Mitchell Sardou Klein Music Director & Conductor
DEMARRE MCGILL
OCTOBER 4 & 5
SAT/ Heritage Theatre, Campbell
SUN/ San Mateo Performing Arts Center
FEATURED
ORCHESTRA
RISING
JANUARY2026
Welcome from Music Director & Conductor
Welcome to Season 77 of the Peninsula Symphony! Opening night always has a special kind of excitement as we embark on another year of varied and highly engaging programs and spectacular guest artists to share with you, our much-loved audience. Performing live music for you is what drives us all - conductors, orchestra musicians, and soloists alike, and we treasure these magical moments on stage with you.
Tonight we are also thrilled to welcome a new and important member of the Peninsula Symphony family, who you will see throughout this and coming seasons. Our new Assistant Conductor, Samantha Burgess, has already established herself as an engaging and lively podium presence on Bay Area stages. She is Assistant Conductor of the Berkeley Symphony, Music Director of the Community Women’s Orchestra, and she has worked with the Oakland Symphony, Napa Valley Chorale, and the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra.
Samantha holds master’s degrees in Orchestral Conducting and Music Theory from The Ohio State University, where she served as Music Director of the Ohio State Community Orchestra and Assistant Conductor for the Ohio State Symphony Orchestra. While at OSU, Burgess was also a graduate teaching assistant in Music Theory and a member of the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory. Her conducting work often integrates her research in music cognition into innovative, multimedia performances. Here at PSO, you’ll see her on the podium tonight and throughout the season, and she’ll also be curating our annual springtime Family Concert featuring the winner of the Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition plus plenty of other surprises and delights for young and old.
Welcome, Samantha!
Enjoy tonight’s concert featuring the amazing flutist Demarre McGill and our wonderful guest conductor, Lara Webber. We hope you’ll join us for our remaining programs as well, including fabulous soloists like Joyce Yang, the Canadian Brass, and Pearl de la Motte. Welcome to Season 77!
Warmly,
Mitchell Sardou Klein Music Director and Conductor
THESE CONCERTS ARE GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY
Kathryn Barnard
Sheri & Michael Frumkin
Yukoh Hammura
Patricia Harrell
Rebecca Jaworski
Kristin Kunzelman
Ron Miller
Kay Saito Shafi & local flute enthusiasts
Mitchell Sardou Klein, Music Director & Conductor
Demarre McGill
OCTOBER 4, 2025 at 7:30pm / Heritage Theatre, Campbell
OCTOBER 5, 2025 at 2:30pm / San Mateo Performing Arts Center
Lara Webber, Guest Conductor
Samantha Burgess, Assistant Conductor
Carlos Simon, Breathe
Samantha Burgess, conducting
Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Poem for Flute and Orchestra
Demarre McGill, flute
Jacques Ibert, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegro scherzando
Demarre McGill, flute
- Intermission -
Sergei Prokofiev, Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op.60
I. The Birth of Kijé
II. Romance
III. Kijé’s Wedding
IV. Troika
V. The Burial of Kijé
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Francesca da Rimini, Symphonic Fantasy after Dante, Op. 32
PROGRAM NOTES
By Mitchell Sardou Klein
CARLOS SIMON, BREATHE
Carlos Simon (1986 - ) is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, whose music ranges from concert pieces for large and small ensembles to film scores, with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. I first worked with him when he composed the commissioned works for the Irving Klein International String Competition at the San Francisco Conservatory a decade ago.
Breathe sets an appropriately serene mood as we begin this program centered on brilliant flute concertos and breathless orchestral virtuoso showpieces. This is the second of his orchestral pieces that the Peninsula Symphony has programmed recently. Carlos has emerged as a leading composer of his generation - he is the Composer-in-Residence at the Kennedy Center, the inaugural Boston Symphony Orchestra Composer Chair, and he was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY award for his album Requiem for the Enslaved.
Here is Carlos Simon’s note about Breathe:
“Drop Thy still dews of quietness Till all our striving cease”
One of my favorite books to read and re-read has been Meditations of the Heart, written by renowned theologian, Howard Thurman. A spiritual advisor to many including Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurman was a prolific writer and preacher who lived in San Francisco for a large part of his life. Meditations of the Heart is a collection of meditations and prayers on the beauty of humanity. I was deeply inspired by one section entitled “Still Dews of Quietness”, which urges one to “stay put for a spell”. Through his words, I wanted to take the gesture further by writing a piece that encourages others to simply reflect and breathe.
