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Noontime Concerts has presented hundreds of lunchtime classical concerts since the organization’s inception in 1988. Begun in Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, at the crossroads of the Financial District and Chinatown, the series’ mission is to enrich the cultural life of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Performed by professional local and international touring artists, the concerts are not ticketed, but free-will donations are solicited so everyone can enjoy the music regardless of ability to pay. Low-cost, live musical performances are offered at a time convenient for downtown workers, visitors, students, shoppers, and music lovers. Currently, Noontime Concerts are presented weekly on Tuesdays in Old Saint Mary’s at our original venue. At its completion in 1853, Old St. Mary’s was both the first cathedral and the tallest building in the new state of California. Restored after San Francisco’s devastating earthquake and fire of 1906, it was rededicated 1909. The historic cathedral remains an important San Francisco landmark and a beautiful and serene setting for concerts. Noontime Concerts are modeled after those developed by Dame Myra Hess, 1890–1965. In the first months of the Second World War, all live music performances ceased in Britain. Dame Hess inaugurated what was to become a remarkable and popular series of lunchtime concerts at the National Gallery, a building then emptied of its treasures for safekeeping during the Blitz. This was exactly what people needed, since the blackouts made it difficult for London’s suburban residents to travel up to town after dark. The audience, which included regular devotees as well as many who had never heard such music before, grew from Hess’s brainchild to replace one kind of art with another* Noontime Concerts™ is part of an international network of churches, museums and other venues offering a welcome midday respite amidst the hustle and bustle of urban life in the tradition of Dame Hess. New York’s Concerts at One, for example, take place on Mondays in St. Paul’s Chapel on Broadway and on Thursdays in Trinity Church on Wall Street at 1:00 p.m. When in New York, call (212) 602-0747 for concert information or check their website, www.trinitywallstreet.org. In England, the current London version of Noontime Concerts takes place in the Royal Parish Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which enjoys one of the finest musical reputations in the world. Every Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 1:00 p.m., renowned musicians have an opportunity to perform at this central London venue for a discriminating audience. To find out more about London’s historic midday concert series, see www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org. Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts take place at the Chicago Cultural Center in Preston Bradley Hall. Their concert calendar can be found at www.chicagoperformances.org. Noontime Concerts Board of Directors: Robin Wirthlin, Michael Abrahams, David Rickey, Carol Verburg, Anne S. O’Brien |
