Kenny G Christmas - December 4, 2024

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ABOUT DIGITAL PROGRAMS

The Gallo Center has adopted the use of digital programs meant to be viewed on cell phones or other computer devices. This change has important public health, environmental and economic benefits: reducing close contacts between patrons and ushers, cutting our use of paper, and eliminating substantial printing costs. View the program only before shows begin or during intermissions. Please be considerate of other patrons and artists on stage by not viewing it during performances. Patrons who do not observe this courtesy and create distractions may be asked to leave. Thank you!

WHY YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS

The Gallo Center for the Arts is a non-profit performing arts center with a deep commitment to enriching the people and communities of California’s vast San Joaquin Valley. From the scintillating performances of its wonderful resident companies, to the great variety of world-class entertainment presented by the Center each season, to robust arts education programs for the region’s youth, this is where the magic happens.

From the beginning, the Center’s mission has been clearly defined: to provide an inspirational civic gathering place where regional, national, and international cultural activities illuminate, educate, and entertain. Since revenue from ticket sales and facility rentals only covers a portion of the costs associated with fulfilling this mission, the Center is dependent on the generous annual financial support from donors and program sponsors within our community.

LEARN MORE AT

ABOUT THE CENTER

HOW TO BUY TICKETS

In Person: 1000 I Street, downtown Modesto

Online: 24/7/365 at GalloArts.org

By Phone: (209) 338-2100

TICKET OFFICE HOURS

Monday – Friday: 10 am – 6 pm, Saturday: Noon – 6 pm Closed Sundays

Ticket Office opens two hours prior to all events

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GENERAL INFORMATION

The mission of the Gallo Center for the Arts is to enrich the quality of life in the San Joaquin Valley by providing an inspirational civic gathering place where regional, national and international cultural activities illuminate, educate and entertain. The Gallo Center for the Arts celebrates the diversity of the San Joaquin Valley by offering an array of affordable cultural opportunities designed to appeal, and be accessible, to all.

The Center opened in September, 2007 and consists of the 440-seat Foster Family Theater, the 1,248-seat Mary Stuart Rogers Theater, the Marie Damrell Gallo Grand Lobby and a plaza serving both theaters, and the Modesto Rotary Music Garden.

As a regional non-profit performing arts center, the Gallo Center for the Arts presents internationally recognized touring artists in all disciplines, and also is home to four resident companies: Central West Ballet, Modesto Performing Arts, Modesto Symphony Orchestra and Opera Modesto. The Gallo Center for the Arts is a unique public/private partnership. Construction was funded jointly by the County of Stanislaus, which owns the facility, and contributions from more than 4,000 individuals and businesses given to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization which today operates the Center.

PATRON EVENT INFORMATION

• Emergency exits are indicated by green exit signs located above each exit. For your safety, please check for the location of the exit nearest to your seat.

• The Gallo Center for the Arts is accessible to disabled patrons. Wheelchair seating is available in both theaters. Portable wireless listening devices are available at the Coat Check room at no charge. Please inform the Ticket Office of any special needs when ordering tickets.

• Food and beverages are not allowed in the theaters. (with the exception of bottled water and beverages served in theater cups.)

• Smoking is prohibited inside the building and within 20 feet of all entrances.

• Latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the Gallo Center for the Arts’ house managers.

• The use of recording equipment and the taking of photographs in Gallo Center for the Arts theaters is strictly forbidden. The Gallo Center for the Arts reserves the right to confiscate any such equipment and/or require offending customers to exit the premises.

• As a courtesy to artists and to your fellow patrons,

please turn off or silence any mobile device on your person. No texting, please!

• Restrooms are located on all three levels of the Center.

• Lost items will be held in the Coat Check room on the main level until the end of the performance. Thereafter, please contact Ticket Office at (209) 338-2100.

• All patrons MUST have a ticket to enter a performance regardless of age.

• Out of courtesy to other patrons, the Gallo Center for the Arts requests that no infants or toddlers attend any performance.

Groups qualify for discounts up to 15% on ticket prices to the many exciting performances offered by the Gallo Center for the Arts and its resident companies.

Secure your group reservation today for just 10% down of your total price!

EMPLOYEE PARTIES/REWARDS CHURCH OUTINGS

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HOLIDAY, ANNIVERSARY & BIRTHDAY PARTIES

…AND MORE!

ONE CALL DOES IT ALL!

Our group sales manager, Jesica Sanchez, is at your service. Call her at (209) 338-5064, or send an email to jsanchez@galloarts.org.

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Kenny G has a way with melody. That’s not necessarily a revelation, but more like a huge understatement, and it really comes into focus at this point in Kenny’s amazing career. This is a musician who has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide, owns the best-selling instrumental record of all time with 1992’s 12-timesplatinum Breathless, has the number one Christmas record of all time with 1994’s 8-times platinum Miracles, and whose song “Going Home” has, improbably, become the official end-ofwork-day anthem in China. At the heart of those achievements is Kenny’s ability to convey deep emotional resonance with his saxophone, a skill never more apparent than on Innocence, his 20th studio album and fifth for Concord Records.

