Peninsula Symphony: Klein Competition Winners Program Book May 2023

KLEIN COMPETITION WINNERS

MAY 12 & 13, 2023

San Mateo Performing Arts Center Heritage Theatre, Campbell

Mitchell Sardou Klein MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

Gabrielle Després, violin

James Baik, cello

WELCOME FROM PSO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

TONIGHT’S PROGRAM

PROGRAM NOTES

MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

RESIDENT CONDUCTOR

FEATURED ARTISTS

PENINSULA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - MAY 2023

ADOPT-A-MUSICIAN

SUPPORTERS

BOARD, STAFF & VOLUNTEERS

PSO program copyright ©2023 Peninsula Symphony Orchestra

PENINSULA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

146 Main Street, Suite 102 Los Altos, CA 94022 (650) 941-5291 peninsulasymphony.org

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the season finale performance of Peninsula Symphony’s 74th Season! It’s been an exciting year with terrific guest artists from across the nation, but we are especially glad to have YOU with us as we’ve resumed in person concerts for a second full season. The end of a season is always cause for a bit of reflection, and thankfully, I’m happy to report that the ‘back in the concert hall’ goose bumps accompanied by concert-night butterflies are still present for me and if I can speak for all of us at PSO, I believe the same is true for everyone who makes a concert happen – whether that be our musicians, board, staff, or volunteers. I hope the thrill of returning to a live symphonic experience is still exciting for you, too, as a member of our cherished audience.

The best part? That feeling doesn’t have to end tonight! We hope you will join us for our monumental 75th Season; sign-ups are already under way. The capstone performers in October 2023 and May 2024 will both be pianists – Lara Downes and Jon Kimura Parker. Ms. Downes presents a program bringing to light hallmarks of under-represented composer Florence Price and also Scott Joplin; Mr. Parker returns to the PSO stage with Grieg in a season finale presentation including the very first piece Peninsula Symphony ever performed, Sibelius’ Finlandia. Mid-season, family members of all ages will enjoy film music in January and music of the Americas along with the latest Klein competition winner next March. Keeping with Peninsula Symphony’s motto “Neighborhood Musicians. Extraordinary Music.”, our hearts and halls will be full of exuberant, memorable, and thrilling experiences next year, and we sincerely hope you will join in on the celebration with us.

For more information on this exciting lineup and to order season tickets, please visit https://peninsulasymphony.org or sign up with a member of staff tonight.

Lastly, I’d like to extend gratitude to all of those who support us in every way – whether you buy tickets, donate your time or resources to further our mission, or bring friends and family to an upcoming event. Your involvement is critical to sustaining who we are and what we do right here on the Peninsula, so that we may look forward to another 75 years of goose bumps.

Warmly,

Chelsea Chambers

PSO Executive Director

Welcome from PSO Executive Director

Klein Competition Winners

May 12, 2023 / San Mateo Performing Arts Center

May 13, 2023 / Heritage Theatre, Campbell

Mitchell Sardou Klein, Music Director & Conductor

Nathaniel Berman, Resident Conductor

Gabrielle Després, Violin

James Baik, Cello

Ethel Smyth, The Wreckers Overture

Nathaniel Berman, conducting

Johannes Brahms, Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Vivace non troppo

Gabrielle Després, Violin

James Baik, Cello

- Intermission -

Modest Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

Promenade

The Gnome

Promenade

The Old Castle

Promenade

Tuileries

Bydlo

Promenade

Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks

Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle

Limoges: The Market Place

Catacombs

With the Dead in a Dead Language

The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga)

The Great Gate of Kyiv

THESE CONCERTS ARE GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY Mary Gundelach in memory of Charles M. Gundelach

PROGRAM NOTES

PSO Program Notes for May 12-13, 2023

By Larry Laskowski

Smyth, The Wreckers Overture (1902)

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) was an astonishing British trailblazer. As a composer she made her way into the highest circles despite resistance from the musical establishment, which tried to minimize her talents and keep her on the sidelines. Some critics complained that her music was “too masculine for a lady composer.” She was an active suffragette, was deeply involved in protests on behalf of women (for which she spent some time in prison), and was instrumental in helping British women eventually win the vote in 1928. Her The March of the Women (1911) became the anthem of the suffragette movement. She was an accomplished horseback rider, tennis player, and golfer. She never married and was honest about her romantic relationships with women. In all these dimensions she was several steps ahead of her time, and she persevered with talent, courage and determination.

Smyth’s considerable output as a composer spans many genres, but perhaps her operas are most notable. One of her operas (Der Wald) was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC in 1903, the first opera by a female composer to be staged there. (The next opera by a female composer at the Met was produced more than a century later in 2016.) The overture to The Wreckers is perhaps the Smyth work most often performed. She shows her melodic invention, her skill at orchestration, and her keen sense of drama. The eccentric story of The Wreckers profiles a band of Cornish outlaws who cause shipwrecks in order to loot the cargoes. This overture cannily combines the energy, camaraderie, and sardonic tone of the story and characters. Keep in mind that at the time opera was the most prominent public combination of serious music and drama in a single work. The opera overture provided an opportunity to preview that drama in a purely instrumental work. Smyth pulls out all the stops in this overture. It’s all packed into nine minutes of intense music that still thrills us today.

