Concert IV

Sunday, June 17, 2012, 7:00 p.m.

Rolling Hills Covenant Church 2222 Palos Verdes Drive North

Rolling Hills Estates

The Norris Foundation Concert

PROGRAM

Celebrating Debussy:150 Years Old

Fauré Pavane

Tchaikovsky Violin ConcertoMichelle Tseng, Soloist

Winner, 2012 Knox Performance Competition

Debussy SyrinxBeth Pfleuger, Flute

Debussy La Mer

CONCERT DETAILS

Symphony Association members admitted at 6:00.Center-section priority seating is reserved formembers at the Patron level and above.

Concert Preview by Maestro Berkson at 6:15.

General public admitted at approximately 6:50.

After the concert, the audience is invited toCarlson Hall for a reception for the KnoxCompetition and Rips Scholarship winners. Gary Berkson will also be there and you willhave an opportunity to ask him questions andprovide comments.

S y m p h o n y S o u n d sJune 2012 45 Season, Number 4 Editor: Kenneth Gashth

For the past twenty years, the fourthconcert of each season has beengenerously supported by TheKenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris

Foundation. The Chairman of theFoundation is Ms. Harlyne K. Norris, aresident of Rolling Hills and a long-timesupporter of the Symphony and its activities.The support provided by the NorrisFoundation has contributed significantly toour ongoing growth and success in fulfillingour mission to provide excellent concerts offree classical music to our community. Onbehalf of our audience and members, theBoard of Directors of the PeninsulaSymphony Association extends our heartfeltthanks to Harlyne and the Norris Foundationfor their continuing support.

Music Preview

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Although Fauré wasone of the foremostFrench composers ofhis generation, and hismusical style influencedmany 20th-centurycomposers, very little ofhis large musical outputhas survived to this day.What has survived

forms a small but enlightening glimpse of thechanges that took place in music from theend of Romanticism to the modernism of thetwentieth century. When he was born,Chopin was still composing, and by the time

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of Fauré's death, jazz and the atonal piecesof the Second Viennese School were beingheard.

When Fauré was only eleven years old, hewas enrolled in the School of Classical andReligious Music in Paris. As he laterdescribed it, “the regime was austere, therooms gloomy, the food mediocre, and therequired uniform elaborate.” The musicinstruction was excellent and Fauré becamea pupil (and lifelong friend) of Camille Saint-Saëns. After eleven years, during which timehe won many musical prizes, Faurégraduated as a Laureate in organ, piano,harmony, and composition.

After graduation, Fauré took a low-paying jobas an organist and supplemented his incomeby giving “countless piano lessons.” Afterbeing fired from this position for a “lack ofreligious conviction,” he spent a few monthsas assistant organist at another churchbefore he volunteered for military service atthe outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war in1870. Eventually, he returned to Paris and,through a succession of positions, with helpfrom St. Saëns, became the organist at themagnificent Église de la Madeleine. In 1896he was appointed as a professor in the ParisConservatory of Music. Among his pupilswere Maurice Ravel, George Enescu, andNadia Boulanger. He later became the headof the Conservatory. Like another famouscomposer, Fauré became increasingly deafduring the last twenty years of his life.

Today, his best known compositions are theRequiem and the Pavane. In a letter to hiswife, the composer alludes to the creativeprocess involved in the genesis of hisPavane, "While I was thinking about athousand different things of no importancewhatsoever, a kind of rhythmical theme in thestyle of a Spanish dance took form in mybrain.... This theme developed by itself,became harmonized in different ways,changed and modulated; in effect, itgerminated by itself." Thus was born abeautiful and enduring composition that wewill hear our orchestra perform on Sunday.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

