjamin Britten, Rejoice in the Lamb, a wonderful piece for chorus and organ.

— Bob Geary

Repertoire for 2010

Geary’s Groups Win Again

Congratulations to our fabulous artistic director, Robert Geary. At this year’s Chorus America national conference, the ASCAP Award for Adventuresome

Programming went to Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choirs and Volti (for the 5th time!), both under the baton of the Maestro. He has accepted this award more times than any other artistic director in the entire country.

Bob’s extensive experience commissioning, teaching, interpreting, and per-forming new music is one reason composers are eager to work with the San Francisco Choral Society. The opportunity to compose large choral works comes to few contemporary composers. The scale is daunting and choosing the text is challenging, but the excitement of composing is palpable.

Doubt, however, lingers just under the surface: Will this ensemble be able to bring the creation to life as the composer envisions? Knowing that Bob will be on the podium for delivery, composers enthusiastically say yes when the San Francisco Choral Society’s New Music Committee knocks on their doors.

Bob’s love of and dedication to new music takes all of us into the choral land-scape of the future, a series of awesome journeys. Thank you, Maestro Geary, and, again, congratulations.

— Gale Townsley, Chair New Music Committee

T H E S O C I E T Y PA G E Page 5Fall 2009

Casey, who sings in the alto section, is one of the Choral Society’s new-

est board members, and we are happy to have her a-board!

Born and raised in San Rafael, Casey brings with her a lifetime’s love of music. As a youngster she studied and played the violin, and in college she spent most of her time in the orchestra. She received her master’s degree in music theory, but she always loved singing. In junior college, she had a wonderful time being in a madrigal group — in fact, that is where she met her husband, John (who joined the Choral Society’s bass section this season). Casey’s life has been a busy one as she built her professional career and raised her family. Unfortunately, music was put on the back burner for decades.

Six years ago, Casey joined a women’s chorus, and after singing with them for four years, she joined the Choral Society. She recently started taking voice lessons,

since vocal technique was not something she had ever studied. Wanting to learn more about the Choral Society — how it operates as a volunteer organization and as a business, as well as its history — Casey joined the board this year. The time she devotes to board and committee meetings balances out nicely with the rest of her life.

When not singing and practicing, Casey works as a law fi rm administrator, and she enjoys talking about the Choral Society with her colleagues. Her daughter and son are grown, and she and John will soon be proud grandparents! Her life has been inspired and shaped by raising their developmentally disabled son; she volunteers with The Arc of San Fran-cisco, a nonprofi t service and advocacy organization for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and she helps develop jobs for its clients. Provid-ing what she calls “gentle advocacy” for

the disabled is tremendously rewarding and important to her.

So, how does such a busy, engaged, involved, and dedicated person rest and relax? Well, with the Choral Society, of course! Casey loves the fact that the chorus is unrelated to her day job and enables her to meet people of varied and interesting backgrounds who share her love of sing-ing. To get to know people outside of her day-to-day interactions, while enjoying the intellectual challenge of learning the beautiful and complicated pieces we sing — that is just music to Casey’s ears!

— Irene Anicetti

New Board MemberMeet Casey Leones

Letter from Composer Donald McCulloughDear Bob, Alan, the New Music Committee, and the singers of the San Francisco Choral Society,

I want thank you for your thrilling performances of Contraries last August. It was so exciting to be in the audience and to hear music performed live that, up to that point, I had only heard in my head. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have had the experience of hearing Contraries sung live and so beautifully.

My biggest concern was that if the dramatic shift in character that each movement presented was not properly ex-pressed, the audience might find the work a bit tedious. Bringing the poems to life is essential in Contraries. But with your hard work and talent and under Bob’s insightful hand, the chorus brought each movement to life by singing with true vigor and commitment while also exhibiting a real understanding of the poetry. In doing so, you heightened the dramatic shift between movements and brought Contraries to life. Thank you!