GRIFFES, POEM FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920) was among the first Americans to embrace the Impressionist compositional style, influenced by Ravel and Debussy, but also by late Romantics like Scriabin and his teacher, Engelbert Humperdinck, and by the burgeoning interest in Japanese art forms. In his short life (ended tragically by the Spanish flu), much of his musical output was inspired by literary works, such as the fabulous orchestral tone-poem, The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Kahn, based on Coleridge’s poem. His Poem for Flute and Orchestra is perhaps his second most revered composition, written just two years before his death. Inspired by the great flutist, Georges Barrere, it was premiered by the New York Symphony (soon to merge with the New York Philharmonic) led by Walter Damrosch in 1919, with Barrere as soloist.
Griffes exploits the colors and facility of the flute masterfully. He spins out luxuriant melodies in every range of the instrument (especially the characteristic wispy highs and throaty lows) and makes the flute dance, sing, and flash brilliantly, ending the piece with a sultry, dusky sense of repose.
JACQUES IBERT
CONCERTO FOR FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA
Jacques Ibert (1890 - 1962) lived a rich musical life as composer, pedagogue, and institutional administrator. His career encompassed a wide range of posts, from being the director of the Academie de France to serving as chief of both the Paris Opera and OperaComique. His compositional efforts were highly eclectic and individual - rejecting the contemporary influences of the French Impressionists, Stravinsky, and the second Viennese School. He maintained that he wrote strictly for the enjoyment of his audience. His rather small catalogue includes major operas, richly Romantic orchestral tonepoems like Escales, and charming instrumental works like the Divertissement and this Concerto for Flute. He was also subject to political persecution during WWII when the pro-Nazi Vichy government forced him into temporary exile in Switzerland.
The Flute Concerto dates from the pre-war era, completed in 1932, though it wasn’t premiered until two years later. Like the Griffes Poem, it was inspired by another stellar flutist, one of the greatest of all time, Marcel Moyse. And as such, it presents enormous technical and musical challenges to the soloist. The first movement (Allegro) is flashy and bright, yet always elegant. It is followed by a lyrical Andante, which ends in a dreamy reverie. The closing Allegro scherzando is a tour-de-force virtuoso showpiece, described by a French commentator as “a blast of fireworks suspended in mid-air.”
PROGRAM NOTES
SERGEI PROKOFIEV, LIEUTENANT KIJÉ SUITE
Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) was a master storyteller, in addition to all his other sublime musical accomplishments. His ballet music for Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet (featured on our upcoming January program); Peter and the Wolf; and Alexander Nevsky are brilliantly vivid narratives that have captivated audiences from their premieres. Like Nevsky, Kijé started out as the score for a satirical 1933 film - the composer’s first attempt in this genre. Nevertheless, Prokofiev felt inspired and confident as he began writing the music. His clear sense of how to create colorful and unmistakable musical sound-pictures perfectly underscored the visual images. But expanding the brief film score into a larger orchestral suite (commissioned by the Moscow Radio Symphony) was a more daunting challenge, which he completed the following year.
The story, with its characteristic Russian sense of sarcastic humor mixed with pathos, parodies authoritarians and bureaucrats. It tells the story of a clerk, whose slip of the pen in completing a military roster leads to chaos. When Tsar Paul I takes a surprising interest in an odd name on the list (Kijé), the clerk has to invent this soldier, and create periodic updates on Kijé’s status to satisfy the Tsar’s fascination.
The first movement (Birth of Kijé) introduces the soldier with a mock melancholy tune (played offstage by a cornet, an instrument associated with military bands), followed by a quick march played in pompous military-band style. We hear another, more tender Kijé leitmotif (often played in this suite by a tenor saxophone). The opening tune closes the movement.
In response to the Tsar’s curiosity, the clerk invents a love story about Kijé, represented in the second movement (Romance) by unconventional orchestral-solo instruments (the sax, celesta and double bass). Logically then, this leads to an invented story of Kijé’s Wedding - the pulsating, ceremonial, and boisterous third movement.
Kijé is then sent on a snowy sleigh ride in Siberia (Troika), complete with sleigh bells and pounding pizzicato strings.
The clerk, at last, has to end the farce (when the Tsar insists on meeting his soldier) by declaring Kijé dead. The Suite ends with a lavish “funeral” (Burial of Kijé), reprising many of the previous themes in a touching farewell, ending with the same melancholy solo tune for cornet that began the Suite.
PROGRAM NOTES
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, FRANCESCA DA RIMINI, SYMPHONIC FANTASY AFTER DANTE, OP. 32
The concluding work on tonight’s program also brilliantly spins out a story, but this tale is as earnest and heartbreaking as Lt. Kijé is sardonic. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) was inspired by the tragedy (retold in Dante’s Inferno) of the real-life 13th Century noblewoman of Ravenna, Francesca da Rimini, who was killed by her jealous husband.
