Jan 16 - Symphony League of Santa Cruz County

Musical Notes
Newsletter of the Santa Cruz Symphony League
SCSL - 2015-16 Season
Number 3
League Info: www.slscc.org
January, 2016
SYMPHONY PREVIEW
Friday, January 22
11:30 a.m.
Margaritaville
231 Esplanade
Capitola
Featuring Maestro
Daniel Patrick Stewart
Jazz up your experience
of Concert #3, Mahler’s
1st. Meet and greet the
Maestro Daniel Stewart at
a more intimate setting,
Margaritaville. The Maestro
always has interesting and
fun information about the
music he has chosen, and
this will make the concert
experience so much richer.
Have you had the opportuniity
to see the newly remodeled
Margaritaville? This is your chance to see it and
enjoy the new staff.
Luncheon will be a Taco Buffet (3 selections),
includes coffee, tea or soft drinks & dessert. Cost
for lunch is $35. A no host bar is available.
Parking: Guests can be shuttled from the Capitola
upper level parking lot - corner of Bay & Park
(you’ll need quarters or credit card).
Please make your check to SLSCC and
send to Cheryl Hammond, 1505 42nd Ave.
#30, Capitola, CA 95010.
You may pay
by credit card on PayPal by logging on to
www.slscc.org/previews.
Gustav Mahler, 1860 – 1911. Mahler stood between
the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the
modernism of the early 20th century. His ability as a
conductor gained early recognition but the music he
composed gained wide popularity much later after
periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its
performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era.
After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered and
championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler
then became one of the most frequently performed and
recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained
into the 21st century.
Mahler called his 1st Symphony “Titan, a tone poem in
symphonic form.”
Edvard Grieg
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 in D Major
Helen’s
Column
Welcome to 2016!
However, before plans
for the new year are
announced, I would
like to let out a loud
cheer for some exciting
news since November’s
Musical Notes.
Maestro Daniel Stewart
has signed a five-year
contract with the Symphony. Under Maestro Stewart’s
leadership during the last three years, not only has he
provided us with outstanding concerts, but attendance
has soared. We can look forward to more distinctive and
exciting performances in the coming months and years
ahead.
The 2015 Holiday Home Tour and Boutique were the
most successful ever, grossing over $30,000. Many
thanks to co-chairs Nancy Van Natta and Cheryl
Hammond, Boutique chair Mary Ann Hobbs and chair
of the cookie walk, Eileen Sambrailo as well to over 100
League members who volunteered to make this event so
successful! We are also very grateful to the owners of
the five homes on the tour and to the Santa Cruz Sentinel
whose amazing and timely coverage of the tour was
instrumental in the success of the event.
The 20\20 New Year’s Eve Cioppino dinner at Sheila and
Clyde Vaughn’s home was another successful League
event with 24 very happy participants. Thanks to so
many of you volunteers, the League seems to be on a roll
toward reaching our goal of presenting the Symphony
$70,000 (or even more!) at our Annual Meeting in June.
The January 23-24 concerts will soon be upon us. As
usual, a Preview with Maestro Stewart is planned. The
Preview luncheon will be held at Margaritaville in Capitola
on Friday, January 22nd. More information about the
details are elsewhere in this issue.
Our next big fundraiser and gala Glamour & Glitz at
the Grove is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th at the
Boardwalk Cocoanut Grove. Jon Nordgren’s band will
provide dance music from the 20’s through the 60’s and
Five Star catering will serve a memorable meal, served
with champagne and wine. In addition to silent and live
auctions, many other surprises are in the plans to make
this one heck of a gala. Save the date cards have been
mailed and the invitations will soon follow.
For the first time we will have HONOREES as
well as DONORS to help defray the costs of the
gala so more of the proceeds will go toward the
support of the Symphony. The 2016 HONOREES
are DON and KATHRYN ADKINS for their years
of contributions to the Santa Cruz music
community. The gala will require many of you
to volunteer in some capacity as well as either
being a DONOR yourself or recommending
some symphony-loving person or business who
would be honored to be listed as a DONOR in
any monetary category from $100 and up.
March will be a busy month for the League
but don’t forget to make a reservation at the
Shadowbrook Restaurant Tuesday, March 15th
and be sure to mention the Symphony League
in your reservation. The League receives a
percentage of your total dinner bill, including
alcohol.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.
Helen
UPCOMING
EVENTS
FOR OUR
SYMPHONY
FAMILY!
March
12 “Glamour & Glitz at the
Grove” our amazing Gala
for the Year!
15 Fundraising dinner @
Shadowbrook Restaurant
18 Preview
19-20 Symphony Concerts
May
6 Preview
7 Kentucky Derby
7/8 Symphony Concerts
Membership
Happy New Year and Thank You to all of
you – our hard-working League Members!
It’s with your membership our efforts supporting the Symphony are so successful.
Our membership is strong – of course, we
are always looking for new members to
bring fresh ideas and energy to our many
projects. So if you know someone who
you would like to encourage to join, let me
know (475-4939) or (rutandan@comcast.
net). I can make a phone call and send an
application.
