On Sunday, April 11 a large audience enjoyed a marvelous performance by the San Francisco Chorus, directed by the Swedish maestro, Ragnar Bohlin. The evening's performance consisted of mostly Swedish masterpieces and a few favorites from Rachmaninoff and Bernstein.

The opening was the commissioned world premier of “Let There Be” by Fredrik Sixten. The powerful, dramatic piece about life and death covered three different outbursts of intense, dramatic rhythms and tremendous emotions, ending in uplifting tunes of light and triumph.

The program also included Ludvig Norman’s “Jordens oro viker,” Ingvar Lidholm’s “… a riveder le stelle," Sven-Erik Johanson’s “Fancies ll,” two folksongs by Lars Edlund, Rachmaninoff’s “Vespers, Opus 37,” and the beautiful and spiritual "Chichester Psalms" by Bernstein. The latter included a solo by boy soprano Zachary Weisberg.

Ragnar Bohlin has been the director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus since March 2007. He is a recipient of the Johannes Norrby-medalion for expanding the frontiers of Swedish choral music-making. On June 6, Swedish National Day, you can enjoy a performance by Ragnar Bohlin at the Church of Sweden in San Francisco.