VOLUME XI, NO. 1, September 2003
BARRY BRISK, MUSIC
DIRECTOR
PRESENTS
RHONDDA DAYTON, flute
soloist
LARRY TUNICK, oboe
soloist
Marsee Auditorium, El
Camino College
Crenshaw Blvd. at
Redondo Beach Blvd.
FREE ADMISSION &
FREE PARKING
concert time: 8:15
p.m.
pre-concert lecture:
7:30 p.m.
Information: (310)
379-9725 or (310) 539-4649
Concerto in C
major for Flute, Oboe, & Orchestra:
Antonio Salieri
(1750-1825)
Symphony No. 4 in
E flat major: “Romantic”: Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Look on the mailing label for your membership
category (Associate, Benefactor, etc.) followed by the years 03-04. If you have not yet paid for the upcoming
season, please send your renewal in the enclosed envelope to avoid missing out
on membership benefits, including this newsletter.
RHONDDA DAYTON is beginning her sixth year as Principal Flute with the Beach Cities
Symphony. She holds the same position with the Moorpark Symphony and the Royal
Oaks Chamber Orchestra and was Principal Flute for ten years with the Hour of
Power Orchestra at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. She has performed in
the National Flute Association’s Professional Flute Choir (1988, 1990, 1994,
1997); at NFA conventions in 1992, 1998, 1999, and in 2003 as a member of
Flauto Badinage Flute Ensemble and the Wind Advisory Woodwind Quintet. She has
been a soloist with the Stanley Wind Ensemble and with the Ventura Civic,
Moorpark, California Lutheran University, Long Beach Community, and Hour of
Power Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Dayton has also performed with Michael Crawford,
Gladys Knight, Ce Ce Wyans, Sheila Walsh, Twila Paris, David Foster, and Amy
Grant. As a member of the National Flute Choir, she can be heard on Over the
Edge, Christmas Flutes, Romancing the Flute, Special Occasions; with the
Professional Christian Wind ensemble on Rejouissance; on Terry Minogue’s Jesus
for a Day; and on Céline Dion’s These Are Special Times.
LARRY TUNICK is Principal Oboe for the Beach Cities Symphony and also plays with the
Topanga and New Valley Symphonies. He has played oboe and English horn with the
Symphony of the Canyons and the SouthEast, Burbank, San Fernando Valley, and
New Valley Symphonies. Additionally, he has been a major participant in the
development of the Brentwood Winds, a woodwind quintet, since its inception in
the 1970s. In March of 1996 he soloed
on English horn with Principal Trumpet John Cather in Aaron Copland’s Quiet
City. Larry received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from UCLA and a Master
of Arts in Music Performance from CSU Northridge. He first became a member of
the Beach Cities Symphony in the 1970s under the direction of Louis Palange and
returned in 1994. Larry and Rhondda carpool together from the Valley; during
the many hours of their commute, Rhondda has come to accept radio broadcasts of
Dodgers games and Country music, while Larry has learned to listen to Cliff
Richard CDs.
ANTONIO SALIERI, whose Concerto for Flute, Oboe, and Orchestra opens our 54th season on
October 24, lives in the minds of millions as the jealous composer who poisoned
Mozart while simultaneously taking down the notes of his rival’s great
unfinished Requiem. The court composer’s role in Mozart’s early death is a
fiction first made famous by Alexander Pushkin’s 1831 verse drama Mozart and
Salieri and then in Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1898 opera with the same title. The title
of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play and 1984 film, Amadeus (beloved of God), refocuses
the conflict through the eyes of the bitterly envious Salieri. Shaffer’s theme
is that worldly success cannot satisfy someone who measures himself against the
transcendent genius in flawed human form which Mozart represents. The Concerto
for Flute, Oboe, and Orchestra, composed in 1774 when the 24-year-old Salieri
first arrived in Vienna, develops what musicologist James Brown calls a
“conversational, virtuosic, and serious . . . operatic dialogue” between the
two solo instruments. Salieri became Director of the Vienna Court Opera in 1788
and during his lifetime wrote more than 40 operas as well as many other vocal
and instrumental works. In 1817 he became the first Director of Instruction at
the Vienna Conservatory of Music. This institution later became the Academy for
Music and Dramatic Arts (now the University of Music) where Music Director
Barry Brisk studied under Hans Swarowsky and received his Diploma in
Conducting.
SEAN BRENNAN
carries on an old-world profession behind a brand-new Starbucks at the
northeast corner of Anza and Sepulveda in Torrance. It’s hard to think of a
less likely setting for violin repair, but once inside Brennan’s, customers forget
the traffic whizzing by outside and are only aware of violins and bows hanging
from the ceiling, instruments undergoing renovation on a table behind a dark
velvet curtain, cellos leaning against the walls. Brennan’s Violin Shop
specializes in sales, repairs, restorations, and bow rehairs. Sean especially
likes helping parents who are often “lost” when choosing an instrument for a
beginning student. He will explain patiently “what makes one violin worth $500
and another worth $5,000.” Typically he will encourage parents to buy the less
expensive instrument. “If the kid sticks with lessons and the family wants an
upgrade, I give 100% credit on that first violin toward a better one.” After
graduating from Torrance High, Sean began learning to repair band instruments
and gradually narrowed his field to the violin family. He then apprenticed
under several master craftsmen and at music stores such as the world-renowned
Weisshaar’s in Los Angeles. “I swept a lot of floors at first,” he laughs. He
also cleaned instruments, meanwhile learning by observing and working under
supervision. Sean opened his store in Torrance seven years ago but still
attends several workshops every year and stresses the importance of keeping
abreast of new techniques and materials in his field. Sean has had more
responses from his ad in the Beach Cities Symphony program booklet than from
any of his other ads combined. But as with many small, specialized businesses,
he points out, “My main source of clients is by word of mouth from satisfied
customers.”