Tchaikovsky’s own internal demons often attracted him to projects inspired by tragedy, including some of his most enduring masterpieces - Shakespeare-inspired tone-poems like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet; the ballet Swan Lake; the operas Eugene Onegin and Queen of Spades; even abstract works like his Symphony No. 6 (“Pathetique”).
On 27 July, 1876, Tchaikovsky wrote, “This morning, when I was in the train, I read the Fourth [sic] Canto of Hell and was seized with a burning desire to write a symphonic poem on Francesca.” He completed the piece later that year, and it was premiered in Moscow early in 1877, under the baton of his close friend and colleague, Nicolai Rubinstein.
The music begins darkly, with basses and cellos underlining disturbing woodwind and brass chords. Like Dante, we move quickly into a depiction of the swirling and violent storm of the Second Circle of Hell where Francesca and her lover Paolo are whirled through the air, crushed eternally against stone walls.
A rhapsodic clarinet solo suspends the mood of strife, and leads us into a third section, a rhapsodic remembrance of the past passionate moments of joy and serenity of the lovers. Here we can luxuriate in some of Tchaikovsky’s most ardent and gorgeous lyricism.
But tragedy returns, as we hear the moment of the murder of Francesca and Paolo (in basses and cymbals) and conclude the story back amidst the swirling tortures of the lovers’ eternal punishment. Tchaikovsky’s mastery of powerful symphonic forces leaves us breathless and deeply moved in one of his most dramatic endings in Romantic music.
GUEST CONDUCTOR
Lara Webber Guest Conductor
Widely admired as a dynamic, creative and engaging conductor, Lara Webber is dedicated to inspiring audiences through the power of symphonic music. She has been praised by fellow musicians around the country for her musical depth, genuine expression, strong personal vision, and collaborative spirit.
Ms. Webber brings a broad range of experience to the podium. She has held titled conducting positions with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Charleston Symphony Orchestra (South Carolina), and was music director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Lara currently serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Livermore-Amador Symphony and the Palo Alto Philharmonic. Her career began as music director and conductor of the Los Angeles Debut Orchestra, a post previously held by such conductors as André Previn, Lawrence Foster, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Lara Webber’s activities as a guest conductor include wide ranging performances with orchestras around the country such as the Houston, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Louisville, Santa Barbara, Modesto, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and the Chicago Sinfonietta, among several others. She has served as a cover-conductor for the San Francisco Symphony and The National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Webber’s operatic associations include conducting posts with Glimmerglass Opera, and conductor of the Baltimore Opera Studio.
Strongly committed to arts education and community engagement, Ms. Webber was a conductor of the Emmy-nominated Disney’s Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. These concerts were broadcast nationally by the Disney Channel to millions of viewers nationwide. She has taught student conductors as a faculty member of the League of American Orchestra’s Conductor Workshops, and has coached youth orchestra and community orchestras. At home in Livermore, Lara is active in her community, bringing music to the local elementary schools, coaching chamber musicians and advocating for the arts as an essential part of the educational curriculum, and a vital part of our culture.
Ms. Webber began her conducting studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Robert Spano, where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. Her studies continued at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and in the conducting seminars of both the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals. Ms. Webber received her Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Southern California, where she studied with Daniel Lewis. In recognition for her outstanding service to the community, Lara was honored with a Los Angeles City Council Resolution, upon completion of her tenure with the Debut Orchestra.
ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Samatha Burgess Assistant Conductor
Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2022, Samantha has quickly become an in-demand conductor. In the 2024 – 25 season she began her tenure as Music Director of the Community Women’s Orchestra, and she joins the Peninsula Symphony as their Assistant Conductor in the 2025–26 season. Also in the 2025–26 season, Samantha will be the first Music Director of Symphony Tierra, a semi-professional orchestra formed as the ensemble in residence at Napa Valley College. Samantha continues to work with the Berkeley Symphony as their regular Assistant Conductor, and will be Assistant Conductor for Dima Slobodeniouk at the San Francisco Symphony in May 2026. Her additional recent engagements include Guest Conducting Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Napa Valley Chorale, Assistant Conducting for Beethoven’s Ninth with the Oakland Symphony, and a tour of Paris and the Loire Valley with the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, where she made her French debut. Previously, she has been Assistant Conductor with the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, the Westerville Symphony (OH), the Galesburg Community Chorus (IL), and the Oxford University Philharmonia (UK).
