Peninsula Symphony sets holiday concert Peninsula Symphony sets holiday concert (November 17, 2004)

** Venues now include Redwood City's Fox Theatre and a concert at Stanford.

By Marjorie Mader

Almanac Staff Writer

The Peninsula Symphony will join forces with the Stanford University Symphonic Chorus for a holiday concert at Stanford Memorial Church.

"In Remembrance" will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, November 18, and at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, November 21. The music, by Takeo Kudo and Eric Zeisl, focuses on the Japanese-American and Jewish experience of World War II. The program also includes music by Mendelssohn, Bruckner and Bloch.

The symphony's 56th season, which continues in January, promises to be one of innovation and variety, says Stanley J. Dirks of Woodside, chair of the Peninsula Symphony Association board.

Among the highlights are "Shall We Dance?" -- a collaboration with tap dancer Sam Weber and friends; "Shakespeare & Love," with the ACT Conservatory Company; and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, featuring the choral movement, "Ode to Joy."

A benefit concert featuring the jazz of singer Wesla Whitfield and the Mike Greensill Trio is set for February.

"Our performances enrich, enlighten and exhilarate audiences," says Mr. Dirks.

The 110-player orchestra is directed by Mitchell Sardou Klein, who begins his 20th season with the symphony.

The orchestra now performs at the renovated Fox Theatre in Redwood City in addition to its regular concert venues at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center in San Mateo and Flint Center at De Anza College in Cupertino. Tickets typically cost $21 to $27.
Notable improvement

Since the arrival of music director and conductor Klein, the all-volunteer community symphony has grown from a grassroots ensemble to a polished orchestra.

"The orchestra sight-reads things better than we used to play them," says 43-year veteran bassoonist John Givens, who's also on the symphony board.

The musicians -- all from the Bay Area -- have "day jobs" in addition to their musical lives. They are doctors, lawyers, engineers, computer scientists, music teachers, and a student who previously played in the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, also conducted by Mr. Klein.
Local links

There is a contingent of musicians from Menlo Park who perform with the symphony: Anna Newman Ghani, horn; Audrey Gore, oboe; Tetsu Ishihara and Annette Lewis, cello; Joan Norton, first violin; and Karen Osborn, second violin.

Violinist Vicki Greenbaum, director of Menlo School's orchestra and chamber music program and founder of the Summer Brass Institute at Menlo, is an assistant concertmaster for the Stanford concerts this week.

Another local link to the Peninsula Symphony is Richard Vaughan, music specialist at Hillview Middle School in Menlo Park and now a member of the symphony board. Mr. Vaughan, who grew up in Portola Valley, studied cello under Mitch Klein's father, Irving M. Klein.

Last June, Mr. Vaughan introduced his orchestra students at Hillview to violist Eric Nowlin, winner of the 2003 Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Mr. Nowlin, here from the Juilliard School in New York, gave a master class in the music room and treated students to a preview of the concerto he would play later that week as featured soloist with the Peninsula Symphony.

The symphony doesn't have its own concert hall or auditorium. Musicians practice every Tuesday from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in the band room at College of San Mateo. During the concert week, the musicians practice on Tuesday at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center.

The budget this year is $400,000, of which 35 percent is from earned revenue, 30 percent from foundations and corporations, and 35 percent from individuals.

The symphony's executive director is Margrit Rinderknecht, a native of Switzerland, "where music was a part of everybody's life," she says.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities and to support the symphony and its programs, contact call 941-5292.
E-mail Marjorie Mader at mmader@AlmanacNews.com
Concert schedule

Here's the schedule of Peninsula Symphony concerts and special events: ** Holiday Concert, "In Remembrance," with Stanford University Symphonic Chorus, 8 p.m. Thursday, November 18; and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, November 21, Stanford University Memorial Church. Tickets: $20. ** "Shall We Dance?" Sam Weber and friends return to dance a new tap concerto and other dances to the symphony's music. 8 p.m. Friday, January 14, San Mateo Performing Arts Center, 600 North Delaware Ave., San Mateo; and 8 p.m. Saturday, January 15, Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway, Redwood City. ** A benefit event for the Peninsula Symphony with Wesla Whitfield and the Mike Greensill Trio, 8 p.m. Saturday, February 5, Fox Theatre. ** Shakespeare & Love with ACT Conservatory Company, scenes from "Midsummer Night's Dream," "Much Ado about Nothing," and "Romeo and Juliet," with music at 8 p.m. Friday, March 18, Fox Theatre; and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 19, Flint Center. ** "Ode to Joy" -- Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with San Jose Symphonic Chorus; and concerto performed by the winner of the 2004 Irving M. Klein International String Competition at 8 p.m. Friday, May 20, San Mateo Performing Arts Center; and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21, Flint Center. For more information and to order tickets online, check www.peninsulasymphony.org, or call the office at 941-5291.

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