The 12-track project’s theme is lullabies, which have existed for thousands of years not only as a means of soothing babies to sleep but also to impart cultural and familial traditions. “Lullabies are very special to me,” says Kenny, who has been mulling an album with this musical focus for several years and even mentioned the idea in passing in Penny Lane’s acclaimed 2021 HBO documentary on him, Listening to Kenny G. “They hold a special place in my heart. It’s the melodies. They are beautiful and timeless and whenever I hear them, wonderful memories start rushing back to me.”

Listeners will likely experience the same sensation while enjoying Kenny’s versions of “Rock-a-Bye Baby,” Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow,” Richard Rodgers’ “Edelweiss,” and Frederic Chopin’s “Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2” and “Berceuse,” which he purposefully rendered without any interpretive twists and turns. “The problem that often happens when artists record songs with traditional melodies is that they put too many twists on things and they end up making them worse,” he says. “With lullabies, you don’t necessarily need to put much of a twist on them. You just do your thing and at the same time stay true to the melody. My thing is being able to look at a melody and understand how to play it. I’m very lucky that I have that sensibility when it comes to melody. I think that’s also why my Christmas records do so well, and why people tell me they listen to them all year long.”

For example, Kenny says “Edelweiss” may not be considered by some to be a lullaby, but that “it’s in the

right tempo for one and has such a great melody. I included it because it’s a song I’ve always enjoyed listening to. And to me it sounds like a lullaby.” As for “Over the Rainbow,” Kenny previously recorded it for his 1999 album Classics in the Key of G, but welcomed the opportunity to give it another shot on Innocence. “I thought I did a pretty good job on the first try, but there was a part missing and it’s something that’s been hanging over my head for a long time,” he says. “I was always wanting to re-record that song and finally got a chance to do it, which was really satisfying.”

However, Innocence is hardly limited to the past. Indeed, Kenny co-wrote seven original songs for the album, propelled by the notion that “a lot of my songs already sound like lullabies even though they’re not labeled as such. I think my natural writing style works out great for creating new original lullabies” he says, although he’s quick to admit that it’s nearly impossible to define what exactly makes a piece of music a lullaby in the first place.“I know how to write a melody and I can put myself in the right frame of mind to create what I want to create, but even though they’re simple, lullabies are hard to describe in words,” he says. “I practice every morning for three hours, and in those three hours while I was thinking about this record, I started to fool around with melodies. One would hit me and I’d say to myself as I put it on my phone, okay, that’s gonna be a great lullaby.”

Throughout, Kenny’s signature soprano sax uplifts, soothes, and conjures aural nostalgia of the highest order, from the first unaccompanied notes of album opener “Acapella Lullaby” to closer “Studio City Lullaby,” which is a wonderful collaboration with Kenny and close friend, Randy Waldman, and was created in Studio City California. With a meditative piano countermelody underneath, “A Mother’s Lullaby” finds Kenny at his most serene, while “Lullaby Tres” is imbued with a cinematic, bittersweet vibe accented by harp glissandos and an unexpected key modulation.

Kenny also recorded two tenor sax tracks “Tender Lullaby” and “Major Lullaby,” “It’s nice to have the deep rich tones of the tenor sax on this record too. I think these tracks add depth and a slightly darker ‘vibe’ to the record. Even a bit melancholy.”

Helping Kenny flesh out the sound of Innocence were arrangers/composers and longtime collaborators Randy Waldman and William Ross, with several songs eventually being put to tape at the latter’s home studio and others

featuring songwriting contributions from both men. Bill Ross’s gorgeous orchestral arrangements were recorded at London’s famed AIR Studios, with Kenny there in person to oversee the recording.

“There was a lot of collaboration on this album, and Randy and Bill were really important,” Kenny says. “Randy is a virtuoso, in addition to being a really good friend. He’s got lots of ideas and he’s always willing to try things. And Bill is the ultimate orchestrator/arranger/composer and it was a true pleasure to work so closely with him on this project. This project would not exist if not for Bill Ross.” Kenny continues, “On many of my past records, we recorded the orchestra in London at Air Studios and we did it via Zoom, but this time I was there in person, so it was quite a thrill to stand in the room and finally shake hands with people I’ve seen on the screens for years. To watch them perform live made me feel very proud to be one of the musicians playing on this album.”

For the last several years, Kenny has taken to the internet with gusto, as new generations of listeners have discovered his music and contemporary hitmakers such as The Weeknd and Jon Batiste have enlisted him for guest appearances on their albums. His posts have become memes and gone viral, as he continues to have fun with the whole idea of being his iconic self. And while the material from Innocence may not make much sense as part of Kenny’s live show (“unless I’m playing at a nursery school or a private gig at somebody’s house” he jokes), it’s most definitely not just an album for kids. (Although in Kenny’s words. “I’ve already given you the albums that have made the babies, now I give you the album that puts them to sleep!”)

