BEACH CITIES SYMPHONY
SEPTEMBER 2002
NEWSLETTER
BARRY BRISK, MUSIC DIRECTOR
PRESENTS
BRADLEY COHEN, CLARINET SOLOIST
EL CAMINO CHORALE CHORUS * CONCERT CHOIR * WOMEN’S CHORUS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2002
Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College
Crenshaw Blvd. at Redondo Beach Blvd.
FREE ADMISSION and FREE PARKING
concert time: 8:15 P.M.
pre-concert lecture: 7:30 P.M.
Information: (310) 379-9725 or (310) 539-4649
Première Rhapsodie for Clarinet & Orchestra: Claude Debussy
Bradley Cohen, soloist
Nocturnes: C. Debussy
Nuages
Fêtes
Sirènes
with women’s chorus
Song of Destiny : Johannes Brahms
with combined choirs
Va, Pensiero from Nabucco: Giuseppe Verdi
with combined choirs
EL CAMINO’S HARMONIC CONVERGENCE
By Mary Ann Keating
Two El Camino College choral directors and their combined choirs
will be
featured at the Friday, October 25 concert which opens the Beach Cities
Symphony’s 53rd season. These musical groups were heard three years
ago when
the orchestra presented Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. This season, they
will
work together in Brahms’ Song of Destiny, Debussy’s Three Nocturnes,
and
Verdi’s Va, Pensiero under the general direction of Maestro Barry
Brisk.
Although all of the combined choruses are part of
the college’s Fine Arts
classes, each has a different emphasis. The College Community Choir
is under
the direction of Professor Leslie Back, a member of El Camino’s faculty
since
1978. Her degrees are from Glassboro College and Temple University,
and she
completed her doctoral studies at the University of Southern California.
The
Community Choir meets evenings to work on a variety of compositions
and
presents a major public concert at the end of each semester. It draws
not
only from regular music students at the college but, because of its
evening hours, it accommodates the community as well. Through the years
under
Prof. Back’s direction, it has performed at Carnegie Hall and has sung
in
music festivals throughout England and the European continent.
Prof. Back is well known in the South Bay for the
college’s Joy of Music
program, which she originated some 20 years ago as a way older adults
could
learn about a particular performing artist, then attend a related concert
as
part of El Camino’s Center for the Arts. For her work not only with
Joy of
Music but also with many campus-related activities, Prof. Back received
the
prestigious designation of “Distinguished Faculty Member” in 1999.
She has
worked with many of the college’s theatrical productions, the most
recent of
which was Guys and Dolls, for which she was education programs coordinator.
That production drew rave reviews for its July performances
due in no
small part to the talents of vocal director Dr. Joanna Medawar Nachef,
who
conducts El Camino’s Concert Choir, the College Chorale, and the Women’s
Chorus. She also teaches sight singing and voice. Her choirs draw primarily
daytime students, many of whom transfer to four-year universities as
music majors.
Dr Nachef’s degrees are from California State University,
Dominguez Hills,
and the University of Southern California. A native of Beirut, Lebanon,
she
has built her musical reputation in the South Bay through her work
as
artistic director for Los Cancioneros Master Chorale and as a church
musician. She was named as an Outstanding Young Woman of America in
1986 and
was one of 1996’s Who’s Who Among American Teachers. She is California
chair
for multicultural choral music for the American Choral Directors Association
and is active with the Palos Verdes Peninsula Alumni Chapter of the
international music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon. In addition to her work with
El
Camino, she is also on the faculty at CSU Dominguez Hills.
Mary Ann Keating, Director of Public Information at El Camino College
for 23
years, is a member of the Beach Cities Symphony Board of Directors.
Our concert on October 25 begins with the rarely
heard Première Rhapsodie for
Clarinet and Orchestra by Claude Debussy, featuring principal clarinetist
Bradley Cohen. Cohen was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Cal
State
Northridge. He later majored in Computer Science at UCLA and is currently
the
Data Security Manager for IndyMac Bank in Pasadena, where his
responsibilities include keeping the bank’s computer networks safe
from
hackers and in compliance with federal regulations. “In my office I
keep a
picture of myself playing in the Beach Cities Symphony,” Cohen says.
“It
helps keep things in perspective when my job gets stressful. When people
ask
me about the picture, I tell them that playing in an orchestra is really
my
career, and that working with computer security is just my day gig.”
Cohen
has played principal clarinet for the Beach Cities Symphony since 1988
and
soloed in Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto in 1998; his wife, Sara
Behar, has
been our principal violist since 1993. Cohen provided the following
comments
to prepare us for appreciating Debussy’s structurally intricate opus:
“The Première Rhapsodie by Claude Debussy
is one of the defining works
for clarinet. I can think of only a small handful of other works of
equal
significance in the repertoire; those include the Mozart Concerto and
the
Brahms Sonatas. What makes the Debussy challenging is the many
different
changes of color that occur in under ten minutes. These colors require
the
performer to alter the tempo and character, sometimes very subtly and
at
other times very drastically. The listener should take note of the
subtle
tempo change in the opening section. This small change makes a very
dramatic
mood transition from the ethereal opening to a much warmer second theme.
