For two sold out performances in December 2019, Musae presented a program of music exploring the darkest season of the year and the hope it stirs in us for the light to come. Here they perform a beautiful fusion of two Christmas themes “Silent Night” and “Still, Still, Still” arranged in 1995 by Jackson Berkey and featuring Michela Macfarlane.

 

We enjoyed Musae celebrating their fifteenth anniversary with a concert of their favorite music from decade and a half of performing. The concert was programmed by the singers, both old and new, and featured memories from years past, and hopes for the future; including music by Amy Beach, Alberto Grau, Stephen Hatfield, and Eric Tuan. Here we feature a beautiful traditional Scottish song.

 

Musae celebrated Christmas this December with John Rutter’s traditional cycle of carols, “Dancing Day!” in collaboration with harpist Anna Maria Mendieta.  Alongside these joyful carols, Musae presented renaissance motets by Handl and Victoria and settings of the Songs of Songs by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits. Anna Maria also performed Carol of the Bells in between the songs.

Old St. Hilary’s welcomed the return of harpist Anna Maria Mendieta for a concert which included her sister Flamenco dancer Suzanne Mendieta and soprano Vismaya Lhi. This lovely and dynamic program featured music with a Spanish flare, incorporating stories and costumes of great women associated with Spanish, Mexican and Californian history.

In March we were very pleased to welcome Duo Violão Brasil. Guitarists Rogério Souza and Edinho Gerber’s reverence for Brazilian guitar, the “violão”, was very apparent as they explored the musical possibilities of putting two “violões” together. They were joined by percussionist Ami Molinelli. They were also joined members of The Berkeley Choro Ensemble later in the program. Here are two of the performances by the duo.

We began our 2018 season with Howard Alden with Kit Eakle & DjangoSphere performing the music of Thelonious Monk and Gypsy Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, along with a few originals and familiar jazz standards by Duke Ellington and others. The following two videos highlight their great jazz performance.

For their 2017 holiday program at Old St. Hilary’s Landmark, the San Francisco based women’s vocal ensemble Musae presented Queen of Heaven, a program of treble-choir classics celebrating Mary and motherhood. Two selections from their performance are included below.

We had the great pleasure of hosting a benefit concert for Tiburon-Blevedere Rotary and the Landmarks Society by British classical guitarist Felix Kellaway in November 2017. His wonderful playing is captured in the two pieces below.

Japanese composer, guitarist and singer-songwriter Hiroya Tsukamoto came to Old St. Hilary’s from his home in New York in June 2017. Hiroya uses a “loop pedal” which enables him to record his voice and guitar in real time and then play it back adding new layers – a live multi-tracking technique. He enjoys doing this because it allows for extensive improvisation, making every performance unique; sharing these one-time musical moments with each new audience. Here are two of his songs from his performance.

The spring program by Musae at Old St. Hilary’s this year was entitled A Child’s Garden. Here are three samples from their wonderful performance on May 21, 2017.

Soprano Caroluna performed Moon Songs on the full Harvest Moon last September. Here is “Song to the moon” from Antonín Dvořák’s opera, Rusalka from that concert. Caroluna will return to Old St. Hilary’s on September 17,2017 at 4 p.m.

The performance by the Levitan-Mendieta Harp Duo at Old St. Hilary’s on November 16, 2014 was recorded live by Bandwagon Media Services of San Jose, CA. Below are selections from that performance by harpists Dan Levitan and Anna Maria Mendieta. The ongoing Concert Series is sponsored by The Landmarks Society and The Tiburon Heritage & Arts Commission with generous support from Bank of Marin.