Samantha holds master’s degrees in Orchestral Conducting and Music Theory from The Ohio State University, where she was Music Director of the Ohio State Community Orchestra and Assistant Conductor for the Ohio State Symphony Orchestra. While at OSU, she was also a graduate teaching assistant in Music Theory and a member of the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory. On the podium, Samantha combines conducting with her background in music cognition research to develop innovative, multimedia performances. She has presented her research at the Society for Music Theory Midwest Conference, Future Directions of Music Cognition, and the Oxford Conducting Institute International Conducting Studies Conference.
Samantha has conducted in masterclasses and competitions in the USA and abroad— notably in September 2023, when she finished as a semi-finalist in the International Academy and Competition for Orchestral Conducting in Portugal. She has also participated in the George Hurst Conductor’s Course at the Sherborne Summer School of Music, the London Conducting Workshop, the New York Conducting Workshop, and the International Conducting Workshop and Competition in Atlanta, GA.
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. This year marks his 41st season on the Symphony’s podium. Over the past four decades, he has guest-conducted the Seattle Symphony, New Polish Philharmonic, Suddetic Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Eastern Philharmonic, and numerous other orchestras across the US and Europe. In California he has led Symphony San José (formerly Symphony Silicon Valley), the San José Symphony, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Inland Empire/Riverside Philharmonic, Ballet San José, the California Riverside Ballet and the Livermore-Amador Philharmonic and others. He co-founded and recently retired as 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 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.”
MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR
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.
FEATURED ARTIST
Demarre McGill Flute
“From his first notes, the effect was astonishing. It was the tone he drew from his instrument which caught the ear first, and continued to throughout the performance. Totally clean, liquid, mellifluous— i.e., honeyed—in the best sense of the word, rounded and beautiful, it beckoned you in.”
Demarre McGill has gained international recognition as one of today’s most compelling flutists, celebrated for his lyrical expressiveness and technical prowess. A recipient of both the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, McGill has appeared as a soloist with many of the nation’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grant Park, San Diego, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. His captivating performances have earned him critical acclaim and a distinguished place in the world of classical music.
Currently serving as the principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, McGill has previously held principal flute positions with the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has also served as acting principal flute with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
As an educator, Demarre McGill is committed to inspiring and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He has coached and presented master classes in South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Quebec, and throughout the United States. He has served on the faculties of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland, the Orford Music Festival, Summerfest at the Curtis Institute of Music, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa. Previously, McGill spent seven years as the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has been a longtime artistfaculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2017.
Demarre McGill is also a founding member of the Myriad Trio and a former member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program. He is the co-founder of the Art of Élan and is a regular participant in prestigious chamber music festivals such as Santa Fe, Marlboro, Seattle, and Stellenbosch. In 2014, McGill co-founded the McGill/ McHale Trio with his brother clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Michael McHale. Their debut CD, “Portraits,” released in August 2017, has received rave reviews, as has “Winged Creatures,” his recording with Anthony McGill and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.
FEATURED ARTIST
