Sunday, December 7th at 7:30 pm
⇒ Tickets Available on Ticket Tailor Here
Celebrate the season with The Womb of Winter: A Christmas Concert, a heartfelt musical journey honoring the divine mother, the quiet beauty of winter, and the first glimmers of returning light.
The evening blends original compositions, fresh arrangements of Seasonal Favorites, and music that spans centuries—from Bach and Hildegard of Bingen to Joni Mitchell—all exquisitely reimagined through the Turas Ensemble’s signature style, blurring the lines between folk, classical, and contemporary traditions while embracing the beauty of the female voice.
This special, one-time-only performance grows the duo to include harp, violin, cello, and additional voices for an unforgettably rich experience of Turas’s unique musical vision.
“Under the whirling wings of the living creatures,
~Hildegard of Bingen
I saw the shadow of the Living Light.
In that shadow a spark of the divine mystery
silently quickens all things—
seeds, buds, the womb itself.
In hiddenness, the world is conceived.”
Tickets are $25 available Online. Our venue is small so get your tickets early!
The Turas Ensemble is Victoria Fraser and Bethany Hill
Sopranos Victoria Fraser and Bethany Hill formed Turas Ensemble in 2023 following an invitation to perform in Juneau, Alaska. Limited by the instruments they could travel with, the duo devised a program exploring the concept of home – what it is to leave, to be apart from, and to return – accompanied by mountain dulcimer, harmonium, bass ukulele, autoharp, pedal-looping, electronics, and percussion. This experience established the ensemble’s ethos: to joyfully experiment, challenge technical limitations, and share the music they love through expansive reinterpretations.
Their music embraces the full range and beauty of the female voice. With a love of folk music and backgrounds in classical singing, composition, and theater, they expand the boundaries between these traditions, celebrating stories and voices from antiquity to today. Their influences span Celtic folk, early music, classical, pop, and electronic music. They believe music from any time or tradition can be lovingly and respectfully reimagined and made accessible to all audiences. www.turasensemble.org
Also Featuring:
Heather Garland, voice, text – www.heathergarland.com
A grateful daughter of a musical lineage, and a creature of the rivers of Ohio and the mountains of Appalachia, Bay Area artist Heather Garland is a writer, lyricist, singer, voice actor, visual and liturgical artist, who has devoted her life to creative service. Heather calls the Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco her spiritual home. As the Music Coordinator and resident soloist, she leads worship music, writes hymns, collaborates with congregants on new liturgical texts, and works with a rotating cast of extraordinary pianists and guest musicians in a wide variety of genres and traditions.
Lewis Patzner, cello – www.lewispatzner.com
Lewis Patzner is a cellist and composer from Oakland who plays all styles of music. He graduated from The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins, under the tutelage of Amit Peled. His current groups include Town Quartet, Jazz Mafia/Cosa Nostra Strings, Proteus Trio, Musical Art Quintet, and Free Key Choir, and he is co-director of the non-profit organization, Glenview Classical Series. He has recorded for Slash, Demi Lovato, Pete Yorn, The Coup, Pacific Mambo Orchestra, and on the scores of the films, “Can You Ever Forgive Me” and “Nightbitch.” He has performed live with Lauryn Hill and the Fugees, Mates of State, Train, Tim Kasher, Odesza, and Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So’s. He has recorded AND performed with Pinback, Dredg, Taking Back Sunday, Kari Jobe, Kim Walker-Smith, and The Matches. Although not a formal member of any orchestra, Lewis has appeared with many Bay Area groups, including as principal cello with Oakland Symphony, West Edge Opera, Berkeley Opera, The Bay Philharmonic, and Vallejo Symphony.
Amelia Romano, lever harp, voice – www.ameliaromano.com
Amelia Romano plays the lever harp, which is utilized in folk music from countries including Ireland and Scotland. Her vision has taken on both classical and folk harp worlds and tackles complex classical passages on the lever harp by shifting the mechanisms mid-song, which is fascinating to watch. Amelia has toured in Europe and the United States, bringing her enthusiasm for lever harps to classical music, wherever she goes. Her latest endeavor, Lever Harp for the Modern Harpist, is a virtual community championing cross-genre chromatic lever harp arrangements to pave new directions for the lever harp in today’s music landscape. She released the album, “Levers Engaged: Classical Works Re-imaged for Harp,” and sheet music collection, “Classical Re-imaginations,” in 2023, presenting the instrument as a valid voice in classical music. Amelia also offers virtual workshops and seminars centered around best lever-shifting practices and tools for adapting and performing chromatic works on the instrument. Amelia received her master’s degree in Classical Lever Harp Performance at San Francisco State University under the tutelage of Karen Gottlieb, retired harpist of the San Francisco Symphony.
Katrina Zosseder, violin, voice – www.katrinazosseder.com
A Bay Area native, Katrina is a soprano and violinist/fiddler known for her expressive and joyful performances that blend her classical roots with a love of traditional Irish music. Classically trained at Lawrence University, she has performed across genres with professional choral ensembles in the Bay Area, in chamber and solo settings, and in traditional Irish sessions throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Her musical life spans early music, contemporary repertoire, sacred music, and traditional Irish music, which has become a defining creative home.
Equally devoted to teaching, Katrina works with students of all ages online and in person, drawing on her broad musical background and her experience engaging older adults one-on-one through music and creative arts. Currently based in Berlin after several years of travel, she continues to perform, teach, and collaborate internationally.
Tickets are $25 available Online. Our venue is small so get your tickets early!