San Francisco Girls Chorus Announces Tomorrow's Memories Community Book Club
SAN FRANCISCO GIRLS CHORUS ANNOUNCES TOMORROW’S MEMORIES COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
San Francisco, CA – Friday, December 3, 2021 – Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe and the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) announced today the launch of Tomorrow’s Memories Community Book Club. Centered around SFGC’s commissioned choral-opera Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch ahead of its world premiere in June 2022, the book club will bring awareness, education and conversation about the important 1924-1928 diary writings of Filipina immigrant Angeles Monrayo upon which this new work is based. The book club opens with a virtual event on Saturday, December 11 at 11 a.m. and continues monthly through May 2022. Each session will explore a different theme from the book and its relationship with the choral-opera with appearances by partner organizations, speakers and members of the Tomorrow’s Memories artistic team. All events are offered free of charge with registration required. A collaborative project two years in the making, Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary is based on Tomorrow's Memories: A Diary, 1924-1928 by Filipina immigrant Angeles Monrayo and highlights the importance of the Filipino diaspora’s cultural impact throughout the United States, particularly in the Bay Area. SFGC will conclude its 2021-2022 season June 22-25, 2022 with the world premiere of this work at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, featuring Filipino guest artists stage director Sean San José, guitarist Florante Aguilar, violinist Patti Kilroy and percussionist Levy Lorenzo. “We are proud to join together with the Filipino community to provide audiences with a deeper understanding of Angeles Monrayo’s important story as we build toward next year’s eagerly-anticipated world premiere of Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary,” said Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe. “Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do here at SFGC and this exciting new initiative is yet another way for us to work with more wonderful partner organizations and guest artists to enhance and inform the artistic experience.”
The Tomorrow’s Memories Community Book Club opens with a virtual event on Saturday, December 11, 2021, 11 a.m. in partnership with the San Francisco Public Library. Serving as an introduction to both the story and the choral-opera, the event will feature Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary stage director and Artistic Director of the Magic Theater Sean San Jose as moderator for a lively discussion including guest speakers Abraham Ignacio, Librarian of the Filpino American Center at the SF Public Library; Dillon Delvo, Executive Director and CoFounder of Little Manila Rising in Stockton; and Lily Ann Villaraza, Department Chair & Philippine Studies Professor of History, City College of San Francisco. The event will also include a presentation of Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary Scene 1 recorded and released virtually by SFGC during lockdown in June 2020.
The second book club session will be hosted on Sunday, January 23, 11 a.m. at the outdoor Kapwa Gardens arts hub in SOMA Pilipinas, a cultural heritage district that celebrates the Filipino community’s living legacy of making home, celebrating culture, building community and fighting for economic and racial justice in the South of Market neighborhood. Harnessing the intimacy of Filipino culture through gathering, telling personal stories and sharing food, the event will bring the community together for an outdoor discussion, facilitated by writer, filmmaker and dancer Fides Enriquez, that explores family, food, heritage and immigration and how these ideas relate to both the story and the choral-opera. Arkipelago Books, a San Francisco Filipino owned bookstore, will host a stand that includes a variety of books including Tomorrow’s Memories and other similar stories about immigration, young women and Southeast Asia. Also featured as guest speaker is Dr. Lily Ann Bolo Villaraza, Department Chair, Philippine Studies Professor of History at Community College San Francisco who will share content from the book. This discussion will be interspersed with performances from some of the Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary soloists singing Filipino repertoire and excerpts from the choral-opera, accompanied by Filipino guitarist Florante Aguilar.
On Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 6 p.m., SFGC will present another virtual session that explores music history in the Philippines and Hawaii as demonstrated through Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary. In partnership with the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Chorus America, the event will feature Dr. Jace Saplan, Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music whose Spring 2022 musicology class, which explores music-making in plantation contexts, includes Tomorrow’s Memories as part of its reading list. Additional guest panelists include composer Matthew Welch and Chorus America Programs and Membership Manager Karyn Castro. The event will also include a presentation of Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary Scene 4 recorded and released as part of SFGC’s virtual “Island Holiday” performance in December 2020. The remaining three sessions are scheduled for March 10, 2022, April 2022 (TBD) and May 2022 (TBD) in partnership with the Asian Art Museum, Filipino Consulate and San Francisco Opera, respectively. Full details will be announced at a later date.
For further information, please visit http://www.sfgirlschorus.org.
CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:
San Francisco Girls Chorus Presents Tomorrow’s Memories Community Book Club
Session 1: Saturday, December 11, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
SF Public Library YouTube Channel
Free attendance with registration required.
Sean San José, Stage Director
Abraham Ignacio, Librarian of the Filpino American Center at the SF Public Library
Dillon Delvo, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Little Manila Rising
Lily Ann Villaraza, Department Chair & Philippine Studies Professor of History, City College of San Francisco
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San Francisco Girls Chorus Presents Tomorrow’s Memories Community Book Club
Session 2: Sunday, January 23, 2022, 11:00 a.m.
Kapwa Gardens, 967 Mission St, San Francisco
Free attendance with registration required.
Valérie Sainte-Agathe, Artistic Director
Fides Enriquez, writer, filmmaker and dancer
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San Francisco Girls Chorus Presents Tomorrow’s Memories Community Book Club
Session 3: Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 6:00 p.m.
SFGC YouTube Channel
Free attendance with registration required.
Dr. Jace Saplan, Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at University of Hawaii Manoa
Matthew Welch, composer
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ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO GIRLS CHORUS
Praised by Gramophone Magazine as a “remarkable tapestry of teenage voices,” the five-time GRAMMY Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) is recognized as one of the world’s leading youth vocal ensembles. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC presents subscription performances throughout the Bay Area and regularly performs both nationally and internationally as a cultural ambassador for San Francisco. SFGC is a frequent collaborator with leading arts organizations such as Kronos Quartet, San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera, as well as numerous world-renowned guest artists.
Over the last year, SFGC has embraced the challenges of distance learning by presenting eight virtual performances, premiering seven new works as well as five commissions, and collaborating with renowned guest artists and ensembles from across the Bay Area, United States and beyond, including Virtual Artists-inResidence The King’s Singers (Fall 2020), Roomful of Teeth (Spring 2021), and TENET Vocal Artists, among many others. Recent highlights over the past few seasons include debut performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with The Knights and Carnegie Hall with the Philip Glass Ensemble. In September 2019, SFGC released My Outstretched Hand on Supertrain Records featuring The Knights and Trinity Youth Chorus, following the success of its February 2018 release, Final Answer, featuring Kronos Quartet on Philip Glass’ Orange Mountain Music label.
In addition to its Premier Ensemble, the San Francisco Chorus School is renowned as a regional center for choral music education and performance for girls and young women ages 4-18. Through its innovative Online Learning Program, SFGC has utilized technology to keep its hundreds of choristers engaged and advancing in their musical activities and performing live together from their own homes.
PHOTO CREDITS
San Francisco Girls Chorus / Carlin Ma
Sean San José / Joan Osato
Florante Aguilar / Fides Enriquez
Matthew Welch / Matthew Welch
PRESS CONTACT
Brenden Guy, Marketing & PR Consultant
(415) 640-3165
brendenguy@gmail.com
marketing@sfgirlschorus.org