Noontime Concerts’ core mission has been to provide affordable, accessible and top-notch music performances, presenting free lunch-hour concerts by notable artists every Tuesday at San Francisco’s Old St. Mary’s Cathedral. The format has been a formula for success, as the program will celebrate its 35th anniversary in December.
The 35-year run of hourlong free concerts at 12:30 p.m., 50 Tuesdays a year — taking a break for Christmas and New Year’s weeks — is remarkable because continuing overhead costs, such as performers’ fees, administration, and heating the performance space at 660 California St., must be paid.
“We raise funds from all kinds of resources,” says Noontime Concerts’ executive director Robin Wirthlin. “What we do at our concerts is ask for donations — we are always looking for donations — we apply for grants and look for corporate sponsorship, and all that is what’s helped keep us going.”
After the pandemic, Noontime Concerts returned to live performances in June 2022. Attendance has returned to about 65-70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Wirthlin, and the less-than-full recovery has been largely because many former lunchtime patrons are now working from home.
The decrease in the number of generally younger attendees who used to work in San Francisco offices and attend Noontime Concerts has resulted in its already predominantly over-50 crowd skewing even older — but there are fresh, often unexpected, infusions of new attendees.
“We have tourists and other people from out of town who come to visit the church and stay for the concerts,” Wirthlin says of some of the first-time attendees.
Noontime Concerts used to stage performances on Sundays at San Francisco’s Old Mint, which would draw a noticeably younger crowd, presumably untethered to a workday schedule, and the organization hopes to resume those events next year.
Concert programming consists of a mix of well-known classics, works by lesser-known composers, and some compositions by the performing artists, as well as a few show tunes, and Wirthlin would like to see the concert bills broaden even further.
“The organization’s current objective is to expand the definition of classical music so that we include all cultures,” she says. “For example, we did a concert of spirituals because we feel they are in the canon of American classical music, and we would like to do more works by Latin American and Asian composers so that we can be as inclusive as possible.”
Noontime Concerts musicians have ranged from the San Francisco Opera Chorus and the Midsummer Mozart Festival Orchestra to smaller chamber groups and soloists. The organization also strives to showcase emerging artists. Indeed, after the Eos Ensemble performs on the anniversary concert Dec. 5, pianist Connor Roham, an emerging artist, will complete the special anniversary week on Dec 12.
Bay Area pianist Amy Zanrosso, who has performed several times for Noontime Concerts, averaging two-plus concerts per year, has come to know its frequent concertgoers and the intimate environment that Old St. Mary’s provides very well.
“You are very close to the audience and they are really kind and happy to be there, and it’s a very homey place to play,” Zanrosso says. “The impression I get is that the majority of the people are there every week, and I recognize them from the stage.”
And with Old St. Mary’s boasting performance-friendly acoustics, it’s not hard to see why Noontime Concerts has a devoted fan base.
“It’s very forgiving, there is a lot of resonance, and it’s not a dry place at all to perform in that it would make sounds stand out starkly and hard to blend,” Zanrosso says. “You get this really nice blend in there, and even if you are sitting at the back of the church you can still hear details and have a connection to a good sound.”
Upcoming concerts this month include cellist Brinton Smith, violinist Florin Parvulescu and pianist Evelyn Chen playing works by Chausson, Ravel and Massenet on Oct. 17; pianist Murray McLachlan in “The Chopin Connection” on Oct. 24; and pianist Rami Bar-Niv in an all-Gershwin program on Oct. 31.
Many previous performances are available to view online.
Noontime Concerts are at 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Old St. Mary’s Church, 660 California St., San Francisco. Admission is free, but a $10 donation is suggested. For the concert schedule and more information, visit noontimeconcerts.org.