Flicka and Flock at the Bellevue Club

On Dec. 5, as part of a fund-raiser for the Bellevue Club Foundation and the music programs of St. Martin de Porres, the artist universally known as Flicka — alias Frederica von Stade — will join longtime associates and students from St. Martin de Porres and from the Young Musicians Program (YMP) at UC Berkeley in a tantalizing program of songs and arias.

The program, which bears some similarity to Flicka’s Carnegie Hall farewell in New York City this past April, is divided into segments that reflect aspects of her life journey. Beginning with three rose-scented morsels, it takes us on a tour through Paris, religion, children, opera, and the future. In the course of an hour, the composers Poulenc, Fauré, Schubert, Bizet, Puccini, Copland, Bernstein, Rorem, and Heggie all receive their due from an established music-mistress and from youthful musicians with the potential to follow in her footsteps.

It’s only natural to wonder, as a great artist approaches retirement, whether hearing her in recital will reveal a voice in tatters. In von Stade’s case, there’s zero chance of that. Heard this past year in Carnegie Hall, where she was attired in a black and white confection reminiscent of the happiest parfait ever consumed at the ice cream shoppe, Flicka sang out with the strength of old. While the voice has certainly matured, her vibrato continues even, and the sound remains impeccably produced. She retains the ability to transport listeners to a place of joy and celebration, or reduce them to heart-cleansing tears.

Fresh from singing her Houston Grand Opera farewell as The Mother in San Francisco composer Jake Heggie’s great opera, Dead Man Walking, Flicka will be joined by soprano Priscillia Alva, 12 years old, a student at St. Martin de Porres who joined UC Berkeley’s Young Musicians Program last summer; violinist Gabby Alva, a kindergartener and St. Martin student; soprano Christobel Nunoo,16, a student at St. Mary’s High School and a YMP participant; pianist Lawrence Balthazar, 13, another St. Martin student/YMP participant; pianist Kristin Pankonin; and arts mainstay Jan Buckley.

According to Flicka’s longtime accompanist and friend, Jim Meredith of YMP, Flicka has “adopted” the St. Martin de Porres school in Oakland. She has been vital in getting its choral program off the ground, and helped secure guitar and violin teachers for the school. The woman is so gung ho that, when she took on the search for a new choral director for the school, Meredith had to dissuade her from posting her private e-mail address on Craigslist. The naivete of Cherubino, it seems, still lives in von Stade’s heart.

The Bellevue Club Foundation, a relatively new organization dedicated to preserving the grand site at 525 Bellevue Ave. (across from Oakland’s Lake Merritt), has scheduled the event to celebrate the club’s recent entry into the National Register of Historic Places. The goings-on, which start at 2:00 p.m. in the club’s grand dining hall, include fine-wine tastings, hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and raffle, and a historic preservation ceremony. After the recital, which will begin roughly at 4:00, attendees will celebrate with a champagne reception, petits fours, and “decadent chocolates.”

Tickets are $80, and available only by advance purchase. For information, contact Kathy Ryan at (510) 521-6067 or [email protected].