After only twoa n d - a - h a l fmonths of hisd i s a s t r o u smarriage to aformer student,Tchaikovsky,left Russia fora time, to settlein a qu ie tSwiss village

where he attempted to take up seriouscomposition again. March of 1878 found himplodding along on a piano sonata, but hewas interrupted by a visit from his formerstudent and friend, violinist Yosif Kotek.Kotek brought with him a large quantity ofmusic for them to read through, includingLalo's tone poem for violin and orchestra,Symphonie Espagnole. Tchaikovsky wasinspired by the work's "freshness, lightness,piquant rhythms, of beautiful and excellentlyharmonized melodies." Within days he wasbusy at work on his Violin Concerto, taking itfrom sketches to final orchestration in lessthan one month. Tchaikovsky dedicated thepiece to virtuoso Leopold Auer, theconcertmaster in St. Petersburg, whomTchaikovsky hoped would introduce thework to the musical world. Auer refused, andthe debut was given three years later withAdolf Brodsky and the Vienna Philharmonicconducted by Hans Richter. Brodsky wasprepared to perform this demanding work,but the orchestra was not. The performancewas not a success and the critic EduardHanslick wrote a vitriolic diatribe whichTchaikovsky was able to recite for the rest ofhis life. In it, Hanslick described the concertoas “music that stinks to the ear.”

Very quickly thereafter, the concerto wasenthusiastically accepted and received asuccessful Russian premiere. In time, Auercame around and taught it to his students, awhole generation of violin virtuosos includingHeifetz, Elman, Zimalist, Seidel, Milstein,Dushin, Shumsky, and others. Admirationfor the concerto by violinists and the public

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alike has guaranteed its permanent place inthe repertory.

Following an elegant orchestral opening, theviolin leads off with the first of threewonderfully rich and flowing melodies--gracious, playful and fervent. Throughout thefirst movement, the orchestra serves as amost collaborative partner. In addition to theshort opening it is given only two other full-orchestra passages--an extended introductionto the development section and a shortsection just prior to the cadenza. Thecadenza, Tchaikovsky's own, explores newthemes as well as providing requisite technicaldifficulties, then overlaps the solo flute whichbrings us back to the main theme. While thef irst movement exudes unabashedromanticism, the last two seem to underscorethe composer's homesickness for his nativeland. The winds introduce the secondmovement, a song form consisting of aSlavonic melody, followed by a tunelessmelancholic. The violin leaves us on aquestioning note, while orchestra finishes themovement leading, with no break, into thefinale. The last movement is full of ebullienthigh spirits--even when its momentum isslowed down by two lyrical episodes. Thedance like theme of the movement recurs bothtimes and ultimately brings the concerto to awhirlwind close.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Debussy was born in St-Germain-en-Laye,France. He entered the Paris Conservatoire atthe age of ten, where he both excelled andstartled professors with his defiance; he would

reportedly sit at thepiano and playchords that rejectedall the textbookrules. Like manycomposers beforea n d s i n c e ,Debussy's workwas greatly inspiredby poetry, and thecomposer was also

friends with many of the day's poets.

In 1894, Debussy created a symphonic poemfor orchestra entitled Prélude à l’aprés midid’un faune, based on a poem of that name byStéphane Mallarmé. This piece is considereda turning point in the history of music.Composer and conductor Pierre Boulezdates the beginnings of modern music fromthis composition.

Two aspects of musical style especiallyfavored by Debussy are his use ofchromaticism and his handling of orchestralcolor. Chromaticism is the use of the entiretwelve tones of the musical scale and hadbeen one of the main musical means toexpress sensuality at least since Wagner'sTristan und Isolde, a work that exerted adecisive influence on the young Debussy.But Debussy's use of chromaticism is moresubdued and less goal-oriented thanWagner's. The harmonic colorations Debussyintroduced and developed, so familiar to ustoday, were quite revolutionary whenaudiences heard them for the first time.