Brahms, Double Concerto in A Minor Op 102 (1887)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was one of the giants of German Romantic music. Unlike other successors to Beethoven (Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner), Brahms stayed closer to traditional classical forms while infusing them with Romantic sensibilities. Though a gifted pianist and conductor, he was best known as a composer, and he achieved great renown as such in his lifetime.

PROGRAM NOTES

Brahms wrote two piano concertos and a violin concerto, all of which are part of today’s standard repertoire. The Double Concerto (for violin and cello) is his last concerto and also his last work involving full orchestra. While a standard concerto contrasts and blends a single soloist with the orchestra, here the two soloists also interact with each other. At times the soloists present a united front but often there is a lively conversation between the two. The interaction is sometimes loving, sometimes playful, sometimes argumentative and competitive, and always discreetly supported by the orchestra. Brahms offers us an intimacy akin to chamber music, but in a more outward facing public setting with soloists and orchestra.

The concerto was composed as a peace offering to the violinist Joachim, who had been a close friend of Brahms, but the two had been estranged because of a personal dispute. While the concerto is not officially dedicated to Joachim, Joachim did play the premiere, and Brahms presented him with the autographed manuscript.

The concerto is in three movements. The opening Allegro is dramatic and assertive. The middle movement, Andante, is warm and tender, and the final Vivace non troppo is playful and celebratory.

The Double Concerto doesn’t focus so much on the technical acrobatics often found in the concertos of the period. Rather it is driven by the intensity of the thematic material and the superb musicianship of the two soloists.

Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) played an important role in the development of authentic Russian music in the second half of the 19th century. Until that time Russian artists primarily imported ideas and styles of music, art, and literature from Western Europe. All that changed with a rise in Russian nationalism, political and economic reform, and newfound military prowess. Russian artists discovered cultural pride and explored distinctly Russian fresh artistic paths.

In music, the ‘Russian Five’ (Balakirev, Cui, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Mussorgsky) led the way. Each made long lasting contributions to Russian music that embraced Russian folklore, history, folk music, liturgical music and other cultural traditions.

Mussorgsky was born into a wealthy landowner family and showed considerable talent at the piano when quite young. However, he never received the comprehensive musical training that would have been offered, say, at the Paris Conservatory or the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Rather he relied on his strong instincts and innate abilities. Thus his music is original, shows little regard for rules and Western European tradition, and speaks directly to the listener. Its lack of Western European ‘sophistication’ is among its principal strengths. While Mussorgsky never traveled outside Russia during his lifetime, he was very well connected with Russian artistic figures. In 1870 Mussorgsky met Victor Hartmann, a prominent Russian architect and artist. The two quickly became close friends. Unfortunately,

PROGRAM NOTES

Hartmann died of a heart attack in 1873 (age 39), thus abruptly ending a promising career. A Hartmann Memorial Exhibition of over 400 of his paintings, drawings, sketches and designs took place in St. Petersburg in 1874. Mussorgsky attended the exhibition and was inspired by it to compose his Pictures at an Exhibition, a virtuoso piece for solo piano. The work was not published during Mussorgsky’s lifetime and as far as we know there were no public performances before Mussorgsky’s death in 1881.

The piece simulates a thoughtful and stirring walk through the exhibition. Mussorgsky gives us ten movements that represent the varied emotions of the Russian people. Ten Hartmann works are viewed through Mussorgsky’s musical lens and there is also a recurring promenade theme (walking between pictures) that provides transitions between the movements. The promenade theme is transformed each time to depict the viewer’s emotional reaction to the just viewed Hartmann work, and to provide a transition to the next. The ten movements are:

I. Gnome

Hartmann’s work depicts a peculiar Christmas tree ornament in the shape of a gnome. Mussorgsky’s depiction is grotesque, but as Emilia Fried wrote, “The gnome is related to other characters in Mussorgsky’s works where behind an ugly outward appearance one senses a living and suffering soul.”

II. The Old Castle

Here Mussorgsky’s depiction of an old Italian castle combines a pedal tone in the bass (that persists through the entire movement) and a modal haunting love-song melody above.

III. Tuileries (Dispute of Children after Play)

We hear the excited voices of French children as they play and quarrel in a Paris park.

IV. Bydlo

In a Jewish ghetto in Poland, oxen struggle to do their hard work pulling a heavy load. The melody is probably based on a folk song, played in this Ravel orchestration by the tuba.

V. Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks

Hartmann’s watercolor sketch is part of a stage and costume design. Mussorgsky gives us the fanciful chicks, still partly in their shells, and musically imitates their clucking and the quick fluttering of feathers.

