Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

Jeffrey Smith offers an afternoon devoted to Elgar, including Organ Sonata no. 1 and Sea Pictures with Emily Lodine, performing on the treasured Alexander Memorial Organ at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco’s landmark cathedral on Nob Hill.

The recital will be given on Sunday, February 19 at 4:00 p.m. Organ Sonata no. 1 in G major, Op. 28 (1895) was composed for the four-manual Hill organ in Worcester Cathedral. Amazingly, the work took only two weeks from conception to first performance, but it is the most significant of his instrumental compositions preceding the Enigma Variations, containing clear precedents for the major symphonic works that were to come. Sea Pictures Op. 37 (1899), a collection of five poems set to music, remains one of the most popular of Edward Elgar’s—and indeed any composer’s—vocal works. The second song is of particular interest—the words are by the composer’s wife Alice who provided texts for a number of Elgar’s early songs.

Dr. Smith, Canon Director of Music for Grace Cathedral, holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University. His teachers include Thomas Murray, Wolfgang Rübsam, and David Willcocks. Dr. Smith studied improvisation with Philippe Lefebvre, Organist of Notre Dame de Paris. His choral and organ disks on the Pro Organo label have been critically praised.

Ms. Lodine, mezzo-soprano, recently made her Carnegie Hall debut in Handel’s Messiah under the baton of conductor and composer John Rutter. She has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philip Glass Ensemble, and created the role of Verena Marsh in Stephen Paulus’ opera Summer for Berkshire Opera. She graduated magna cum laude from Indiana University with a degree in music theory.

The great Aeolian-Skinner organ at Grace Cathedral is one of the world’s finest and most famous instruments of its kind. Its 7,347 pipes comprise a massive orchestral sound that perfectly complements the gothic-style cathedral’s natural acoustics among soaring arches and stained glass.

This concert is one in Grace Cathedral’s series of free organ concerts on most Sundays from September to June, the nation’s premiere series in a major venue on a world-class organ. Choral Evensong is sung every Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Grace Cathedral is located on Nob Hill in San Francisco at 1100 California Street at Taylor Street.

For complete information, call (415) 749-6350, write to concerts@gracecathedral.org, or visit www.GraceCathedral.org.