A Fond Farewell

As the PBO family finds its ways back to the concert hall, we also bid farewell to three distinguished musicians who have retired: Fred Holmgren, R. J. Kelley, and Janet See. These musicians have given to PBO the gift of their exceptional artistry, collegiality, and friendship. They will be missed deeply by their colleagues and the audiences that have enjoyed their music-making over the many years. We extend our heartfelt thanks for their service and wish them the best as they move forward.

FRED HOLMGREN

first played trumpet with Philharmonia in March 1986, in the first of many PBO performances of Handel’s L’Allegro. Fred was often a highlight in performances of Handel’s Messiah, sporting a red pocket square while playing the solo in “The Trumpet Shall Sound.” Residing in Wendell, Massachusetts, Fred is also a piano tuner, machinist, and photographer, and built his most recent baroque trumpet himself.

performed with Philharmonia in October 1982, when he often played 2nd horn with Lowell Greer. In subsequent seasons he advanced to principal horn, playing alongside his good friend and colleague Paul Avril. R. J.’s participation was a highlight of PBO’s visits to local schools, particularly his demonstration of the physics of his instrument using different lengths of garden hose. In September 2011 R. J. curated a “pastiche” Mozart horn concerto, and gave a performance “which was tuneful, lively and full of ingenious turns” (San Francisco Chronicle). R. J. resides in Teaneck, New Jersey with his wife, oboist Sarah Davol.

JANET SEE is a founding member of Philharmonia and played flute with the ensemble in our inaugural concert on February 4, 1982; she is featured on a Harmonia Mundi recording of Vivaldi flute concertos with PBO. When she returned to the US in the mid-1990s after living in London for 10 years, she travelled from her Bainbridge Island home to play principal flute for most of PBO’s classical and romantic programs. She has made lifelong friends with Maxine and the late James Risley, in whose North Berkeley home she always stayed for PBO engagements.