I’m always eager to receive singer and audience comments after a performance. With Contraries, I discovered that “The Garden of Love” was most often named as a favorite, with “A Poison Tree” taking second place. Of course, I wasn’t able to speak to very many of you, but please know that I’d be happy to receive any thoughts you might have about your experi-ence with Contraries. Simply go to my website, www.donaldmccullough.com, and click on “Press Kit and Photos,” where you will find “Contact Information” that contains an email link. I hope you’ll at least sign up for my newsletter on the homepage. All you have to do is enter your email address. (Of course, I’ll never share it with anyone, and I promise I won’t drive you crazy with too many emails, but you will hear what’s going on with me from time to time.)

Bob, I want to say thank you for being such a champion of new music and for your attention to detail when preparing it. It was a real pleasure working with you on this project and getting to know you better. I also want to thank you and the New Music Committee for selecting me to write a new piece for the Choral Society. It was truly an honor to have been chosen and a real joy to have worked with the choir in preparing the piece. And Alan, thank you for taking such good care of me. Again, to all the singers, thank you for such beautiful singing!

Don

T H E S O C I E T Y PA G EPage 6 Fall 2009

Bryan Baker, bass-baritone Kittinant Chinsamran, and Serenade perform at a Choral Society fundraiser at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church.Photos by Nina Greeley and Roger Fong.

Bryan Baker and Friends in ConcertThe Grand Tour of Europe

On October 17, Bryan Baker and Friends treated their delighted audience to a whirlwind tour

of music by composers from eastern and western Europe: France, Germany, Poland, Norway, Hungary, Britain, Romania, Armenia, Austria — and also the United States. St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church was the setting for this Choral Society fund-raiser; wine and sumptu-ous hors d’oeuvres were provided by the board. Bryan barely had enough space on his head to accommodate all the hats he wore that afternoon as he switched from concert pianist to recital accompanist to choral conductor and back to concert pianist. His exertions left him drenched with sweat and wreathed in smiles as the capacity audience rose to its feet in ap-

plause for him and his fellow performers at the end of the concert.

First on the program was Bryan-the-concert-pianist, playing pieces by Debussy, Schubert, Chopin, Grieg, and Liszt, dashed off in rushes of sound and waves of arpeggios, with dazzling fi nger work and technique, and featuring tens of thousands of notes — all from memory! Bryan-the-accompanist then played for Kittinant Chinsamran, the Choral Soci-ety’s latest favorite bass-baritone soloist, in contrasting songs by Handel and Mahler. Sitting in the audience, I could only think, How great to be in front of this singer instead of behind him, in the chorus! Kittinant’s vocal characterizations and facial expressions were a joy to hear and behold, and his voice was magnifi cent.

Bryan-the-conductor led a select small choir named Serenade, drawn from his Masterworks Chorale (and including the Choral Society’s Elaine Quan and Sulpicio Mariano), in two sets, including three Negro spirituals arranged by Moses Hogan. The group was very impressive in its blend, balance, and tonal quality. Note to Choral Society members: All but one piece were sung from memory; these singers’ facess were wonderfully alive as they performed; and they watched their conductor! Again, it was interesting to be seated in front of a chorus instead of standing amidst one.

Thanks to the board and to Bryan Baker and his wonderful roster of musi-cal friends for such a splendid afternoon of entertainment for the benefi t of the Choral Society.

— O’Brien Young

T H E S O C I E T Y PA G E Page 7Fall 2009

Music runs like an irrepressible and joyful river through the life of

Peter (Pete) Sandberg, SF Choral’s tenor section leader. At age fi ve, Pete decided he wanted to be a composer, and 51 years and many pieces later, he’s still composing — quartets for winds, brass, and recorder; vocal compositions, including something specifi cally for the Choral Society; and a symphony-in-progress he’s been working on since high school.

