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Donald E. Osborne, Director California Artists Management 564 Market Street, Suite 420, San Francisco, CA 94104-5412 415 362-2787 / fax: 415 362-2838 / Skype: calartistsdon / Email |
Susan Endrizzi Morris, Director California Artists Management P.O. Box 2479, Mendocino, CA 95460-2479 707-937-4787 / cell: 415-302-1083 / Skype: sueendrizzi / Email |
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 Download Bio Listen Website |
San Francisco Girls Chorus
Susan McMane, artistic director
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Celebrating 30 years of outstanding performance during the 2008-2009 season, the
San Francisco Girls Chorus is recognized as one of the world’s most respected
vocal ensembles. Its quality, range and passion are lauded by musicians,
critics, and audiences. San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson
Thomas says, “The San Francisco Girls Chorus is a treasure. Their training,
musicality and vibrant spirit are evident whenever they perform. I have enjoyed
our long association and look forward to many years of collaboration.”
Founded in 1978, the San Francisco Girls Chorus has become a regional center for
choral music education and performance for girls and young women ages 7-18.
Nearly 400 singers from the great San Francisco Bay Area participate in this
internationally recognized program, deemed “a model in the country for training
girls’ voices” by the California Arts Council.
The Chorus has toured extensively in Europe, Asia and throughout North America.
It has been recognized with many honors and distinctions, including three
Grammys for recordings with the San
Francisco Symphony. They received the prestigious “Margaret Hillis Award” and
two ASCAP awards for Adventurous Programming in 1999 and 2004. They perform
regularly in productions of San Francisco Opera, as well as concerts of the San
Francisco Symphony and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. The Chorus has been
honored to sing at important national and international venues, including the 56th
Presidential Inauguration Ceremony of Barack Obama in Washington, DC on January
20, 2009 and its New York City debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in
April 2009. Among numerous distinguished audiences, they have performed before
Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth and
Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev. They appeared at the World Choral Symposium
in Kyoto, Japan, in 2005 and were featured at the prestigious World Vision
Children’s Choir Festival in Seoul, Korea, and the Gateway to Music Festival at
the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.
The San Francisco Girls Chorus’ discography continues to grow with a new release
scheduled for Fall 2009. Voices of Hope
and Peace includes works commissioned for the Chorus from Joan Szymko, David
Conte, Frank La Rocca, Libby Larsen and Linda Tutas Haugen;
Christmas, features tradition and
contemporary holiday selections;
Crossroads, a collection of world folk music; and
Music from the Venetian Ospedali,
music of the Italian Baroque which The
New Yorker described s as “tremendously accomplished.” The Chorus can also
be heard on several recordings with San Francisco Symphony, including three
Grammy® Award-winners and with the Kronos Quartet on
Winter Was Hard.
They can be heard on the movie soundtracks for
The Talented Mr. Ripley and
What Dreams May Come.
The San Francisco Girls Chorus organization is comprised of a professional level
performing, recording and touring ensemble, an Alumnae Chorus; a four-level
Chorus School training program and a Preparatory Chorus for 5-7 year olds. The
Chorus School offers a program of unparalleled excellence, designed to take
young girls from their first introduction to the art of choral singing through a
full course of choral/vocal instruction. The comprehensive music education
includes the study and development of choral artistry, vocal technique, music
theory, music history, and performing style. The discipline, teamwork, and
concentration young girls learn in the Chorus School rehearsals and performances
instill in them the values necessary for high achievement in music and in life.
The San Francisco Girls Chorus is represented by California Artists Management.
Susan McMane
has served as Artistic Director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus for eight
years, shaping the acclaimed sound, virtuosity, poise, and charisma that set the
international standard for young women’s choral music.
