Wilfredo Pasamba
SAN FRANCISCO, California—Last Saturday evening was a perfect night. The sky was clear, the air nippy and San Franciscans were still ecstatic from the just concluded win of the San Francisco Forty-niners over the top-seeded New Orleans Saints to reach the NFL conference finals.
As people trooped into the beautiful St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on O’Farrell Street, they still wore smiles and their high spirits on their faces. Like the 49er fans earlier, they would not be disappointed. They were there to attend “An Evening of Chamber Music” featuring Wilfredo Pasamba, cellist, and Corey McVicar, pianists, both accomplished and internationally acclaimed musicians.
Pasamba was his usual virtuoso self on the cello and McVicar expressive and exuberant on the piano. One could feel the varied emotions and colors expressed by the composers. The duo performed three major pieces by Dmitri Shostakovich, Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op.4 ; Claude Debussy, Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, and Johannes Brahms’ Sonata for Cello and Piano in F Major, Op.99. Encore was an outstanding interpretation of a Sonata by Rachmaninoff.
It was a masterful performance by Pasamba and McVicor, each complementing the other with beautiful exchanges and solos. The audience was on its feet with “bravos” as the musicians took their bow.
“An Evening of Chamber Music” was presented by the newly formed FilAm Chamber Music Society whose aim is to use “the power of chamber music to achieve cultural awareness and bring unique possibilities to the education and art communities”. The Society will be promote and feature Filipino American artists in the field of classical music.
Upcoming concerts are scheduled for March 24 at St. Philip the Apostle Church, 725 Diamond St., San Francisco and on April 28 at Our Lady of Mercy Church, 1 Elmwood Drive in Daly City featuring Pasamba, McVicar and the Hallelujah Chorale.
There will be more scheduled performances throughout the year. For more information visit www.wilfredopasamba.com or contact filamchambermusicsociety@gmail.com or call 415-9394418.