VI. “Samuel” Goldenberg and “Schmuyle”

Hartmann had given Mussorgsky two pencil drawings of Jewish men. Mussorgsky lent them to the exhibition, and he combines the two into one musical movement. The first is “Samuel Goldenberg, the rich Jew, who speaks in assertive authoritative tones. The second “Schmuÿle” (Yiddish for Samuel) is the poor Jew whose depiction recalls the high chanting voice of the synagogue. Both are stereotypes that were commonplace in Russia at the time, when anti-Semitism was about to turn even more ugly and violent. The serious and deadly pogroms were to begin only a few years later after the assassination of Emperor Alexander II in 1881.

VII. Limoges. The Marketplace (The Big News)

Mussorgsky depicts the gossiping, chattering and quarreling of women as they shop at the market in Limoges. There is much commotion and some confusion (most of it good natured) as the women go about their business.

VIII. Catacombs (A Roman Burial Chamber)

Hartmann’s watercolor depicts three men (one of them is Hartmann) in the Paris catacombs. The painting also shows stacked skulls in the murky light. Mussorgsky’s music is slow, reverential, haunting, frightening, and full of harmonic and dynamic surprises.

IX. The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga)

Hartmann’s sketch is of an elaborate clock housed in a decorative house that stands on chicken legs. Baba Yaga was a traditional Russian witch who was both fascinating and dangerous. Mussorgsky’s driving rhythms suggest the clock theme, and the threatening and intriguing aspects are Baba Yaga are on full display.

X. The Bogatyr Gate (In the Ancient Capital, Kiev)

The Great Gate of Kiev (now known as Kyiv) was built in the 11th century and was one of three gateways into the walled city. For centuries it was an important symbol of the city, but after its destruction in the Middle Ages only ruins remained. In the 1870’s there was Russian interest in rebuilding the gate, and Hartmann produced a sketch of a possible new design. It was this sketch that inspired Mussorgsky’s triumphant final movement which suggests both the grandeur and religious significance of the gate. A Russian chorale is quoted, and the promenade theme makes a joyous appearance near the end.

The gate was not rebuilt in the 19th century. Rather, in 1982 a new gate was constructed in celebration of the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv, though most historians agree that this new gate is completely different from the original. Some have suggested that it should be dismantled so that the ruins of the original gate can be recovered.

Ravel Orchestration

Pictures was not popular as a solo piano work. It was rarely performed, but in 1922 everything changed. The French composer Maurice Ravel was commissioned to write a transcription for full orchestra. Ravel brings all his consummate skill as an orchestrator to this famous and wildly popular transcription. Ravel is quite faithful to Mussorgsky’s original version, but he brings color and life in ways that just aren’t practical for a solo pianist. There’s even an innovative solo for saxophone! The Ravel orchestration is so popular that we tend to think of it as the original version, and the solo piano version as the transcription. And after the Ravel version became well known, pianists took up the solo piano version more often.

The Ravel version is a thrilling showpiece for the orchestra, a worthy combination of Mussorgsky’s original distinctive vision and Ravel’s vivid orchestral imagination.

MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

Mitchell Sardou Klein Music Director & Conductor

Music Director and Conductor Mitchell Sardou Klein brings extensive conducting experience in the US, Europe, Australia and Japan to his leadership of the Peninsula Symphony. During his 36 years on the Symphony’s podium, he has guest conducted the Seattle Symphony, New Polish Philharmonic, Suddetic Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Eastern Philharmonic and many other orchestras in the US and Europe. In California he has led Symphony San Jose (formerly Symphony Silicon Valley), the San Jose Symphony, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Inland Empire/Riverside Philharmonic, Ballet San Jose, the California Riverside Ballet and the Livermore-Amador Philharmonic and others. He co-founded and is Music Director of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, which he has taken on concert tours of England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Holland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Latvia, and Estonia.

Maestro Klein directed over a hundred concerts as Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Philharmonic (where he was also Principal Pops Conductor and Principal Conductor of Starlight Theater, the Philharmonic’s summer home), and also served as Music Director of the Santa Cruz Symphony. He also has extensive experience in conducting ballet orchestras, including the Kansas City, Lone Star, Oakland, and Westport Ballets, as well as the Theater Ballet of San Francisco and les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Before turning to the podium, he performed as a cellist for many years. Known to most everyone as Mitch, he enjoys travel, photography, jazz and visual arts in his spare time.

Since 1984, he has been Director of the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Held in San Francisco each June, the Competition has become one of the most prominent in the world, featuring prizes totaling over $35,000, attracting applicants from more than twenty nations annually, and launching numerous major international concert careers.

Critics have consistently praised his work. The San José Mercury described his performance with Symphony Silicon Valley in 2012 as a “gorgeous performance; big, enveloping and wonderfully luxuriant.” The San Mateo County Times described him in 2007 as “Super Conductor: Mitchell Sardou Klein, music director of the Peninsula Symphony, led his musicians through another triumphant concert. The Peninsula Symphony just keeps getting better and better. Great works and great performances by all.” The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza proclaimed, “The American conductor quickly established a fine rapport with his orchestra. Klein is a musician who has the musical score in his head, rather than his

MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

head in the score, which he demonstrated ably. The creative conception and artistic shape which he brings to his work comes from deep inside him.”