Avidly sought out for her command of repertoire and the ability to create an
exciting, pure, cohesive, flexible, and thrilling sound, Dr. McMane has prepared
the Girls Chorus for performances with leading conductors including Michael
Tilson Thomas, Helmut Rilling, Kurt Masur and Robert Spano and has led the
Chorus on tours to Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Japan, South Korea, China and
Washington D.C. for President Obama’s Inauguration Ceremony. She expanded the
San Francisco Girls Chorus’ artistic offerings and community outreach in 2007 by
establishing a chorus comprising talented Girls Chorus alumnae. As a leader in
the field, Dr. McMane has led the Girls Chorus to prestigious venues including
the Oregon Bach Festival and the 7th World Choral Symposium in Kyoto,
Japan.
She has produced two SFGC recordings,
Christmas and Voices of Hope and
Peace, the latter reviewed by the
American Record Guide as, “Sensational.
No better girl’s chorus than this can be found anywhere.” Her third recording
with the Chorus will be released in 2009 and includes a diverse, distinctive and
challenging repertoire from classical works with organist David Higgs to
folksongs and jazz.
Dr. McMane
has won many awards for her choral work including highest honors at the
International Eisteddfod Competition in Llangollen, Wales; the “Music Educator
of the Year” award given by the St. Louis Chapter of the American Guild of
Organists in 1998 and the 2007 “Symphony of Excellence Arts Award” from the
Pacific Musical Society. She is highly sought after as a choral clinician and
adjudicator and has conducted All-State Choirs and Divisional Honor Choirs
throughout the United States for the American Choral Directors Association. Dr.
McMane is also editor of the San Francisco Girls Chorus Music Series for
advanced treble voices with Alliance Music Publishers. She earned a Doctorate of
Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the Conservatory of Music, University of
Missouri-Kansas City, and holds two degrees in Vocal Performance: the BFA from
Tulane University and the MM from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Press comments:
Youthful Voices Rise
By Heuwell Tircuit
“The 30th anniversary season of the esteemed San Francisco Girls Chorus opened
on Friday. As usual, the chorus offered a terrific display of fine musicianship
that traversed a complicated variety of musical styles.
Even so, it was sometimes hard to fathom the precision and intonation
with which these kids sang.
Wonderful solo episodes within the compositions were taken by Amelia De Snoo and
Katherine Sommer during “Echoes,” and by Sian Wittke during “Solitude.” I say
unto you, this is a most moving masterpiece, one worth knowing.
The
other masterpiece on the program was Poulenc’s ultraserious
Litanies.
The piece is almost painfully beautiful, especially when sung so well as by the
S.F. Girls Chorus. Of the three traditional American tunes performed,
How Can I Keep From Singing?
was the most effective because of its simple, direct arrangement.”
SFCV.org– October 24, 2008
Headline: “Crowned in Glory”
“Musicality, discipline, and good programming were much in evidence Friday
evening as the San Francisco Girls Chorus presented “Music Fit for a Queen,”
consisting entirely of music from the British Isles, all sung from memory.
Britten’s setting of the Latin Mass - minus a Credo, hence the “brevis” - stood
head and shoulders above the rest of the first half. What's surprising is the
complexity of the score. The Girls Chorus took on that challenge with relish.
The folk songs were lovingly presented. That turned out to be an
especially lovely showcase for the girls' beautifully balanced choral timbre and
impeccable intonation. What left me gawking was the G&S section, performed
without conductor. Not only were the ensembles flawless, but the songs also
preserved much of the traditional choreographic hand gestures. In “Three Little
Maids” the chorus divided into three separate groups, one for each maid. That
they managed this with nary a slip, was awesome. But as that great line from
William Faulkner put it, ‘Ain’t it marvelous what a body can do’.”
SFCV.org - October 26, 2007
“The group is tremendously accomplished.”
The New Yorker
“(Chen Yi’s Chinese Poems) was performed with such sophisticated assurance that
the audience immediately came screaming to its feet.”
Oakland Tribune
“There is no overstating the dedication, versatility or technical command of
this superb organization. For sweet-toned singing and a deft blend of individual
sonorities, these young women are unbeatable.
