Musical Mystical: Angels Among Us

We welcome you to our season with beautiful music honoring the celestial image of the angel. While angels often represent holiday traditions, we’re excited to explore their musical representation as protectors and overseers of our earthly existence across many cultures in both spiritual and secular music. Our concert features music by contemporary Swedish composer Tina Andersson, Italian Renaissance nun Raffaella Aleotti, and Shawn Kirchner in his setting of the old American tune Angel Band. We’re honored to revisit Trevor Weston’s powerful Martyrs, co-commissioned in 2020, that weaves together text from the Psalms, Renaissance motets, and modern texts as a plea for protection and a warning about the senseless and unnecessary deaths caused by COVID-19 and by excessive police force against African Americans. We’re thrilled to present Karin Rehnqvist’s powerful Till Ängeln med de brinnande händerna with oboist Adrienne Malley, and Sten Källman’s Ayibobo/Angels, a medley of a Haitian ode to the saints and a Swedish hymn about the protection of angels, with Congolese Drummer Kiazi Malonga.

Friday, December 17 at 8 PM

St Mark’s Lutheran Church,

1111 O’Farrell Ave, San Francisco

Saturday, December 18 at 8 PM 

St John’s Presbyterian Church

2727 College Ave, Berkeley

*Limited-capacity seating! We recommend purchasing tickets in advance to reserve your spot*

Season Tickets: Save 20% on 3 concerts

Season tickets allow for flexible attendance with big savings on General Admission tickets! Purchase once and enjoy either date and venue of one of each concert set in December, March, and May. Simply purchase a season pass and we'll hold your tickets for you at will-call for whichever date you prefer. Season tickets will only be available through December 16!

Health & Safety Precautions

We are formulating our season with an abundance of caution to prioritize the health and safety of our singers, audiences, and communities. Events for the 2021–22 season are subject to change to comply with all public health guidelines.

To ensure the health and safety of our artists and patrons, all guests must wear masks at concerts and present proof of vaccination upon entry.

Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus prioritizes the health and safety of our artists, audiences, staff, and community. Sacred and Profane adheres to all CDC guidelines and local policies, and continues to closely monitor information from public health officials. Please be aware that these safety protocols may change, and that S&P will communicate additional details. Please contact us with any questions. Learn more about our safety protocol here.

About the Artists

Adrienne Malley, oboe

Recently appointed second oboe of the acclaimed Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Adrienne Malley also holds the position of third oboe/English horn with the Marin Symphony. Additionally, she frequently performs with many other additional Bay Area ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, New Century Chamber Orchestra and the regional symphonies of Berkeley, California, Monterey, Napa, Oakland, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa. In May 2012, she was a featured soloist in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 with the San Francisco Symphony. She also previously held the position of principal oboe in the St. Peter's Chamber Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, she is a founding member of the woodwind sextet, Frequency 49, and a past member of Avenue Winds, a woodwind quintet dedicated to performing the music of local San Francisco Bay Area composers. She is also a former founding member of the Divisa Ensemble, a chamber ensemble comprised of mixed winds and string instruments.

A committed teacher, Adrienne maintains a pre-collegiate studio in Redwood City and is on faculty at Santa Clara University. She coaches young musicians in the Golden State Youth Orchestra and has presented music education performances through the Community School of Music and Arts' Music4Schools program and the San Francisco Symphony's Adventures in Music program. She also runs an oboe enrichment summer program, Left Coast Oboes, with her oboe colleague, Ryan Zwahlen.

Adrienne received her Master of Music at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music and her Bachelor of Music in Oboe Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music. She was awarded third prize in the MTNA Ohio Woodwind Young Artist Competition. Her principal teachers include Nancy Ambrose King, Mark Ostoich, Harry Sargous, and Shelley Heron. She has also participated in master classes and music festivals with William Bennett, Elaine Douvas, Richard Killmer, John Mack, Christopher Philpotts, Harold Smoliar, Linda Strommen, and Sherry Sylar.

Kiazi Malonga, percussion

Kiazi Malonga is a second generation Congolese American born into a family of artists. He was first introduced to the Ngoma drum at age two by his father Malonga Casquelourd, a world-renowned traditional drummer, dancer and choreographer from Congo Brazzaville. Casquelourd traveled to the US in 1972 and shortly thereafter began to build his exceptional legacy in the traditional arts in the US. 

It was in this setting that Kiazi Malonga was trained and learned about his Congolese cultural heritage. He became the lead drummer of his father’s dance company, Fua Dia Congo, at age 16 and began teaching at that time as well. Kiazi has taught and performed throughout the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Europe and Africa. He currently teaches Congolese traditional music in Oakland, CA. Kiazi released his debut album, Tembo Kia Ngoma in March of 2021; which incorporates never before recorded compositions from the late Malonga Casquelourd as well as newly composed music. 

In addition to music, Kiazi founded and runs a US based nonprofit social enterprise, Pelisa Energy. Pelisa Energy aims to close the energy gap in Central Africa by supplying solar-powered technologies that have immediate benefits to the health, education and livelihoods of the Central African people.  

Kiazi completed a dual masters in International Affairs and Natural Resources and Sustainable Development and has an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Stanford University. He has gained working familiarity with environmental, social, and governance criteria and ESG reporting frameworks (GRI, UNGP, CDP, SASB, and GHG Protocol) and ESG ratings/rankings tools (Just 100 and Sustainalytics).