Kindra Scharich

Gwendolyn Mok

Jeffrey Ladeur

San Francisco International Piano Festival

### Event Description: Festival Finale - Cycles of Life

**Event:** Festival Finale: Cycles of Life  
**Date:** Sunday, September 1, 2024  
**Time:** 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM  
**Location:** Old First Concerts, 1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA, 94109, United States

**Overview:**
Join us for the grand finale of the San Francisco International Piano Festival, a celebration that brings the festival full circle with a special program of musical cycles that mirror those in nature. This event, presented in collaboration with Lieder Alive, will unite the glory of the voice with the wonders of the piano.

**Program Highlights:**

- **Claude Debussy's Six épigraphes antiques for piano duet:** This piece invokes the god Pan, gives voice to an anonymous tomb, conjures a mysterious Egyptian woman, and offers thanks for the morning rain before reprising Pan's invocation.
  
- **Gabriel Fauré's La Bonne Chanson Op.61:** Inspired by Emma Bardac, a celebrated French singer who later became Madame Claude Debussy, this passionate and life-affirming work weaves nine songs with subtly recurring motifs, creating an atmosphere of improvisation. The final song, "L'hiver a cessé," is one of Fauré's most inspired and ecstatic creations.
  
- **Florent Schmitt's Trois Rhapsodies Op.53 for two pianos:** A student of Fauré, Schmitt achieved a masterful blend of wit, infectious charm, and virtuosity in this work. Each rhapsody presents a larger-than-life tableau of national styles of the period: Française, Polonaise, and Viennoise.

**Performers:**
- **Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano**
- **Gwendolyn Mok, piano**
- **Jeffrey LaDeur, piano**

Celebrate the unity and joy of these wonderful compositions as we close out the seventh season of the San Francisco International Piano Festival. 

**Tickets and Livestream:**
Tickets are available for purchase, and the event will also be livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person.

**Additional Information:**
For more details, visit the festival's official website or contact the organizers directly. Don't miss this enchanting evening of music that promises to be a fitting conclusion to a remarkable festival season.