As a champion of accessibility, inclusion, and artistic innovation in classical music, Demarre McGill actively promotes the works of underrepresented composers and engages in projects that highlight diverse cultural perspectives. His media credits include appearances on PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center, A&E Network’s The Gifted Ones, NBC’s Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and, along with his brother Anthony, on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Born in Chicago, Demarre McGill began playing the flute at age 7 and attended the Merit School of Music. In the years that followed, he studied with Susan Levitin. Demarre received his bachelor’s degree from The Curtis Institute of Music and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Demarre McGill is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
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ORCHESTRA ROSTER - OCT 2025
Music Director & Conductor
Mitchell Sardou Klein
Guest Conductor
Lara Webber
Assistant Conductor
Samantha Burgess
Violin I
Liana Berube, Acting Concertmaster
Peter Cheng
Daniel Cher
Julian Hsieh
Jungmee Hwang
Tara Iyer
Samuel Jimenez
Judy Streger
Alex Wang
Violin II
Deborah Passanisi, Principal
Moosa Azfar
Bradley Gibson
Vineet Mehta
Frank Rahn
Jshon Thomas
David Williams
Audrey Yan
Angela Yeh
Hanna Yoshimoto
Gina Zhang
Jane Zhang
Viola
Elyse Ader, Principal
Hunter Prince
Silvio Rocha
Jerry Saliman
Judy Beck Sumerlin
Jolynda Tresner
Alexander Wong
Carolyn Worthington
Cello
Thomas Shoebotham, Principal
Sandy Baratoff
Garth Cummings
Tetsu Ishihara
Ami Nashimoto
Jason Shu
Bass
David Herberg
Rahul Iyer
Bruce Moyer
Grant Parker
Jeff Wachtel
ORCHESTRA ROSTER - OCT 2025
Flute
Kay Saito Shafi, Principal
Patricia Harrell
Kristin Kunzelman
Piccolo
Patricia Harrell
Oboe
Audrey Gore, Principal
Dane Carlson
Lianne Araki
English Horn
Dane Carlson
Clarinet
Nicole Galisatus, Principal
Ron Miller
Saxophone
Nick Cotter
Bassoon
Juliet Hamak, Principal
Kyoko Yamamoto
Contrabassoon
Mia Stormer
Horn
Brian Holmes, Co-Principal
Randy Nickel, Co-Principal
David Dufour
Anna Newman
Paul Schneider
Trumpet
Mike Marmarou, Principal
Bob Fitt
Mike Pakaluk
Nicholas Toscan
Trombone
David Allmon, Co-Principal
Rami Hindiyeh, Co-Principal
Tuba
Johnathan Hsu, Principal
Timpani
Mike Bresler, Principal
Percussion
Paul Burdick, Co-Principal
Erica Richstad
Jacob Wang
Yujin Yin
Harp
Ricky Rasura, Acting Principal
Piano/Celeste
Tom Hansen
Music Librarian
Joel Greene
RISING STAR
Pearl de la Motte, Viola
Violist Pearl de la Motte is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree at The Juilliard School where she studies with Hsin-Yun Huang and is a member of the Cabaletta Quartet. She is also the second of eleven children in a musical family. She began playing the violin at the age of two then switched to viola when she was ten. After being inspired by the viola’s deep and expressive voice, she became very passionate about music and decided that she wanted to pursue a career as a musician while honoring God with her music.
Pearl received first place in the 2021 American Viola Society National Competition, third place in the 2024 Stulberg International String Competition, and first place in the 2024 Klein International String Competition. In April 2022 she performed the Higdon viola concerto with the La Jolla Symphony.
Pearl has participated in multiple projects during her time at The Juilliard school. In 2023 she was invited to perform Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s piano quintet in “The New Series” and has regularly participated in the “If Music Be the Food...” benefit concerts.
In 2023 Pearl attended the Toronto summer music festival and collaborated with artists including Yura Lee, Daniel Ching, Matthew Zalkind, and Desmond Hoebig.
Pearl is also a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School.
- Coming May 2026 -
LIFETIME ADOPTED MUSICIANS
Mitchell Sardou Klein Conductor
Deborah Passanisi Violin II
Paula Uccelli
Frank & Annette Rahn
Dr. Lauren Speeth Violin I Elfenworks Foundation
MUSICIAN
INSTRUMENT
Lara Webber Guest Conductor
Debra Fong Concertmaster
Dave Allmon Trombone
Abraham Aragundi Cello
Lianne Araki Oboe
Sandy Baratoff Cello
Mark Beyer Clarinet/Saxophone
Kim Bonnett Violin I
Mike Bresler Timpani/Percussion
Katherine Bukstein Viola
Dane Carlson Oboe/English Horn
Daniel Cher Violin I
Garth Cummings Cello
David Dufour Horn
Linda Dunn Office Volunteer
Bob Fitt Trumpet
Bradley Gibson Violin II
Audrey Gore Oboe
ADOPTED BY
Jacqueline Smith
Katherine & Roy Bukstein
Jacqueline Smith
Friend of PSO
Patricia L. Griffin
Jacqueline Smith
Raymond Smith
Bradley Gibson
Celeste Everson Misfeldt & Todd Misfeldt
Margrit Rinderknecht & Richard Siemon
Kirt & Kelly Minor
Laura & David Francis