Again and again, a listener could only sit slack-jawed in astonishment at
the beauty and clarity of their singing.”
San Francisco Chronicle
Concert at the Stern Grove Festival, San Francisco:
“Few areas of the country could boast the high level of musicianship this
ensemble has achieved. Yesterday was the last time that San Francisco audiences
would see Appling lead these wonderful singers, who probably could do the
proverbial laundry list and make it sound beautiful.”
San Francisco Chronicle
Mills College, Oakland:
“The most impressive performance Sunday came from the Virtuose of the San
Francisco Girls Choral Association, an octet of young singers who gave lovely,
impeccably blended readings of three a cappella works. They rendered the music
with sweetness, focus and a welcome concern for the text.”
San Francisco Chronicle
Mozart and His Time Festival, San Francisco:
“The group boasts a strong, clearly focused sounds and diction that more
seasoned ensembles might envy. The singing was bright and crisp, with reliable
pitch throughout.”
San Francisco Chronicle
First Congregational Church, San Francisco:
“Here comes the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Look out and listen up. Appling’s
band of highly trained and disciplined choristers sang an impressive program
‘New and Newer Music for Trebles,’ newer and more daunting than music sung by
other and older choirs. In true pitch, clarity and accurate articulation, they
produced the intricate, close meshed harmony and weaving lines of contemporary
works. Appling has her girls to the
point of striking professional performance.
Their commitment, focus and skills reflect her will and high musical
standards.”
San Francisco Chronicle
Recording of Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols:
“The Girls Chorus is one of the two most consistently excellent choruses in the
area (Chanticleer is the other) with marvelously balanced voices, clarity of
enunciation and beauty of tone.”
Oakland Tribune
Festival of New American Music, Sacramento:
“In a world where women composers and conductors are finally getting a little
recognition, it’s only to be expected that the Vienna Choir Boys would find
competition rising halfway around the world from the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
This is a powerfully precise, disciplined, expressive, lifelike chorus.”
Sacramento Bee
Reynolds Coliseum, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC:
“San Francisco Girls Chorus new twist in
outstanding children's group talent.
The San Francisco Girls Chorus brings a fresh dimension to professional
children's vocal groups. Ms.
Appling led the 32 young teenagers in a well-planned and immaculately executed
performance. These are extremely talented, accomplished young ladies, able to
memorize and perform new works in complex harmonies and difficult rhythms as
well as act, dance and move while singing in dramatic presentations. The
conductor has trained them well, drawing forth wonderful subtleties in dynamic
and sharp rhythmic patterns. Ms.
Appling shaped the dynamics of each word exquisitely, drawing forth silken tones
from the chorus. Virtuoso soloists appeared in another brilliantly choreographed
presentation - Geomanne’s “Jeu de Mots.” These little gems were absolutely
perfection, both in the delightful rhythmic patterns and the movement that went
with them.”
Raleigh News & Observer
Saint Ignatius Church, San Francisco:
“Directed by Elizabeth Appling, the chorus made such beautiful sounds that even
angels could be envious. This work was a remarkable feat for the singers and
Appling. Add to that all of the
other pieces and you have an outstanding exhibition of musicality, perseverance,
energy and commitment.”
San Mateo Times
First Congregational Church, San Francisco:
“Over and over, the 50-member concert group showed its stuff as one of the
premiere choral ensembles of the Bay Area.
Everything is fastidiously prepared to a stunning musical standard.
The diction is almost perfect. Texts are never really needed; the words
fall so beautifully and effortlessly from these young girl’s lips.
It sounds so natural.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“Super girls.
Fabulous female singers are making boys choir rethink their work.
The girls have carved out a whole new niche of their own just by singing
so well as to make people cry and shout and rejoice over good music.
The girls have bowled over nearly everyone in hearing distance. With a
combination of high standards, high demands and unbridled energy, Appling has
shaped this 10-year-old organization into an elite organization.”
San Jose Mercury News