Debussy's personal life was quite turbulent. In 1904, he moved in with a married woman,Emma Bardac, with whom he was having anaffair. This action prompted his wife Lily toattempt suicide. However, he remained withhis mistress, ultimately marrying her in 1905after she divorced her husband. Debussywrote his famous Children’s Corner for theirdaughter Claude Emma (Chou Chou).Coincidentally, Gabriel Fauré (who wasmarried at the time) had an affair with thesame woman, Emma Bardac in 1902 and hewrote his Dolly Suite for Emma’s daughter,Hélène.

As you listen to his music at the concert,think of these words from Debussy:

“There is no theory. You have only to listen.Pleasure is the law. I love musicpassionately. And because l love it, I try tofree it from barren traditions that stifle it. It isa free art gushing forth—an open-air art,boundless as the elements, the wind, thesky, the sea. It must never be shut in andbecome an academic art.”

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Michelle Tseng

The winner of the Edith Knox Performancecompetition and soloist for the final concert ofthe season is Michelle Tseng, a twenty-yearold virtuoso from Huntington Beach.

Michelle started studying piano at the age of4 and violin at the age of 6. She made hersolo debut playing with Orange County JuniorOrchestra when she was 13 years old. Shehas performed as a soloist with variousorchestras ranging from USC Symphony,Downey Symphony, Rio Hondo Symphony,Torrance Symphony, and South CoastSymphony. Tseng won the USC concertocompetition as a freshman, and heracclaimed performance was broadcast onKUSC 91.5.

In the past two summers, she attendedAspen Summer Music Festival andInternational Music Academy at Pilsen in theCzech Republic both on full scholarships, andwas selected to give various recitals in Aspenand Prague.

Michelle is currently a senior at the Universityof Southern California where she studies withProfessor Alice Schoenfeld. Recent awardsinclude: First Place winner of American String

Teacher Association National ViolinCompetition, senior division; Orange CountyPerforming Arts Center named her“Tomorrow’s Star” in 2008; Rio HondoSymphony’s “Young Artist of the Year” in2010; and Los Angeles Music Centerhonored her as one of the Grand Prizewinners in the 2009 Spotlight Awards.

Michelle also takes pleasure in playing thepiano, attending local music concerts, andbringing her music to charity organizationsand local churches.

Past Events Third Concert

The third concert of the current season wasunusual in the sense that it contained onlytwo pieces. In his pre-concert talk, MaestroBerkson explained his reasons forstructuring the concert this way and thenspent almost the entire lecture providing adetailed and entertaining analysis of the Ivessymphony. At intermission I heard a numberof audience members commenting on howmuch they enjoyed the work that theythought they might dislike.

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The second half of the program consisted ofthe magnificent Second Piano Concerto ofJohannes Brahms with Esther Keel assoloist. In this concerto, the orchestra is notmerely the accompanist to the soloist but is afull collaborator in a grand work of symphonicproportions. Ms. Keel negotiated theextremely difficult technical demands of themusic with both power and finesse, while theorchestra provided a beautifully balancedpartnership.

After the concert, members of the audienceremained behind to participate in a livelyand informative question-and-answersession with Esther Keel and GaryBerkson.

Special thanks to Esther for volunteeringher time and energy to visit threeelementary schools--Carr Elementary,Lomita Math/Science Magnet andEshelman--where she presented a livelyi n t r o d u c t i o n to c l a s s i c a l m u s i cdemonstrated by some wonderful pianoplaying.

Thanks to our Supporters

At the end of each season, we take theopportunity to express our appreciation to allof the organizations and individuals whodonated their time and money, without whichwe would not be able to provide ourexhilarating concerts. I have tried, in thefollowing lists, to thank every person andorganization, and I apologize in advance forany error or omission.

Our primary supporters are the almost 500members of the Peninsula SymphonyAssociation, whose donations (in the form ofSymphony Association memberships),provide the majority of the funds needed foroperations. In addition, many of our membersbelong to the Friends of the PeninsulaSymphony. These volunteers have annuallyraised up to $20,000 to augment themembership donations!