You Heard Him Here First!
Austin Huntington, who was our soloist in the
November 2013 concerts, was recently appointed
principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
At just 21 years old, he is the youngest player in the
orchestra. Austin will continue his fourth year at the
Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles,
while taking up his duties as principal cellist. You can
read more at http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-latests/
indianapolis-symphony-appoints-21-year-old-austinhuntington-as-principal-cellist/.
On another front, Rehearsal Refreshments
for the Orchestra are thriving.
A big “Thank You” goes out to all of you
who are supporting Vickie in providing such
delicious snacks to the musicians during
rehearsal break. If you aren’t yet a member of our Red Spatula Society and would
like to join by helping provide food, give us
a call – the more the merrier! It’s fun, not
hard work, and offers another opportunity
to serve those folks who give us such great
music.
If you have any questions about your
League membership, please call me. I’ll do
my best to support you in your membership
with the Symphony League.
Happy New Year!
Dan & Vickie Rutan
Our storage area has a new roof to keep
our supplies safe during the winter
storms. This improvement was made
possible by Peggy Minier’s support and
the supervision of Steve Kolb.
Thanks to our Property Manager, Cheryl
Hammond, who organizes and manages
our supplies and resources.
We all enjoy eating out, and now we can also support our Symphony.
Be sure to let your wait staff know that you are dining to support the
Symphony. Tuesday, January 26, at the Capitola Mall restaurant only.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Saturday, March 12
Talk with your friends, co-workers,
heck, tell perfect strangers about our
upcoming Gala! Lots of great music,
dancing, excellent food (Five Star
Catering), live and silent auctions ...
what a great way to have a lovely
evening and to support the Symphony.
What can I do???
In the meantime, you can participate by
gathering auction items; a massage, a
coupon from a restaurant, hair salon, or
your auto service station ... or ...
A meal for 6 - 8 at your home, a week’s
stay at a condo, or ???
Our November Preview
was in a reconfigured
Civic ... much more
consumer friendly
Inventing America
Symphony Performances of November14th and 15th, 2015
By Ann Haley
Danny Stewart and the orchestra showed perfect timing by spontaneously
beginning this concert with La Marseillaise to a standing and clapping
audience, some of whom knew the words. A more fitting display of
support to the French people following the tragic events in Paris could
not have been. We cheered and settled down to hear the remainder of
this beautifully selected program.
The scholarly pre-concert lecture had prepared us for the music to be played, including Claude
Debussy’s Clair de Lune orchestrated by Andre Caplet (the sparkling runs played by the orchestra
are finger-tangling exercises in Debussy’s piano version), Franz Schubert’s drama-charged, short
Unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, Camille Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, and
Arturo Marquez’s Danzon No. 2. The program was wonderfully varied and used every orchestral
instrument to superb advantage. Daniel Stewart conducted the program without a score, as usual,
bringing him in close proximity to the musicians.
Debussy’s impressionistic work began softly and sweetly by the strings, including a harp, all of
which stated most of the theme until a solo violin continued it to a new iteration. This short work
ended quietly and beautifully, as written, interpreted, and conducted.
Schubert’s romantic 8th Symphony of two movements began very quietly but sprightly with a treble
melody, moved into a waltz tempo, interrupted by a loud fanfare motif that occurred throughout,
preceding a melodic change. The waltz tune resumed, again interrupted to bring a distinct change
in mood. The initial melody returned. Again the fanfare brought the waltz tune, which abruptly
stopped to allow a dramatic motif. This repeated with frequent interruptions of mood and melody
by turns. When a new melody emerged, typically it was introduced by the treble strings. The
melody-fanfare statements and answers tied the work together, giving it an air of completion and
balance. This piece ended on a held chord that rose and fell in volume. While being unfinished, it
felt satisfyingly complete; it was a delightfully melodic, highly dramatic work.
Following Intermission, we were treated to a stunning performance by the sixteen-year-old
cellist and winner of the Klein Competition Grand Prize, Zlatomir Fung, playing Saint Saens’ Cello
Concerto No. 1 in A Minor. The work began with the cellist starting without introduction. It was
a well-balanced interplay of solo and orchestra, showcasing Fung’s extraordinary mastery of the
cello and bow, which he played beautifully throughout. St. Saens’ runs and sustained trills were
very difficult, but Fung made them effortless, as did the orchestra, which never ceased to astound
with its expert sensitivity to the music and to the soloist.
Arturo Marquez’s Danzon No. 2 concluded the program with a lively work that nearly set the
audience dancing. A collage of folk tunes, classical motifs, wonderful rhythms using remarkable
percussion instruments, the Danzon began with a percussion-enhanced Latin beat to sensual music
that grew in volume, until it was dominated by the brass, then diminished to new thematic music
that was more percussive than melodic. A piano voiced a new theme, the wood percussion returned,
while the treble winds led a quiet interlude. All built to a finale, bringing the audience to its feet in
a resounding ovation that lasted while Danny Stewart moved among the players, recognizing each,
as every individual was used maximally in this highly varied program.