Maestro Klein is a winner of many prestigious awards, including the 2008 Diamond Award for Best Individual Artist, the Silver Lei Award from the 2009 Honolulu Film Festival (for the World Premiere of Giancarlo Aquilanti’s La Poverta), the 2000 ASCAP Award for Programming of American Music on Foreign Tour, the 2001 Jullie Billiart Award from the College of Notre Dame for Outstanding Community Service, a 1996 award for the year’s best television performance program in the Western States (for the one-hour PBS program about him and the Peninsula Symphony) as well as the 1993 Bravo Award for his contribution to the Bay Area’s cultural life.

Mr. Klein was born in New York City, into a musical family that included members of the Claremont and Budapest String Quartets. He began cello studies at age four with his father, Irving Klein, founder of the Claremont Quartet. His mother, Elaine Hartong Klein, danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

Cited for his “keen judgment, tight orchestral discipline, feeling for tempo, and unerring control,” Maestro Klein has conducted many significant world, American, and West Coast premieres, including works by Bohuslav Martinu, Meyer Kupferman, Joan Tower, Hans Kox, George Barati, Benjamin Lees, Giancarlo Aquilanti, Melissa Hui, Rodion Shchedrin, Brian Holmes, Ron Miller, Lee Actor, Michael Thurber, Jonathan Russell, Alvin Brehm, and Margaret Garwood. He has appeared frequently on national and international broadcasts, including National Public Radio, the Voice of America, the WFMT Fine Arts Network, PBS Television, and KQED television. He lives in Oakland, California with his wife, violist Patricia Whaley. Their daughter, Elizabeth, lives and works in Washington D.C.

RESIDENT CONDUCTOR

Nathaniel Berman Resident Conductor

Nathaniel Berman maintains an active presence as a performer and music educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. A faculty member at UC Santa Cruz since 2007, he is conductor of the UCSC Concert Choir and the UCSC Wind Ensemble and has appeared as guest conductor of the UCSC Orchestra and the University Opera Theater. Nathaniel has held the position of Music Director of the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony since 2011 and has appeared as guest conductor of the Santa Cruz County Symphony in annual collaborative concerts with the Youth Symphony.

A strong advocate for new music, Nathaniel is Artistic Director of the San Franciscobased new music ensemble Ninth Planet (formerly Wild Rumpus), with whom he has led premieres of commissioned works by dozens of composers, and he appears as conductor of new music on Innova, Other Minds, and Pinna recordings. Nathaniel has appeared as guest conductor with Empyrean Ensemble at UC Davis in June of 2019, as well as leading the world premiere of The Pressure by Brian Baumbusch, at San Francisco’s Other Minds Festival at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater. In March of 2023, he conducted the premiere performance of Prospero’s Island, a new opera by Alan Shearer, at Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

Nathaniel has been a member of the professional new-music chorus Volti, where he also served as Assistant Conductor, and has sung with early music ensembles Pacific Collegium and Euouae. Originally a trumpet player, he now keeps up his brass chops playing euphonium in the Balkan brass band Inspector Gadje.

Nathaniel received his Master’s degree in conducting from UC Santa Cruz, where he studied with Nicole Paiement. He grew up playing duets with his dad, a jazz pianist and singer.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Gabrielle Després, violin

Canadian-born violinist Gabrielle Després is the winner of numerous competitions, most recently first prize in 2022 Juilliard Concerto Competition, second prize in the 2022 Washington International String Competition, first prize in the 2020 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and second prize in the 2021 Shean Strings Competition. She was included in CBC’s list of 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30 for 2020 and in 2022, she was selected as

one of the recipients of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation award.

From a young age, she has competed nationally, winning top prizes in the Canadian Music Competition in both violin and piano. In 2016, she placed second on Radio-Canada’s nationwide television show, “Virtuose”. As a soloist, she has performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton. In 2021, she served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, performing Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano. Most recently, Gabrielle performed the Korngold Violin Concerto in her debut as soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, she has recently performed with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and in the Music in the Vineyards festival. Passionate about community engagement, Gabrielle has spent the past year performing as a Gluck Community Engagement Fellow, working to create interactive programs that merge music and theatre to share across various hospitals and nursing homes throughout New York City.

Gabrielle received a Bachelor of Music at the Juilliard School where she studied with Masao Kawasaki and Joseph Lin. She also studied the baroque violin under the direction of Robert Mealy in 2021. She will return to Juilliard this fall as a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship as she begins her pursuit of a Master of Music, studying with Catherine Cho and Donald Weilerstein. She is also very grateful to her former teachers, Robert Uchida and James Keene for their guidance during her earlier years of study. Gabrielle has spent her summers studying at the Orford Summer Music Academy, Morningside Music Bridge, the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix International Music Academy, the Aspen Music Festival, and Kneisel Hall.

Gabrielle currently plays on a 1790 Giuseppe and Antonio Gagliano of Naples violin, generously on loan from the Brobst Violin Shop. She gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Anne Burrows Music Foundation and the Edmonton Community Foundation in supporting her education.