Sheri & Michael Frumkin
Hannelore Draper
Ann & Ben Kong
Don & Cathy Draper
Teri Quick
Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens
Joel Greene Oboe/Music Librarian Al & Liz Dossa
Juliet Hamak Bassoon
Yukoh Hammura Flute
Patricia Harrell Flute/Piccolo
Emily Hendricks Percussion
Rami Hindiyeh Trombone
Brian Holmes Horn
Johnathan Hsu Tuba
Tetsu Ishihara Cello
Kristin Kunzelman Flute/Piccolo
Rick Leder Trumpet
Susan Magrini Cello
Mike Marmarou Trumpet
Vineet Mehta Violin II
Ron Miller Clarinet
Bruce Moyer Bass
Randy Nickel Horn
Kristin Chesnutt Oro Violin II
Frank Rahn Violin II
John Givens
Nina Brody
Krista & Jerry Terstiege
Pamela Ferris
John & Christine Sanguinetti
Mary Gundelach
Teri Quick
Marcia Leonhardt in honor of Judy & David Anderson
Jennifer & Tim Kardos
Kathryn Barnard & Kenneth Shirriff
Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens
Ronald S. Miller
Sheree Kajiwara
Jacqueline Smith
Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens
Diana Lloyd
Dorothy Fahlman & Karin Chesnutt
Nichole Edraos & Jim Augustus
ADOPT-A-MUSICIAN
MUSICIAN
INSTRUMENT
Jerry Saliman Viola
Paul Schneider Horn
Kay Saito Shafi
Flute/Piccolo
Matt Springer Violin I/Timpani
Mia Stormer Contrabassoon
Judy Streger Violin I
Jshon Thomas Violin II
Nicholas Toscan Trumpet
Renée Toscan Viola
Jolynda Tresner Viola
Jeff Wachtel Bass
Kate Wahl Violin I
David Williams Violin II
Carolyn Worthington Viola
Sarah Wu Violin I
Kyoko Yamamoto Bassoon
Hanna Yoshimoto Violin II
Jane Zhang Violin II
EMERITUS MEMBERS
ADOPTED BY
Dorothy Saxe
Sheri & Michael Frumkin
Ronald S. Miller
Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens
Joel Greene
Alan & Spike Russell
Sheri & Michael Frumkin
Bob & Karen Fitt
Bob & Karen Fitt
Brian Holmes, Maureen Thrush, and Roy & Victoria Sasselli
The Wachtel Pronovost Family
Sheri & Michael Frumkin
Family and Friends
Richard Izmirian
Alan & Spike Russell
John Givens
Hironari & Yoshihiro Yoshimoto
Gayle Flanagan
John Givens, Principal Bassoon, adopted by Juliet Hamak & George Yefchak
We are grateful to the following contributors who support live symphonic music and education on the Peninsula. Our donor listing below is a compilation of total giving received between June 15, 2024 and September 15, 2025. 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 +)
Janice Boelke
Lorraine Smith
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation
Maestoso al fine ($25k - $49,999)
John Givens in memory of Dorothy Givens
Fortissimo ($10k - $24,999)
Katherine & Roy Bukstein
Pamela Ferris
Sheri & Michael Frumkin in honor of Paula Uccelli
Mervyn L. Brenner Foundation
Celeste E. & Todd M. Misfeldt in appreciation of Mitch Klein
Uccelli Foundation in memory of Peter Uccelli
Friend of PSO in honor of Sheri Frumkin and in memory of Pieter Smith
Friends of PSO (2)
Crescendo ($5k-$9,999)
David & Michelle Allmon
Apple Inc
Erika Crowley in honor of Cary Kimler
Rika & Shawn Ellis
Joel Greene in honor of The Monkeyman of Burlingame
Mary Gundelach in memory of Charles M. Gundelach
Russell Hurley
Diana Lloyd in memory of Cliff Lloyd
Monte Mansir & Susanne Stevens
Michael Marmarou
Ronald S. Miller
Nvidia
Deborah Passanisi
Krista & Jerry Terstiege
Jeff & Gwyn Wachtel
Friend of PSO
SUPPORTERS
Presto ($2,500 - $4,999)
Kathryn Barnard & Kenneth Shirriff
Nathan Brookwood & Patricia Hendriks
Nicholas & Renee Toscan
Meiying Forney & Steve Shatas
Peter Gelfand
Brad Gibson
Intel Corporation
Richard Izmirian & Sheree Kajiwara
Alex Kurosawa
Teri Quick in honor of Brad Gibson
Redwood City Arts Commission
Paul Schneider
Margrit Rinderknecht & Dick Siemon
David A. Williams & Hilary Benton
Friends
of PSO (2)
Scherzo ($1,000-$2,499)
Maryam Aghamirzadeh
Jill Biegenzahn
Barbara & Robert Brandriff in memory of
Dorothy Lunn
David & Janet Cain
Tom Cooper & Mary Hom
Howard Crittenden
Stanley Dirks
Al & Liz Dossa in honor of Mitch Klein
Hannelore Draper
Barbara Erickson
Anne Esparza
Gene Esswein
Robert & Karen Fitt
Gayle Flanagan
Mariam S. Galvarin
Herbert Grench
Patricia L. Griffin
Juliet Hamak & George Yefchak
Yukoh Hammura in appreciation of Kay, Patti, and Kristin from Flute section
Patricia Harrell
Jennifer & Tim Kardos
Mitchell Sardou Klein & Patricia Whaley
James Kleinrath & Melody Singleton
Ann & Ben Kong in honor of Linda Dunn, most dedicated volunteer
Lillian Lee
Bill Malmstrom in memory of Linda
Joe & Mollie Marshall
Randy & Janie Nickel
Caroline & Chris Rackowski
Rita’s Rainbows
David Sacarelos & Yvette Lanza
Jerry & Ellen Saliman
Sara & Phillip Salsbury
Kay Saito Shafi & Yusef Shafi
Marianne & John Silva-Oba
Lauren Speeth in appreciation of Maestro Klein
Carolyn Worthington
Y&H Soda Foundation
Rachel Youmans
Vivace ($500-$999)
Adobe, Inc.