“You can put it on when you want to get into a peaceful frame of mind,” he offers. “Some people will hear the new tracks without thinking about them as lullabies and say they just sound like my original music, and that’s great too. Also, young parents can enjoy this album. It might help them finally get some sleep.”

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CENTER CIRCLES

As

As of November 15,

The

Katy & Ken Menges

Yogurt Mill

Downtown Modesto Partnership

CORPORATE PATRONS

As of November 15, 2024

The Mayol Family & Team PSC

Daniel Del Real – Del Real Group

The Graspointner Family

The Pirrone Family

Stanislaus Food Products Gianelli | Friedman | Jeffries

Sodhi Law Group

Winton-Ireland, Strom & Green Insurance Agency

Wille Electric Supply Company, Inc.

Mistlin Honda

Arts Education

As of November 15, 2024

$25,000+ Alfred Matthews

California Arts Council

Education Foundation of Stanislaus County

U.S. Bank

$10,000+ Make Dreams Real Foundation

Modesto Subaru

Porges Family Foundation Fund

Silva Injury Law, Inc.

$5,000+

Kaiser Permanente

Ella Webb & Shelley Dameron

$2,500+

Beard Land & Investment Co.

Enterprise Mobility Foundation

Jeff Gaudio & Karen Freeborn

Jason, Beki, & Stephen Rush

$1,000+

Carl A and Margaret A Johnson

Family Foundation

Modesto Rotary Club Foundation

Modesto Sunrise Rotary

The Save Mart Companies CARES Foundation

$500+

USS Balthasar

Cortney Hurst

Anonymous (1)

$150+

Debra Brady & Stephen Veglia

Grace Lutheran Church

Jerry & Diane Hougland

Alice Renfroe

John & Mary Ann Sanders

FOUNDATION GIVING

Bob and Marie Gallo Foundation

California Arts Council

Costa Family Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

Stanislaus Community Foundation

The Ernest Gallo Foundation

The Julio R. Gallo Foundation

Porges Family Foundation Fund

Raymus Foundation

U.S. Bank Foundation

Creative West

PERPETUAL MEMORIAL GIFTS HAVE BEEN MADE FOR Thomas K. Beard

Randall Stanley Behr

Carl Boyett

Robert J. Cardoza

Gallo Center for the a r t s

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Christina Gomez, ChairoftheBoard

Marie D. Gallo, PresidentEmerita† June Rogers, Director Emerita

Alex Mari, M.D., ImmediatePastChair

Ginger Johnson, ChairElect

Mel Bradley Fallon Ferris

Sarah Grover

Chad Hilligus

Michael Krausnick

Jay Krishnaswamy

Michelle Lewis

Katy Menges

Todd Aaronson

Angelica Anguiano

Victor Barraza

John C. Bellizzi

Jennifer Coehlo

Kathryn Davis

Daniel Del Real

Paul Michael Eger

Robert Fantazia

Stacey Filippi

Robert Fores Julian Gallo

Irene Angelo†

Lilly Banisadre

Carl Boyett†

Joan Cardoza

Sheila Carroll

Suzanne Casazza

Paul Draper

Ron Emerzian

Ann Endsley

Kenni Friedman

Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Ph.D.

Duncan Reno

Tina Rocha

Michael Joe Silva

Stephanie Gallo Tyler

Ann M. Veneman

Geoff Wong

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Ryan Roth Gallo

Virginia Madueno

Roberto Martinez

Ivey Mayol

Yolanda Meraz

Sharilyn Nelson

Linda Hischier Ronald Hoffmann

Jose Ibarra

Jaime Jimenez

Brian Kline

Kevin Luttenegger

Ogle, Ph.D.

Johann Ramirez

Rose Marie Reavill Jeffrey Reed

FOUNDING TRUSTEES

Louis Friedman

Dianne Gagos

Barry Highiet† Randy Jalli

Roy Levin, M.D.

Alexandra Loew

Bill Mattos

Tony Mistlin† Kate Nyegaard Ruthann Olsen

Jeanne Perry

John C. Pfeffer, M.D.

Norm Porges

Chris Reed James Reed

Ellen Ritchey Delsie Schrimp

Catherine Rhee

Christine Roberts

Rosalee Rush

John Schneider

Kate Trompetter

Philip Trompetter, Ph.D.

Aaron Valencia

Colleen F. Van Egmond

Doug Vilas

Sue Zwahlen

Fred A. Silva

Ray Simon

Delmar R. Tonge, M.D.†

Tom Van Groningen, Ph.D.

Carol Whiteside†

Jeremiah Williams

Alice Yip

†In Memoriam

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