Our recitals showcase art music
from across the Bay Area...
and from all over the world

Learn more about St. Mary's Cathedral Music

photo by RAND Photography

photo by William Bout

Musical Meditations

& Prayers for an End to the Pandemic

For over 30 years, we've curated a weekly recital series featuring both Bay Area-based and visiting international artists. Many recitals feature our custom-built Fratelli Ruffatti pipe organ.

COVID-19 precautions here at St. Mary's

At the guidance and direction of San Francisco City Hall, the Cathedral is closed for public services.We offer Musical Meditation recitals live-streamed each Sunday at 4 pm on the San Francisco Archdiocese YouTube channel. Click here to see the schedule.

Though closed to the public for the duration of the pandemic, the Cathedral offers live-streamed daily MassConcerts will be cancelled through June 30, 2020

COVID-19 precautions
at St. Mary's Cathedral

Though closed to the public for the duration of the pandemic, the Cathedral offers live-streamed daily MassConcerts will be cancelled through June 30, 2020

Though closed to the public for the duration of the pandemic, the Cathedral offers live-streamed daily MassConcerts will be cancelled through June 30, 2020

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These Musical Meditations provide an interlude of peace and quiet, where we can pray for an end to the pandemic, while listening to music.Live on Sunday afternoons at 4pm, on the San Francisco Archdiocese YouTube channel.Please support the musicians by leaving a donation through Eventbrite.

I WANT TO SAVE THE DATE

We post our concerts on Eventbrite and Facebook, too. From there, you can:

- Save concerts you want to remember to your own calendar
- Make online donations on each Eventbrite event page

I WANT TO GET AN EMAIL REMINDER

We send a recital calendar out for each month.

We're GDPR-compliant—so you have maximum control over your personal information.

You’ll be able to decide whether or not to sign up on the next screen.

• getting here

Central & Convenient Location

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Program

LegendsSurijaeSpiritual Path

Program Notes

1. Legends…David LoebDavid Loeb (b.1939) has composed for Asian instruments for more than fifty-five years. In this composition he has combined the traditional scale of the Geomongo with Western counterpoint technique in short pieces with different atmospheres.2. Surijae …Dae-Seok JeongSurijae is a three-movement composition by Dae-Seok Jeong, a great Korean Geomungo master.The beautiful scenery of Surijae (a rural village of Korea)-The joyful lives in Surijae- The fragrance of green tea.3. Spiritual Path (2020) …
Pre-planned five-section improvisation by Sunhee Lee & Jin Kyung LimGod's gaze and Our awareness -Encounter-Temptation-Vanity and Calling-Promise

Biography

Sunhee Lee is acclaimed as a great Geomungo player and composer. She joined the National Gugak Center, one of the most prestigious orchestras in South Korea, in 1996, and was promoted to the first Geomungo position in 2004 and served as the concertmaster from 2013 to 2014. Since then, she has been given the title of a senior member. In addition, she has played the role of musical artistic director at <The Geomungo>Ensemble since 2017, showing various aspects of Geomungo music. As an educator, she also delivered lectures to many students. She was a lecturer at the Korean National University of Art from 2011 to 2015, and she was an adjunct professor at Hanyang University from 2016 to 2019.She tried to express noble human life at the center of the repertoire of her performances. One of her memorable recitals in Seoul is for commemorating a Korean priest, Lee Tae-seok, who died of cancer in 2010 after voluntarily serving years as a doctor in South Sudan. In her composition, "Human Flower," she sincerely expressed his greatest love toward human beings, which reminded the audience of his ultimate sacrifice and dedication. Another one is a concert with the theme of five different kinds of love. This performance was dedicated to her father, who fought against cancer and died after the concert. In the performance, she tried to tell five different love stories, such as love of parents for children, love of humankind, passionate love, love for great nature, and pure love of children.Jin Kyung Lim is an organist, harpsichordist, and pianist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lim has given numerous solo recitals and concerts in the United States, Korea, and multiple other countries. She has played the organ for the music series at Stanford Memorial Church (Stanford University), Adolphus Busch Hall (Harvard University), the American Church of Paris (Paris, France), the Church of Notre-Dame-d'Auteuil (Paris, France), the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption (San Francisco), St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Berkeley), the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (San Francisco), Trinity+ St. Peter's Episcopal Church (San Francisco), Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Reno, Nevada), Congregational Church of San Mateo (San Mateo), and Christ Church Cathedral (Indianapolis, Indiana). As an active chamber musician, she has enjoyed performing with various ensemble groups including the Palo Alto Philharmonic, the Pacific Choir, UI Symphony, Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana, UI Wind Orchestra, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul Women Gregorian Chant Choir for the Belgium–France concert tour, and the Main Street Singers (Los Altos) for the Spain/Portugal and South Africa concert tours.As a church organist since the age of fourteen, Lim worked at St. Paul Catholic Church (Danville, IL), St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Charleston, IL), and First Lutheran Church (Palo Alto, CA), and is currently the Music Associate at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, San Francisco. She is the dean of the PA/PE AGO chapter as well as an executive board member for the Junior Bach Festival in Berkeley. She is also the music director of St. Joseph Ensemble, pursuing and promoting sacred music. She holds a DMA in Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Music from Yonsei University (South Korea).

Sunday Concert Schedule

Concerts are usually Sundays at 4 PM
Entry is free, though we suggest a $10 free-will donation, either at the door (cash or check) or through Eventbrite.
You can use the same link to donate to a specific concert through the Wednesday after each concert.

• getting here

Central & Convenient Location

I WANT TO SAVE THE DATE

We post our concerts on Eventbrite and Facebook, too. From there, you can:

- Save concerts you want to remember to your own calendar
- Make online donations on each Eventbrite concert page

I WANT TO GET AN EMAIL REMINDER

We send a recital calendar out for each month.

We're GDPR-compliant—so you have maximum control over your personal information.

You’ll be able to decide whether or not to sign up on the next screen.