Born in 1953 in Spokane, Washing-ton, Pete’s fi rst exposure to music came via his father, a vocalist who, at 92, still sings in a choir, and his mother, a violin-ist and pianist. At age nine, Pete began studying trumpet with the fi rst of his four teachers. For his brother’s wedding and at his brother’s request, Pete wrote a wedding march for trumpet and organ (Pete often composes “to order”); the same piece was later played at Pete’s own wedding, in Tacoma, in 1977. He started singing in junior college, under Royal Stanton, the founder of the Schola Can-torum; once Pete left college, other than singing now and then in church choirs, his vocalizing stopped until he joined the

Choral Society.In 1975, at 22, Pete enlisted in the

Air Force as a trumpeter in the concert band. He spent the next 26 years touring with that well-regarded ensemble and also served as the manager of their brass quin-tet, for whom he wrote and transcribed fanfares and other pieces. Somewhere in those 26 years, in between travels to 20 European countries and most of the United States, he found time to raise three daughters: Victoria, Shannon, and Lynette. As he neared mandatory retirement from the Air Force, Pete fi nished his B.A. in orga-nizational leadership and eventually was hired by Moishe Rosen, the founder of the organization Jews for Jesus, as Moishe’s executive assistant, a job Pete loves. As a sideline, he plays the shofar in the Jews for Jesus’s Rosh Hashanah service hosted by the West Portal Lutheran Church, using his own ibex-horn shofar, which he bought on a church-group tour to Israel.

Two years ago Pete was recruited into the Choral Society by our own

Ceil Rosen, a soprano and Moishe’s wife. Pete is currently adapting for choral per-formance some of William Blake’s poems that he previously set to music, and he is hoping to present his concerto for band to UC Davis or to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The Air Force Band of the Golden West has recorded a preliminary read-through of his Fantasia on the Air Force Song, which he wrote for them. And who knows what other com-positions we can expect to hear by this prolifi c, multitalented tenor? We’re glad you’re singing with us, Pete!

— Jane Goldsmith

Triple-Threat Musician

Student Singers NewsMeet our newest student singer, Seth Coad-

Douglas, from Drew School, class of 2012. Seth joined the bass section this fall and thinks it’s the perfect fi t for him. He plays the piano and the double bass, but singing is his passion. Seth says he has been singing “for as long as I can remember.” As a youngster, he sang a solo with the Pacifi c Boychoir Academy at Grace Cathedral and also performed with the same group at the Vatican in Rome.

Congratulations to another of our student sing-ers, soprano Aundrea Schindler (featured in an article on our student singers in the Fall 2007 Society Page). Now a freshman at City College of San Fran-cisco, she is the Choral Society’s newest soprano section leader. We’re proud of you, Aundrea!

— Nina Greeley

Aundrea

Seth

SAN FRANCISCO CHORAL SOCIETY236 West Portal, Suite 775San Francisco, CA 94127

(415) 221–5590info@sfchoral.orgwww.sfchoral.org

STAFF

Executive Director Alan KleinschmidtArtistic Director Robert Geary

Assistant Conductor Bryan BakerBusiness Manager Susan Kalman

Administrative Coordinator Marilyn McDonald

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Sydni L. RobersonVice President Gale A. Townsley

Secretary Jim StewartTreasurer Paul Nocero

Zara BagdasarianDaniel R. Bedford

Caroline H. DamskyCasey LeonesDwight SmithKatie Wadley

Karen Williams

Editor O’Brien YoungAssociate Editor Katie Wadley

Contributors: Irene Anicetti, Roger Fong, Bob Geary, Jane Goldsmith, Nina Greeley,

Alan Kleinschmidt, Casey Leones, Donald McCullough, Sydni Roberson,

Gale Townsley, Adrian Wadley, O’Brien Young

Design/Layout Roger Fong

2009SAT, DEC 5SUN, DEC 6

Bach Christmas Oratorio, Parts 4-6Bach Magnifi catSt. Paul’s Church

2010FRI, APR 16SAT, APR 17

Schubert Mass in E-fl at majorCalvary Presbyterian Church

SAT, JUL 31SUN, AUG 1

Beethoven Mass in C majorBeethoven Choral FantasyBritten Rejoice in the LambCalvary Presbyterian Church

SAT, NOV 13SUN, NOV 14

Mendelssohn ElijahCalvary Presbyterian Church

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