FEATURED ARTIST

James Baik, cello

Cellist James Baik has been described as “an undeniable authority,” and possesses “a real warmth emerging in lyricism… and displays a mixture of sonic mastery and interiority,” by Belgian newspaper Le Soir, after his astounding performance at the 2021 Queen Elisabeth competition. Recently, James was a finalist at the 2019 Stulberg International String Competition and would go on to receive the first prize at the prestigious Irving M. Klein International Competition. He made his debut solo appearance in 2015 with the Houston Civic Symphony Orchestra and the Clear Lake Symphony in Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1. In 2018, James won the DePaul Concerto Competition, reached the finals at the Johansen International Competition in Washington D.C and Baik rounded the year by being named a YoungArts finalist, participated at YoungArts Week in Miami and awarded the grand prize at the Walgreens National Competition, resulting in a performance of the Schumann Cello Concerto with conductor Dr. Allen Dennis at Northwestern University. Highlights from recent and upcoming performances include the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra, under the baton of Sir Andrew Davies at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C Major with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie with conductor Vahan Mardirossian, a performance of Brahms’ Double Concerto alongside violinist Gabrielle Després and the Peninsula Symphony under the baton of Mitchell Sardou Klein, and chamber music performances at the Ravinia Festival, the Music in the Vineyards Festival in Napa Valley and Nevada Chamber Music Festival, where he is an invited guest artist. In 2021, James, alongside his colleagues’ violinist Ray Ushikubo and pianist HyeJin Kim, performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony under the baton of David Lockington, where he also performed a new work for two celli with the conductor as composer and cellist.

An active chamber musician, James has worked with many notable musicians such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, David Finckel, Wu Han, Emanuel Ax, Arnaud Sussmann, Dmitri Murrath, Miriam Fried, Gary Hoffman, Tessa Lark, Gilbert Kalish, Bob McDonald, David McCarroll, members of the Tokyo String Quartet, the American String Quartet, the Pacifica String Quartet, and the Escher String Quartet. James has attended the Meadowmount School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival, where he participated in the Finckel Wu Han Chamber Music Program, and was invited as a guest artist for the Music of the Vineyards Festival. Recently, James was a fellow at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, where he gave a widely praised performance of Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata. Raised in Houston, Texas, James’ early education included tutelage from Houston Symphony Associate Principal Christopher French and with esteemed pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen in Chicago. James is currently a Bachelor of Music candidate at the Colburn Conservatory of Music where he studies with Clive Greensmith.