The
many tempos and character changes can be attributed to the fact that
Debussy
wrote the Rhapsodie as an audition piece for the Paris Conservatory
in 1910.
It was part of a final exam for the Clarinet class that also included
Debussy’s [unaccompanied] Petite pièce as a sight reading test.
Luckily for
the clarinet players in that class, they were allowed time to prepare
the Première Rhapsodie.
“The Debussy has been a part of my life from very
early on in my clarinet
playing, which began at age 11. I started learning [the Rhapsodie]
when I was
13 or 14, along with the other staples of the clarinet repertoire.
I first
performed the work, in its original version for clarinet and piano,
in my
senior recital at Cal State Northridge in the spring of 1983 and have
not
performed it since. It is truly one of my favorite works in the repertoire
both to perform and to listen to. Playing the work makes me feel like
I am
bringing to life a beautiful impressionistic painting by evoking all
the very
subtle daubs of musical color.”
We are pleased to announce two generous grants recently
awarded to the Beach
Cities Symphony Association. The Los Angeles County Arts Commission
has given
us a two-year grant supporting our concerts and our organization. The
Arts
Commission plays a leadership role in cultural services for the County
by
fostering “excellence, diversity, vitality and accessibility of the
arts.”
The grant will help to support our concerts in March 2003 and 2004,
featuring
music reflective of the cultural and historic diversity of Los Angeles
County. Additionally, the grant will go toward purchasing software
for
membership development and more effective communication.
We very much appreciate the Arts Commission’s endorsement
of our mission
to bring fine classical music to the community and to provide performance
opportunities to community musicians. We also appreciate the commitment
of
Target, through its Torrance store, once again to sponsor our May 2003
Artists of the Future concert. Target supports cultural activities
in communities nationwide.
Most of all, however, we value the loyalty of our
individual subscribers,
program advertisers, and matching funds corporations for enabling us
to
provide free classical music concerts for the South Bay community for
the
past 53 years. We need your continued help for the 2002-03 season.
If you
have not already done so, please use the enclosed envelope to send
us your
contribution for the 2002-03 season. The date above your name on the
mailing
label will indicate your current level of support and the most recent
season
you renewed your subscription going back to the 2001-02 concert year.
In
order to continue receiving our newsletter and to remain eligible for
prize
drawings, post-concert receptions, and other membership benefits, please
send
in your renewal without delay.
PHOTOS
(These are captions for 2 photos on page 3)
[Please see http://www.geocities.com/beachcitiessymphony/PhotosMay2002.html
for photos]
Pictured above (left to right) are Anli Tong, Chair of the Music Teachers
Association of California Artists of the Future Concerto Competition;
pianists Rie Takahashi and Paul Cartianu; MTAC South Bay Branch
President
Deborah Aitken; flutist Stacey Wallace; and violinist Hannah Kahng,
winners
of the 2002 Concerto Competition. The Beach Cities Symphony’s
final concert
of the 2001-02 season on May 24, featuring these four talented young
soloists, drew a crowd of over 1,000.
At left, Music Director Barry Brisk stands backstage with Paul Cartianu
and
Rie Takahashi following the performance.
OUR REMAINING CONCERTS FOR THE 2002-03 SEASON:
January 17, 2003: A Night at the Opera.
Demetra George, soprano;
Stephen Plummer, tenor.
Arias & duets by Bizet, Puccini, Verdi.
R. Wagner: Arrival of the Guests (Tannhäuser)
R. Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils (Salome)
P. I. Tchaikovsky: Waltz (Eugene Onegin)
G. Verdi: Triumphal March & Ballet (Aïda)
March 14, 2003
M. Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
Ho Zhan Hao & Cheh Kang: The Butterfly Lovers.
Elmer Su, violin soloist
N. Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite from The Golden Cockerel
May 30, 2003
Charles Fernandez: Cartoon Suite (world première)
Artists of the Future soloists: to be announced
Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet
------------------------------------------------------------
WELCOME TO OUR NEW BCSA MEMBERS:
Lola Bender
Marcia Daly
Mr. & Mrs. James McElmell
Don Mehlig Family Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Henry Noguchi
Philip Ross
MATCHING FUNDS CORPORATIONS:
Arco
Best Foods
Honeywell (Allied Signal)
Los Angeles Times
Mattel
TRW
Thank you for supporting our organization!
Beach Cities Symphony Association
Post Office Box 248
Redondo Beach CA 90277-0248
Information line: 310-379-9725 or 310-539-4649
Visit our web page: BeachCitiesSymphony.org
To receive e-mail reminders of upcoming concerts, contact Dr. Peter
Landecker: peter@BeachCitiesSymphony.org.
Text: Toni Empringham
Graphics: Ralph Dame
Editor/Advisor: Margaret McWilliams
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