Karen Alden
Jim Augustus & Nichole Edraos
Wate & Johanna Bakker in honor of Mitch Klein
Daniel Cher & Laura Wolfe
Don & Cathy Draper
Tom Driscoll & Nancy Quinn in honor of Mitch Klein
Dorothy Fahlman & Karin Chesnutt
Laura & David Francis in honor of Daniel Cher
Alice Galenson & Lou Thompson
Alexandra Gillen & Hartmut Koeppen
Victor Ha
Ann & Salek Hamer in memory of Tom Perry
Rebecca Jaworski
Kristin Kunzelman & Mark Inouye
Marcia Lowell Leonhardt in honor of Judy and David Anderson
Kathleen Lowry
Susan Magrini
Richard & Beverly Marconi
Vonya Morris
Craig & Wendy Nishizaki
Elizabeth Nyberg
Michelle Oberman & Lawrence Marshall in honor of Maestro Mitchell Klein
Kristin Oro
Grant Parker
Farrell May Podgorsek in memory of Ken Podgorsek
Justin Privitera Prudential
Roland Feller Violin Makers
Alison & Ken Ross in honor of Maestro Mitchell Klein
John & Christine Sanguinetti
Dorothy Saxe
Ruth A. Short
Ray Smith
Anita Stewart & Kaj Rekola
Sue Larson Family Fund
The Trade Desk
Jshon Thomas & Gary Carson
The Wachtel Pronovost Family in honor of Jeff Wachtel
Todd & Andrea Weinman
Anne Wharton
Hanna & Yoshihiro Yoshimoto
Friend of PSO in appreciation of Katherine & Roy Bukstein
Friend of PSO in honor of Hanna Yoshimoto
Friends of PSO (2)
Allegro ($250-$499)
John & Barbara Adams
Doron Bardas
Michael & Adrienne Bresler
Kathleen Brown
Sylvia & Fun Pang Chau
Robert Goldware
Alice Graham in memory of Dorothy Graham Givens
David Greene in honor of Monkey Greene
Dawn Grench & Family in honor of Herb Grench
Elke & Chris Groves
Hillel Hachlili
Marycliff Foundation
Steven Hibshman
Brian Holmes & Jolynda Tresner
Mela & Peter Hwang
Susan R Lin in appreciation of Maestro Klein, Chelsea Chambers, Jim Fung, and everyone at PSO
SUPPORTERS
Harvey Lynch
Linelle Marshall
Marycliff Foundation
Hannelore McCrumb
Marcia & John Mehl
Pamela Moore in memory of Bill Moore
Beth Morris
Betsy Murray
Margaret Nalbach
Noni Naughton
Mary & Neil Panton
Wayne Phillips
Frank & Annette Rahn
Rakuten Rewards
Bill & Sherrean Rundberg
Karen & John Scorsur in honor of the hard working staff, Jacqueline Smith, and Chelsea Chambers
Matt Springer & Weiyun Ai in honor of Magnificent Maestro Mitch
Suesan Taylor in memory of C. Barr Taylor
Warren R Williams in memory of
Sarah Williams
Wilton Wong
Friend of PSO in appreciation of Maestro Mitchell Sardou Klein’s 40th Friends of PSO (3)
Dolce ($100-$249)
Sue Alvarez
Michael & Merrie Asimow
AssetMark, Inc
Jo Anne Bailey in memory of June Wisecarver
Marilyn Barlow in memory of Rachel Ann Youmans
Barbara Barth
Israel & Sari Beinglass
Nathaniel Berman
Shirley Bernadotti
Charlotte & David Biegelsen
Juliette Bryson
Faye Chapman
Sharon J. Chortack
Mary Elise Clarity
Helen Cockrum
Joseph Coha
William Conlon in honor of Selma Bukstein
Judy & Philip Davis in memory of Marilyn and Harold Mindell
John DeLong & Sharon Peters
Diane Delu
Tina Ebey
Bill Enloe
Michele & Andy Epstein in honor of Sheri Frumkin
Suzanne & Allan Epstein
Ruth Evans
David Fernandez & Lori Krauss
Delbert & Susan Fillmore
Ruth Freeman & David Stoner
Lisa L. Gruman in honor of Maestro Mitchell Sardou Klein
Joan Hebert
Nancy Heffner
Kathie Hillier & Bob Boen
Joseph & Bette Hirsch
Norma J Hoch
Deborah & Craig Hoffman in appreciation of Jerry Saliman
Marshall & Roberta Hollimon
Perry Hopkins
Neil Hornor
William Howland
Leslie Itano & Jerry Chang in memory of Samuel Chan
Kevin Jim in honor of Mitch Klein
Jackie Jones
Howard Klein
Sandra Krakowski
Sharon Krawetz
Marianne Kruze
Ancilla Kwok in memory of Dr. Sam Chan
Joseph & Sharon Kwok in memory of Dr. Sam Chan
Sandra & Brandon Martinez-Larragoiti
Richard Leder & Cherrill Spencer