ORCHESTRA MAY 2023

Music Director & Conductor

Mitchell Sardou Klein

Resident Conductor

Nathaniel Berman

Violin I

Debra Fong, Concertmaster

Kate Wahl, Asst. Concertmaster

Kimberly Bonnett

Peter Cheng

Daniel Cher

Genevieve Coyle

Tara Iyer

Jeffrey Lin

Girish Nanjundiah

Matt Springer

Judy Streger

Tracy Wang

Violin II

Deborah Passanisi, Principal

Brad Gibson, Assistant Principal

Vineet Mehta

Kristin Oro

Jshon Thomas

David Williams

Hanna Yoshimoto

Jane Zhang

Viola

Andrew Lan, Acting Principal

Katherine Bukstein

Elizabeth Ingber

Jerry Saliman

Charlie Tian

Jolynda Tresner

Cello

Kirsten Shallenberg, Principal

Abraham Aragundi

Sally Baack

Garth Cummings

Paul Federighi

Gail Hammler

Tetsu Ishihara

Janet Sloan

Bass

Suesan Taylor, Principal

Bob Crum

Rahul Iyer

Bruce Moyer

Grant Parker

Michael Tong

Jeff Wachtel

Flute

Kay Saito Shafi, Principal

Patricia Harrell

Kristin Kunzelman

Oboe/English Horn

Audrey Gore, Principal

Dane Carlson

Peter Stahl

Clarinet

Geoffrey Burr, Acting Principal

Ron Miller

Linda Wilson

Bass Clarinet

Ron Miller

Saxophone

Alex Lill

Bassoon

Juliet Hamak, Principal

Neil Fairbairn

Contrabassoon

Jonathan Westerling

Horn

Brian W. Holmes, Co-Principal

Randy Nickel, Co-Principal

David Dufour

Anna Newman

Trumpet

Mike Marmarou, Principal

Nicholas Duncan

Robert Fitt

Rick Leder

Trombone

David Allmon, Co-Principal

Rami Hindiyeh, Co-Principal

Jason Hebert

Tuba

Johnathan Hsu, Principal

Timpani

Michael Jay Bresler, Principal

Percussion

Emily Hendricks, Principal

Paul Burdick

Benedict Lim

Michael MacAvoy

Harp

Kristin Lloyd

Music Librarian

Joel Greene

THE ELFENWORKS FOUNDATION ADOPT-A-MUSICIAN PROGRAM

LIFETIME ADOPTED MUSICIANS

Mitchell Sardou Klein Conductor

Deborah Passanisi Violin II

Dr. Lauren Speeth Violin II

Paula Uccelli

Frank & Annette Rahn

Elfenworks Foundation

MUSICIAN INSTRUMENT ADOPTED BY

Nathaniel Berman

Debra Fong

Resident Lily Tian & Victor Ge

Conductor

Concertmaster

David Allmon Trombone

Abraham Aragundi Cello

Lianne Araki Oboe

Kathryn Barnard

Susanne Bohl

Michael Bresler

Flute/Piccolo

Violin II

Katherine & Roy Bukstein

Jacqui Smith

Diane Delu

Patricia L. Griffin

Kenneth Shirriff

Diana Lloyd

Timpani/ Celeste Everson Misfeldt

Percussion

Beatrice Chau Violin II

Peter Cheng

Violin I

Daniel Cher Violin I

Kristin Chesnutt Oro Violin II

Garth Cummings Cello

David Dufour Horn

Nicole Galisatus Clarinet

Brad Gibson Violin II

John Givens Bassoon

Audrey Gore Oboe

Joel Greene Oboe

Juliet Hamak Bassoon

Patricia Harrell

Flute/Piccolo

Brian Holmes Horn

Johnathan Hsu Tuba

Elizabeth Ingber Viola

Susan Macy

Clarinet

Sue Magrini Cello

Mike Marmarou Trumpet

Vineet Mehta Violin II

Bruce Moyer Bass

Grant Parker Bass

Frank Rahn Violin II

Kay Saito Shafi

Flute/Piccolo

Gayle Flanagan

Albert Cha

Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens

Karin Chesnutt, Dorothy Falman & Mildred Saxman

Sheri Frumkin

Hannelore Draper

Penny Barrows in memomry of John Barrows

Teri Quick

Juliet Hamak & George Yefchak

Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens

Al & Liz Dossa; Jim Fung

John Givens

Krista & Jerry Terstiege

Mary Gundelach

Yvonne Hampton

Robert Fitt

Alan Kalman; Jacqui Smith

Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens

Ronald Miller

Sheree Kajiwara

Margrit Rinderknecht & Richard Siemon; Suesan Taylor

Suesan & Barr Taylor

Nichole Edraos & Jim Augustus

Ronald Miller

ADOPT-A-MUSICIAN

MUSICIAN INSTRUMENT ADOPTED BY

Jerry Saliman Viola

Kirsten Shallenberg Cello

Matt Springer Violin I/

Timpani

Judy Streger Violin I

Suesan Taylor Bass

Jshon Thomas Violin II

Renee Tostengard Violin I

Jolynda Tresner Viola

Alex Wang Violin II

Carolyn Worthington Viola

Kyoko Yamamoto Bassoon

Dorothy Saxe

Jacqui Smith

Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens

Alan & Spike Russell

Martin Chai & Gray Clossman

Sheri & Michael Frumkin

Juliet Hamak & George Yefchak

Brian Holmes;

Roy & Victoria Sasselli; Maureen Thrush

Paul & Melonie Brophy

Richard Izmirian

John Givens

Would you like to adopt a musician? It is our goal to have the entire orchestra adopted as a special way of supporting us.

For information on this meaningful program, please reach out to Chelsea Chambers, Executive Director at chelsea@peninsulasymphony.org or (650) 941-5291 to learn more about this opportunity.

SUPPORTERS

Thank you to our special donors who have helped keep Peninsula Symphony alive and vibrant during these difficult times. Our donor listing below is a compilation of total giving received between January 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023. If you see an error in this listing or would like more information on ways you can contribute to Peninsula Symphony, please reach out to Executive Director Chelsea Chambers by emailing chelsea@peninsulasymphony.org.

Risoluto ($50k +)

California Small Business Administration

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Fortissimo ($10k - $24,999)

Katherine & Roy Bukstein

Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens

Mervyn L. Brenner Foundation

Maria Shim & Nicholas Fox

Crescendo ($5k-$9,999)

Anonymous

Arcadia Foundation

John Givens

Mary Gundelach

Deborah Passanisi in honor of Sheri Frumkin

Teri Quick in honor of Brad Gibson

William & Diane Reuland

Shriners Hospitals

Jerry & Krista Terstiege

Paula Uccelli in honor of Sheri Frumkin

Presto ($2,500 - $4,999)

Anonymous in appreciation of Jeffrey Wachtel

Anonymous in honor of Sheri Frumkin

Anonymous in honor of Ruth & Roy Dunn

Anonymous (4)

Barbara Erickson

Gene Esswein

Joel Greene

Diana Lloyd

Michael Marmarou

Vineet Mehta

Ronald S. Miller

Redwood City Arts Commission

Jacqueline Smith

Jeff & Gwyn Wachtel

SUPPORTERS

Scherzo ($1,000-$2,499)

Anonymous (2)