A LETTER FROM BOB PETERSON,
PRESIDENT OF THE BEACH CITIES SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION
On Friday, May 30, 2003, the Beach Cities Symphony
completed its 53rd season of presenting free concerts to South Bay audiences
with well over 1,000 in attendance! As President, second French horn player,
and charter member, I want to thank everyone, especially our audience and
supporters, for making this such an exciting season. During the final work,
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture, I thrilled playing and listening to
that great music and thought, can it get much better than this?
We are
lucky, in this time of cost reductions in schools, to continue to have El
Camino College’s Marsee Auditorium in which to perform and Redondo Union High
School’s band room for rehearsals. However, even though El Camino donates the
hall, by the time we pay stage hands, house manager and ushers, insurance, and
piano tuning, the auditorium costs us over $2,200 per concert. Other expenses
include music rental, a few paid musicians, mailings, soloists, and
miscellaneous items, bringing the cost per concert to nearly $10,000. So here’s a reminder. Check your mailing
label, and if you have yet to renew your subscription for 2003-04, please do it
now by using the enclosed envelope. The 54th season begins on Friday, October
24, and with your support it will be another wonderful musical experience for
us all.
See you
there.
OUR REMAINING CONCERTS FOR THE 2003-04 SEASON:
Grigore
Nica, Elegia for Violin & Orchestra. Rebecca Rutkowski, soloist
Frédéric
Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Opus 21: Anli Lin Tong, soloist
Richard
Wagner: Ring of the Nibelungen, four excerpts
Rhinegold: Entry of the Gods into Valhalla
Valkyrie: Wotan’s Farewell and Magic Fire Music
Siegfried: Forest Murmurs
Twilight of the Gods: Siegfried’s Rhine Journey
George
Gershwin, Cuban Overture
Edward
MacDowell, Piano Concerto No. 2: Akiko Dohi, soloist
William
Grant Still, Afro-American Symphony
Leroy
Southers, Serenade (world première)
Artists of
the Future soloists: to be announced
Ludwig van
Beethoven, Consecration of the House Overture
WELCOME TO OUR NEW BCSA MEMBERS:
Lois Alton
Joe & Leslie Back
Nilan & Barbara Kincaid
Caroline Schwarz
Thank you for supporting our organization!
Check your label to make sure your membership is current for the 2OO3-20O4 season.
Benefits include this newsletter, eligibility for door prizes and the reception
following every concert.
Congratulations to the members who won door prizes
at our concert on May 30. Jan Burren and Dr. Robert Haag won CDs, and Barry
Forman won the floral arrangement. Grand Prize winner of passes for two plus a
parking pass at Disneyland was Les Hanson.
Post Office Box 248
Redondo Beach CA 90277-0248
Information line: 310-379-9725 or 310-539-4649
Visit our web page: http://BeachCitiesSymphony.org.
To receive e-mail reminders of upcoming concerts,
send a blank e-mail to BeachCitiesSymphony-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Text: Toni Empringham
Graphics: Ralph Dame
Editor/Advisor: Margaret McWilliams
The BCSA is an Amazon.com Associate. When you
use our link to purchase CDs, books, etc. from Amazon, not only do you receive
a discount, but also part of the purchase price goes directly to the Symphony
as a referral fee. The link is
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/beachcitiessymph
MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR
Maestro Brisk is in his tenth season with the Beach
Cities Symphony. A frequent guest
conductor for area orchestras, Brisk also plays viola in several symphonies and
teaches violin, viola, piano, and conducting. He has a diploma in conducting
from the Vienna University (formerly Academy) of Music, where he studied with
Hans Swarowsky, teacher of Zubin Mehta and Claudio Abbado among others. Brisk
has conducted the Vienna Symphony, Vienna Academy Ballet Orchestra, Tonkunstler
Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Burbank Chamber Orchestra, West Los Angeles
Symphony, Westside Symphony, Topanga Symphony, American Youth Symphony, and at
the Ojai Music Festival. He has
conducted opera and ballet and is listed in the International Who’s Who in
Music. He has published opera and book reviews and gives our pre-concert
lectures each concert evening.
Brisk is particularly proud of three of his former
conducting students. David Robertson is now Music Director of the Orchestre de
Lyon, France. He has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and
appeared as guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Steven Kerstein is
Music Director of the Burbank Philharmonic. Arlette Cardenes is conductor of
the Culver City Chamber Orchestra, and plays cello with the Beach Cities
Symphony. Maestro Brisk's family consists of his wife, Cathy, an expert on
ancient Greek and Roman coins; their son, Philip, who is working on a Ph.D. in
computer science at UCLA; Philip’s wife, Marilyn (they were married on June
29th in the Virgin Islands); Homer, a Siamese fighting fish named after Homer
Simpson; and two goldfish in separate tanks.
THE BEACH CITIES SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
1949-2004
BARRY BRISK
Music Director and Conductor
FIRST CONCERT - 54th SEASON
Friday October
24, 2003 - 8:15 p.m.
El Camino College - Marsee Auditorium – Torrance, California
Flute Soloist Oboe Soloist
MARTIN WOOD – Chairman of the Board
Allegro
spirituoso
Largo
Allegretto
Rhondda Dayton, Flute
Soloist Larry Tunick, Oboe
Soloist
DRAWING FOR DOOR PRIZES
Symphony No.4
(Romantic) Anton
Bruckner
Allegro
molto moderato
Andante
Scherzo
Finale
Please – No flash
photos during performance
Following tonight’s concert
there will be a reception for solo artists and guests, program sponsors,
orchestra members and guests, and all members and guests of the Beach Cities
Symphony Association. It will be held in the upstairs lobby.