Stanley Levine
Janet Louie
Ann Marotta
Melody Marshall
Stephen Martin
Hannelore McCrumb
Judi McManigal
Arnold Miller
Joan & Ronald Miller
Joyce Monda
Beth Morris
Carol Muller
Margaret Nalbach
Michael Nguyen
Joan Norton
Chuck & Patty Ortenberg in honor of Jeff Wachtel
Karen & Douglas Perry
Anthony & Carol Ann Pleva
Charles Polanski
Rakuten Rewards
Marilyn Reisen
Cheryl & John Ritchie
Robert Roth & Cynthia Robbins-Roth
Alan & Spike Russell
Heather Sanders
Dave Sargent in honor of Brian Holmes & Jolynda Tresner
Doris Sayon
Marian Schmidt
Marvin & Ellen Schwartz
Dana Scoby
Marcyl Seidscher
Noel Shirley
Jason Shu
Tom Silva
Lynne Simpson in honor of David Williams
Lisa & Bruce Steinback
Alan Stern & Thomas Whatley
Laura Sternberg
Grant Takamoto
Maureen Thrush
Adam Wantz
Lois Weil
Kyoko & Keigo Yamamoto
Jen & Aidan Yang in appreciation of Mitchell Sardou Klein
Friend of PSO in appreciation of the PSO bassoon section
Friends of PSO (3)
“Sostenuto” Legacy Society
The future of Peninsula Symphony is sustained by the generosity of individuals who choose to give during or after their lifetimes. Their contributions safeguard the presence of symphonic music on the Peninsula for this and future generations to come. To find out more about how to join this special group of cherished supporters, please reach out to Executive Director Chelsea Chambers, chelsea@peninsulasymphony.org.
Sostenuto Legacy Society Members as of May 2025:
Ellis Alden
Anonymous
Janice Boelke
David Cone
The Elfenworks Foundation
Mitchell Sardou Klein & Patricia Whaley
Judi McManigal
Frank & Annette Rahn
Genny Hall Smith
Lorraine Smith
Marguerite Szekeley
William Warren Wiesenfeld Trust
Terms & Conditions: All rates are per person in USD for cruise only, inclusive of port charges, based on double occupancy in Category E stateroom. Offer is only valid on new reservations made by September 30, 2025. Offer is combinable with AirPlus Rates, Combination Cruise Savings, Loyalty Benefits and Future Cruise Benefit Program. Visas, airfares and gratuities are additional. Offer is not combinable with any other promotions/discounts, limited to availability, capacity controlled and subject to change or termination without notice. AmaWaterways reserves the right to correct any errors or omissions at any time. Other restrictions apply. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California. For full terms and conditions, please visit www.amawaterways.com/termsconditions CST#2065452-20. V25AUG14LE
BOARD, STAFF & VOLUNTEERS
PENINSULA SYMPHONY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Ben Hollin, Co-Chair
Jeff Wachtel, Co-Chair
Randy Nickel, Secretary
Alan Russell, Treasurer
Katherine Bukstein, Chair, Governance Committee
Sheri Frumkin, Chair, Development Committee
Nicole Galisatus, Orchestra Rep
Mariam Galvarin
Juliet Hamak
Tara Iyer
Alex Kurosawa
Lillian Lee
Diana Lloyd
Ron Miller
Carole Valentine
PENINSULA SYMPHONY STAFF
Mitchell Sardou Klein, Music Director & Conductor
Samantha Burgess, Assistant Conductor
Chelsea Chambers, Executive Director
Jim Fung, Director of Marketing & Digital Content
Jenny Ugale, Operations & Outreach Manager
Tara Kariat , Box Office & Administrative Assistant
Faye Chapman , Bookkeeper
Joel Greene , Music Librarian
Greg van der Veen , Stage Manager
Samantha Paschner , Rehearsal Setup
Linda Dunn , Office Volunteer
Heidi Hau , Piano Competition Coordinator
Amelia Yee , Front of House & Volunteer Coordinator
Seona Sheth , Intern/Youth Ambassador
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
Klein Competition Winner 2024
MAY2026
Thank you, Nathaniel!
MARCH2026