Janet Averett

Susanne Bohl

Robert & Barbara Brandriff in memory of Dorothy Lunn

Nathan Brookwood & Patricia Hendriks

Martin Chai

Chelsea & Gregory Chambers in honor of our dedicated musicians and staff

Tom Cooper in memory of Mary Hom

Howard & Diane Crittenden

Erika Crowley in honor of Nancy Pellizzer and in memory of Margot Haygood

Stanley Dirks

Pamela Ferris

Gayle Flanagan

Sheri & Michael Frumkin in memory of Elsie Robertson

Lily Tian & Victor Ge

Brad Gibson

Juliet Hamak & George Yefchak in appreciation of Sheri Frumkin

Patricia Harrell

Benjamin & Kaoru Hollin

Intel Corporation

Richard Izmirian

Alan Kalman

Mitchell Sardou Klein & Patricia Whaley

James Kleinrath & Melody Singleton

Lauren Koenig

Alex Kurosawa

Susan Magrini

Bill & Linda Malmstrom in honor of Sheri Frumkin

Joe & Mollie Marshall

Celeste Everson Misfeldt

Prudential

Caroline & Chris Rackowski

Rita’s Rainbows in honor of Sheri Frumkin

Alan & Spike Russell

Jerry & Ellen Saliman

Sara & Phillip Salsbury

Marianne & John Silva-Oba in memory of Sharon Nora Silva

Suesan & Barr Taylor

Todd & Andrea Weinman

Anne Wharton

David A. Williams & Hilary Benton in appreciation of Sheri Frumkin

Carolyn & Tim Worthington

Y&H Soda Foundation

Rachel Youmans

Vivace ($500-$999)

David & Michelle Allmon

Anonymous in appreciation of Kay Saito Shafi

Anonymous in appreciation of the McGill/Mahler Concert

Anonymous (3)

Apple Inc

Jim Augustus & Nichole Edraos

Kathryn Barnard & Kenneth Shirriff

Penny Barrows in memory of John Barrows

Louis Caputo

Albert Cha

Sylvia & Fun Pang Chau

Daniel Cher

Karin & Jim Chesnutt

Al & Liz Dossa

Hannelore Draper

Anne Esparza

Robert Fitt

Meiying Forney & Steve Shatas

Jim Fung

Google, Inc.

Jimmée Greco

Dawn Grench in honor of Herb Grench

Patricia L. Griffin

Roger & Elizabeth Hagman

Yukoh Hammura

Karen & Ken Imatani

Sheree Kajiwara

James & Nancy Kyser

SUPPORTERS

Susan Lin in appreciation of Chelsea, Mitch, Jim, and all the amazing folks at PSO!

Susan Macy

Anna Newman & Mueen Ghani in memory of Richard Newman

Randy & Janie Nickel

Craig & Wendy Nishizaki

Nvidia

Margrit Rinderknecht & Richard Siemon

Deb & Dan Ross in appreciation of Alan Russell

David Sacarelos & Yvette Lanza

John & Christine Sanguinetti

Dorothy Saxe

Gary Sears

Lorraine Smith in memory of Elsie Robertson

Nathaniel & Marcia Sterling

Anita Stewart & Kaj Rekola

Sue Larson Family Fund

Linda Wilson

Hanna & Yoshihiro Yoshimoto

Allegro ($250-$499)

Jeffery Koseff & Thalia Anagnos in honor of Jeff Wachtel

Anonymous (3)

Michael & Merrie Asimow

Katherine Boster

Michael & Adrienne Bresler

Andre & Marina Broido in appreciation of Sheri Frumkin

Kathleen Brown

Dr. Patricia Campbell & John Miaullis

Jenny Chan-Sakauye

Sharon Chortack

Sloane Citron

Judy Davis in memory of Marilyn & Harold Mindell

SUPPORTERS

Nancy Farmer

Barbara Gilmore

Mateo Go

Robert Goldware

John Gookassian

David Greene in honor of Big Monkey

Ann & Salek Hamer

John Haugh

Joseph & Bette Hirsch in honor of David Anderson

Brian Holmes & Jolynda Tresner

Ernst & Susan Hoyer

Mela & Peter Hwang

Sandy & Norman Koo

Kenneth Krieg & Carol Dolezal

Ginger Kroft

Larry Laskowski

Nora & Galen Lemmon

Marcia Leonhardt in honor of Judy Preves Anderson and David Anderson

Amy Lit

Harvey Lynch

Richard & Beverly Marconi

Linelle Marshall

Diane Merchant

Kirt Minor in appreciation of Dane Carlson

Pamela Moore

Beth Morris

Michelle Oberman & Lawrence Marshall in honor of Maestro Mitch Klein

Neil Panton

Wesley & Linda Petit

Laura Pitchford

Kay Saito & Sayed Shafi

The Somersille Sibley Family

Matt Springer & Wei Ai

Judy & Ivan Streger

Rachel Tasch

Michael Tong & Luna Wang

Mary Urbach in honor of Sheri Frumkin

Nina Weil

Barbara Weis in honor of Warren, Kay, and George Weis

Teri & Robert Whitehair

Lan Zhang

Dolce ($100-$249)

John & Barbara Adams

Judith & David Anderson

Anonymous in honor of Sheri Frumkin

Anonymous in honor of Gail Hammler

Anonymous (3)

Jo Anne Bailey

Wate & Johanna Bakker

Barbara Barth

Janet Bell

Dick & Penny Bennett

Rebecca Berger in honor of Jerry Saliman

Mark Beyer

Lorraine Bodie

Janice Boelke

Barbara Bogomilsky

Lina Broydo

Juliette Bryson

David & Janet Cain

Frank & Charlotte Cevasco in honor of Debbie Passinisi

Seema Cicerone in appreciation of Frank Rahn

Mary Elise Clarity

Joseph Coha

Nicholas Duncan

Thomas Ehrlich

Bill Enloe

Howard Feinberg

David Fernandez & Lori Krauss

Melinda Fielding

Kristine Forney

Madeleine Frankel

Susanne Geller

Gilead Sciences, Inc.

