When longtime Sunset resident JJ Hollingsworth first saw the house on Kirkham and 24th, she knew she could turn it into a performance space. Since March 2013, she has held over 30 classical music concerts in one of the city’s most unique venues: the living room of her home, Forte House.
Forte House was inspired by both the “f” monogram on the chimney of the house—it resembles the forte sign in music—and Hollingsworth’s extensive background in music. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she has over 30 years of experience in producing concerts all over the city, particularly in churches and art galleries.
Her vision for Forte House was to “present chamber music the way it was originally intended, in a room in a house.”
The living room can seat up to 30-40 people, making it an intimate space for music lovers. “If you get 30 people in a big cavernous church,” she says, “you’ll feel like nobody came. But here it’s a full house.”
Hollingsworth draws on her connections from a lifetime of music for bookings. Musicians also hear about Forte House from other musicians, and sometimes they’ll come to play while touring in a larger venue in San Francisco.
The cozy space inspires dialogue between performers and audience. “Guests will ask questions and talk about the music. It’s like a little masterclass,” she says.
The concerts are also an outlet for her own work. A composer herself, Hollingsworth occasionally performs her own music, inspired by her own adventures abroad. For tomorrow's holiday concert, she will be performing her own compositions, including one based on an Ethiopian Christmas carol.
“I was in the mountains, delivering medical supplies to an orphanage in the middle of a coup in ‘91 against a despot," she told us. "I could hear these shepherds playing this little wooden flute, and it was just so lovely. There’s a particular call that they make, a theme."
She’ll be playing the piece inspired by Ethiopian shepherds and others this Sunday at 4pm. The lineup includes vocalist Peter Terry, pianists M. Dmitry Auerbach and Nancy Lee Harper, and Japanese bamboo flutist Cornelius Boots.
Forte House is at 1498 24th Ave. at Kirkham, and concerts are held one to two times a month. A suggested donation of $25 includes wine and a light dinner. To RSVP or sign up for the mailing list, email fortehouse1498 {at} gmail {dot} com.
