With a half a million first- and second-generation Filipino immigrants in the Bay Area (which has a big heart anyway, regardless of personal connections), artists here are moved to action against the horrible devastation by Supertyphoon Haiyan, called Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, where it killed thousands and dislocated millions.
Here are just some of the local musical benefits to aid the people of the Philippines:
S.F. Boys Chorus
The Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland and the San Francisco Boys Chorus will join for an emergency benefit concert on Sunday, Nov. 24, conducted by Ian Robertson.
Joining the Boys Chorus, the Cathedral's chorus-in-residence, will be members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, and members the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. The performance will feature Boys Chorus repertoire as well as excerpts from Verdi's Requiem. All proceeds will go to Catholic Relief Services in the Philippines.
"Our organization of young singers is in the forefront of providing community service through song," says Robertson. "We could not stand by and hear about the tragedy in the Philippines and do nothing. The boys of the San Francisco Boys Chorus are proud to lend their voices to do what they can for less fortunate people on the other side of the world."
Donations can also be made online.
Music for the Philippines
An impromptu group of artists has come together to raise emergency funds for three organizations working on the ground in the Philippines: U.N. World Food Program, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and National Alliance for Filipino Concerns
The concert will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 24, in the Calvary Presbyterian Church, 2515 Fillmore Street. Performers include countertenor Brian Asawa, Christopher Costanza, cellist with the St Lawrence String Quartet; Cypress String Quartet; soprano Lisa Delan; bass Christopher Filipowicz; Firesong (Vanessa Langer, Sophie Huet, Margaret Halbig); soprano Nicolle Foland.
Also, Debra Fong, violin; tenor Joseph Frank; bass-baritone Reg Huston; Adler Fellow mezzo Erin Johnson; mezzo Isabel Leonard; mezzo Susanne Mentzer; Adler Fellow soprano Jacqueline Piccolino; soprano Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai; tenor Todd Wedge; members of the S.F. Gay Men's Chorus; and members of the Ruth Asawa High School for the Arts vocal program.
International Orange Chorale of San Francisco
Zane Fiala's International Orange Chorale of San Francisco will give benefit concerts on Dec. 6 and 7, in the Solarium Public Space #55, 2nd Street and St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 3281 16th Street, respectively.
The program, "Pacific Currents: Music from the Pacific Islands," will feature 21st century choral works from across the Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Japan, the Philippines, and Hawaii, featuring the world premiere of Robin Estrada’s Paanyaya 3, commissioned by IOCSF.
Admission is free, donations for the Philippine relief drive are welcome.
Paanyaya 3 is described as "using complex polyrhythms to evoke a varied and joyful percussion ensemble, a theme also taken up by Budi Susanto Yohanes’s Janger. Nilo Alcala and George Hernandez have set Filipino folk songs in different but equally lively ways; pieces from David Childs and Joseph Twist bring a moving, contemplative voice to poems. The program also includes recent works by Jack Body, Christopher Marshall, Matthew Orlovich, and Kentaro Sato.