February 11, 2004

The Schedule

See here.

Welcome President Joe

We're happy to introduce our new Board President, Joe Hustein. Joe sent us the following bio.

I am a husband, father, Palo Alto'n, Californian, American, lawyer, writer, techie, artist (visual) and lover of classical music. I was born in Germany, immigrated to the U.S., grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and first set foot in California on the day Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. In 1989 I moved to Palo Alto from Sacramento and before that from Santa Barbara. From ages 9 to 13 I played the violin, but ever since then I only play the stereo -- but I finally mastered something that produces pleasant music.

Seriously though, as a lawyer, I have been in private practice as well as a General Counsel of public and private companies and involved in business management for decades. My college degrees include law, management, fine arts (industrial design) and electrical engineering. Most of my business life has revolved around technology and intellectual property. With RWS, my goal is to use my experience and love for classical music to help guide the infrastructure of the orchestra toward a sounder and more secure place.

Joe can be reached via e-mail at
hustod at ix.netcom.com (E-mail address obscured to prevent spam; replace " at " with @.)
or by phone at 408-472-7248.

4 / 24 Dress Rehearsal Cancelled

Since we'll be doing Petrushka (from the previous weekend's concert) at our Family Concert, we'll only need one rehearsal for the Family Concert.

See complete schedule here.

Another Look at Concert Dress

-- Eric Kujawsky

When planning our "look" for concerts, we have to walk a fine line between individuality and eyesore. As you know, our concert dress is "black with a splash of color," with the color left up to each person. The idea is to look sharp yet somewhat casual, with some individuality/personality. I encourage everyone to eschew jackets and ties, and to use a little color. It's been pointed out that the effect doesn't work if there are people in the orchestra wearing suits, tuxes, or simply black dresses. Also, please avoid bare skin, feathers, German World War I helmets, or other things that will cause you to be a major distraction. I understand that this may be difficult to do in practice, and we are learning as we go along. Just try to be creative without calling undue attention to yourself. Imagine that the Fab 5 from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy were dressing you. (Then again, better not.)

Number your Berlioz Parts

Reminder from last issue.

Please number the measures in your Berlioz Les Troyens parts prior to the February 11th rehearsal. The measure with a fermata in the middle is the 111th measure. There are 167 measures in total.

What have you Heard Lately?

Submitted by Ann Yvonne Walker

Johannes Brahms: Choral Works San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Blomstedt, 1990.
The opening track, Schicksalslied, is amazingly vivid and has a huge sonic depth; the musicianship is spirited and virtually flawless. Also of interest: Nänie, the rarely heard Funeral Hymn, and the Alto Rhapsody.

Gaelic Storm: "Gaelic Storm" OmTown Music label (a division of Higher Octave Music, Inc. of Malibu), 1998. A rollicking good time from the Irish band that played at the below-deck party in the movie Titanic. You can't resist stomping your feet and singing along

Please send favorite CD submissions to George (oboe) at george@yefchak.com. Otherwise, he'll just list stuff he likes here…

Program Deadlines

For program notes, donor lists, soloist bios, advertisements, etc.

Materials to George (oboe) by Wednesday, February 18
To Press on Friday, February 20

Advertisement -- Barber of Seville

West Bay Opera's new production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville opens soon. It's the classic story about Figaro -- the wily, resourceful barber and jack-of-all-trades. All of Figaro's skill is needed to help the beautiful Rosina escape from her foolish, old guardian and marry the man she loves. Multiple disguises, secret letters, daring midnight escapes -- every trick in the book finds its way into this brilliant comedy.

The cast includes West Bay Opera favorites Sonia Gariaeff as Rosina, and Michael Morris Dr. Bartolo. Also featured are three exciting young artists making their WBO debuts. Baritone Jordan Shanahan, in the role of Figaro, is a member of Opera Studio Nederland, a former resident artist at Orlando Opera, and has appeared with regional companies throughout the country. Coloratura soprano Robin De Leon, who alternates in the role of Rosina, is a regular principal singer at Arizona Opera and a frequent guest artist at Opera Pacific. Our Count Almaviva is John Zuckerman, a wonderful young lyric tenor whose credits include Baltimore Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn, and Tanglewood Music Center. Also appearing in his first role with the company is bass John Burton, one of the finalists in last fall's WBO Superstar competition.

The Barber of Seville is directed by David Ostwald and conducted by David Sloss. If you've never seen a West Bay Opera production, you'll be delighted by the quality of the talented young performers, who are chosen both for their outstanding voices and for their dramatic skill. You'll be entranced by the intimacy of the performance. Opera comes to life in a special way when you're close enough to see all the details. And it's real opera too -- with a full orchestra, and complete English supertitles.

The Barber of Seville runs for two weekends, with performances on February 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22. Friday and Saturday night shows are at 8 P.M.; Sunday matinees are at 2 P.M. All performances are at Lucie Stern Theatre, on Middlefield at Melville in Palo Alto.

For tickets, call the box office at 650-424-9999, weekdays between 1 and 6 P.M. You can also order online at www.wbopera.org.

This is a Web version of text from the newsletter "Redwood Symphony Notepad" which is distributed to members of the Redwood Symphony at rehearsals. The newsletter and this online version are edited by George Yefchak.

Return to the Notepad Index