Technology
Training
Event
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On Monday, Oct.
26 several people
brought their
smart phones,
tablets and laptops
to gain a better
understanding of using these devices to access
information or stay in touch with family and
friends.
Julie Wuest was our knowledgeable instructor
and helped each one of us gain new insights
into using Facebook and the internet more
safely and with much greater ease. Julie also
made herself open to another class if there
are people who are interested in a better
understanding of their computer (or other
electronic device) please let someone on the
League Board know and we will see if we can
have another sesson.
An Editor’s Privilege...
Musical Notes belongs to the officers and members of
the Symphony League. As your editor I choose not to
contribute much to the content, I’m just a pass-through.
If officers and members submit (appropriate) material I
will be glad to put it in the Musical Notes.
As V.P. of Communications I am also responsible for the
website and emails. If you find that a link is not working
or you can’t connect with PayPal, or someone is not
getting our emails, please feel free to let me know. I find
that computers will do what computers will do, and you
won’t hurt my feelings by letting me know that what
worked yesterday is on the fritz today.
Happy New Year to our readers,
Clyde Vaughn
[email protected]
20-20 Celebrates 2016 with Cioppino Dinner
-Bill Mowatt
The
League at
Work
and Play
On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2015, twenty-four happy folks
welcomed the New Year enjoying a wonderful Cioppino dinner at Sheila
and Clyde Vaughn’s home. Cioppino, by the way, is a delicious Italian
fish stew often enjoyed during the holidays. In this case, everyone was
a participant; individuals contributed clams, crab, mussels, red snapper
and other assorted rockfish to the pot. Sheila and Julie Mazurek made
the sauce, Gail Mowatt provided the delicious garlic bread and Joni
Nuttall-Stokes provided a green salad. The meal was topped off with
servings of gelato. Fred and Mary Jo Dunn-Ruiz stepped in to assist
in making everything flow smoothly. Following tradition and being
practical, we all wore our bibs to keep the savory sauce off of us.
After dinner, we watched the ball drop in Times Square at midnight – East Coast time (9:00 p.m. here), which
afforded us the opportunity to get home before other party-goers were on the highways. We celebrated with
the usual noise-makers, party hats, and sang Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne.”
It was a wonderful opportunity to relax and enjoy each other’s company for the last time in 2015.
ROUND ROBIN
BRIDGE
Chairperson
Jan Davis-Hadley
438-4494
Captains
Debussy
Joyce Sawaya.............................475-5574
Schubert
Joyce Sawaya.............................475-5574
Tchaikovsky
Sue Robinson ............................ 429-1597
Mozart
Jan Davis-Hadley........................438-4494
Brahms
Sterling Frost...............................458-2314
Each couple plays with another couple in the section
once a month from September through May. A no-host
award party is held in the Spring. Prizes are presented to
the winners of each section with the highest cumulative
scores.
CALL JAN DAVIS-HADLEY IF YOU WOULD
LIKE TO PARTICIPATE
Make a gift in honor
of, or in memory of
someone
precious to you.
Are you looking for a
way to honor a friend, or
to give a memorial gift?
Please send the following
information to: Santa Cruz Symphony League, Sheila
Vaughn, Treasurer, 307 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA
95060.
A donation of $ _________
___ In Honor of ____________________________
___ In Memory of __________________________
From: Name: ______________________________
Address: ____________________________
____________________________________
Please notify:
Name: ______________________________
Address: ____________________________
____________________________________
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 2015-16 Season
Directors and Officers
VP Educational Programs
and Previews
Cheryl Hammond
VP Membership,
Recruitment and Directory
Dan Rutan
VP Public Relations
Bill Mowatt
VP Communications
Clyde Vaughn
Recording Secretaries
Ola Monaghan
& Vickie Rutan
Treasurer
Sheila Vaughn
Board Members at Large
Fred Dunn-Ruiz
Jerry Houser
Susan Koeker
Jeanne Shada
Eileen Sambrailo
Kate Sutherland
Francine Thomas
Standing Committee Chairs
Rehearsal Refreshments
Dan & Vickie Rutan
Housing Musicians
Connie Adams
New Member Outreach
Gail Mowatt
Volunteers
Francine Thomas
Historian
Kate Miller
Home Tour
Nancy Van Natta
& Cheryl Hammond
Kentucky Derby
Anne Hayden
Round Robin Bridge
Jan Davis Hadley
20-20 Chair
Bill Mowatt
Property Manager
Cheryl Hammond
2016 Glamour & Glitz at the
Grove
Eileen Sambrailo
Check out our Facebook page at:
www.facebook.com/SCSymphonyLeague
Santa Cruz Symphony League
Past President,
Parliamentarian
Roger Knacke
Corresponding Secretary
Kate Miller
307 Church Street
Santa Cruz, California 95060
President
Helen Jones