Marguerite Gonzales

SUPPORTERS

Chris & Elke Groves

Lisa L. Gruman in memory of Evelyn Holzman

Linda Hagarty

Yvonne Hampton

Steven Hibshman

Ward Hoffman & Karlette Warner

Marshall & Roberta Hollimon

Perry Hopkins

Ben Hsu & Brenda Porter

Jennie Johnson

Seymour Kaufman

Sandra Krakowski

Sharon Krawetz

Paul & Jackie Kuckein

Lena Kuhar

Carole Kushnir

Pamela Lampkin & Robert Zipkin

Richard Leder & Cherrill Spencer in appreciation of Mitch Klein and team

Lori McBride

Judi McManigal

Patricia Meyer

Amanda & Walter Mok

Vonya Morris

Amanda Myers

Donna Ornitz

Anthony & Amy Oro

Sharon Peters

Ken & Farrell Podgorsek in appreciation of

Sheri Frumkin

J. Richard & Karen S. Recht

Marilyn Reisen

Cheryl & John Ritchie

Cynthia Robbins-Roth

Alison Ross in appreciation of Linda Dunn

Stephen & Joanne Rovno

Bill & Sherrean Rundberg

Roy & Victoria Sasselli

Marian Schmidt

Marvin & Ellen Schwartz

Dana Scoby in memory of Robert T. and Jane Anderson Cheatham

Noel Shirley in honor of Susan Shirley

Ruth A. Short

Judy Siegel

Ilene Sokoloff

Jane Stahl

Laura Sternberg

Karl Talarico

Nicole Taylor

Chris & Carol Thomsen in appreciation of Jeff Wachtel

Maureen Thrush

Carolyn Tucher

Andrew & Abigail Wen in appreciation of Thomas Shoebotham

Alan Stern & Thomas Whatley

Barrie Wilber

Carol Winston & David Swerdlove

Our 74th Season is filled with exceptionally gifted guest artists and classical masterworks in a series titled “Music Forward”. We are excited to present nationally and internationally recognized soloists to our audiences.

Our musicians and our patrons are ecstatic and grateful for the return to live performances in the concert halls. Our current board is comprised of community members with experience in the realms of finance, high tech, teaching, volunteer musicians and marketing. They are elected by the membership for up to three 3-year terms.

We are actively seeking new board members! This is a great way to live your best life while making a meaningful contribution to your community. The major requirement is a passion for classical symphonic music and a willingness to roll up your sleeves, as we are definitely a working board. We especially welcome diverse voices that can help our symphony better reflect our community, and are always happy to find board members with expertise in financial management, law, HR, event planning, or educational/youth/virtual programming.

If you are interested in a board position or just want to learn more about what is involved, please message us - we’d love to talk to you more about these opportunities! Also, if you know someone outside our current community who has the right skills and might be interested, feel free to pass this notice on.

Chelsea Chambers, Executive Director - chelsea@peninsulasymphony.org

Peninsula Symphony is seeking board candidates!

BOARD, STAFF & VOLUNTEERS

PENINSULA SYMPHONY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ben Hollin, Co-Chair / Chair, Marketing Committee

Ron Miller, Co-Chair / Chair, Education Committee

Randy Nickel, Secretary

Katherine Bukstein, Chair, Governance Committee

Daniel Cher

Barbara Erickson, Treasurer / Chair, Finance Committee

Juliet Hamak, Orchestra Rep

Alex Kurosawa

Lillian Lee

Diana Lloyd

Deborah Passanisi, Chair, Development Committee

Jeff Wachtel

PENINSULA SYMPHONY STAFF

Mitchell Sardou Klein, Music Director & Conductor

Nathaniel Berman, Resident Conductor

Chelsea Chambers, Executive Director

Jim Fung, Director of Marketing & Digital Content

Jenny Ugale, Development & Operations Associate

Faye Chapman, Bookkeeper

Joel Greene, Music Librarian

Kristin Kunzelman, Stage Manager

Greg van der Veen, Stage Manager

Linda Dunn, Office Volunteer

Heidi Hau, Piano Competition Coordinator

Amelia Yee, Front of House & Volunteer Coordinator

The mission of the Peninsula Symphony is to enrich the lives of people in our community with inspiring, innovative, high-quality musical presentations at affordable prices, and to promote music education through engaging programs for children and adults.

The Peninsula Symphony Association of Northern California is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation, Federal Tax ID 94-6106974.

Peninsula Symphony

146 Main Street, Suite 102 Los Altos, CA 94022

(650) 941-5291 / info@peninsulasymphony.org

PeninsulaSymphony.org