This year we also were gratified to receivespecial donations from several individualmembers. One of the donors, who prefers toremain anonymous, gave $11,000 andanother, Chiyoko Sudario, presented thePeninsula Symphony Association with acheck for $10,000. We sincerely thank theseand other members who choose to supportthe symphony beyond their membershiplevels.

Our beautiful Program Book containsadvertisements from over eighty localorganizations and businesses who providemuch-needed support. You can find theirnames listed on page 54, and we encourageyou to patronize these supporters.

There are a large number of organizationsand individuals that have provided servicesor donated money:

Opus Bank, Boeing, City of Rolling Hills,City of Rancho Palos Verdes, City ofTorrance, CMS Design Portraiture,County of Los Angeles Supervisor DonKnabe, Daily Breeze, MorganStanley-SmithBarney, Edler Realty Center, HarborCollege, Malaga Bank, Kenneth T. andEileen L. Norris Foundation, Law Officesof Conover and Grebe LLP, Palos VerdesPeninsula News, Peninsula People,Peninsula Seniors (Maryann Rimoin),Marshall and David Rips Fund

This year’s Edith Knox PerformanceCompetition had the largest audience ever.If you were not there, please plan to attendnext year. The prize money for the finalistswas provided by the generous donations ofthe Competition Angels: Duane Conover,Dr. and Mrs. William Horowitz, BettyBelsky, Bob Coffey, Larry and RobertaDumas, Jackie Crowley, Midge and JackTrost, Lee Dorsey, Lester and Pearl Kim,Robert and Helene Reid, and Carol andRoger Schamp.

Duane Conover, the PerformanceCompetition Chair also thanks the dedicatedvolunteers who helped him this year. They

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are: Ken Gash (MC), Kay Yamada (Artists’Coordinator), Helene Reid (OfficeCoordinator), Carol Schamp (Publicity),Jeffrey Yakubik (Staff Asst.), JackieCrowley, (Receptions), Charles Kraus,Marion Ruth, Roger Schamp, and JackTrost.

Finally, we thank everyone who madedonations to one of the designated accountsthat were created to fund specific activitiesmanaged by the Peninsula SymphonyAssociation. These include: the J. WilliamFinkel Concert Quality Endowment (helpsfund extra rehearsals and other qualityimprovements), the Elizabeth Holborn Chair(helps pay the cost of the concertmaster), theJulian Spear Chair (helps pay the cost of theprincipal clarinetist), the Marshall and DavidRips Fund (helps pay for the Ripsscholarship), the Edith Knox Fund and theMimi Horowitz Fund (both of these helpcover costs of running the PerformanceCompetition). Everyone is encouraged tocontribute to these accounts to both honorthe named individuals and help us continue--and eventually expand--these activities.

Thanks to Our Volunteers

Time is a precious commodity, and dozens ofindividuals in our community donate largeportions of their time as volunteers to enablethe Peninsula Symphony to operate.

The Peninsula Symphony Board of Directors,listed on Page 51 of the Program Book, are agroup of multi-tasking volunteers who, inaddition to managing the operational andfiscal affairs of the organization also do manyof the tasks that might be done by paidemployees. As you read the names ofvolunteers below, note how many of them areon the Board.

Thanks to those who served as ushers at theconcerts: Elsa and Bert Wertz, Jim Jones,Corwin White, Jackie Crowley, DickChaussee, Mary Graff, Ginny Bleier, Wally

Christmas, Roger Schamp and CaroleLow.

Thanks to the volunteers who helped us withintermission refreshments at the concerts:Jane Jones, Joan Ballreich, VirginiaButler, Jackie Crowley, Les Fishman,Nancy Mahr, Hugh Pendleton, MarionRuth, Lilli Tom, Midge and Jack Trost,Sue Williams, Kay and Paul Nibarger,Faye Schwartz, George Camisa, MaryChunko, Marilyn Camisa, Flora Hummeland Jean Shriver.

Our Program Book is created through theefforts of the following: Nancy Mahr (Editor)and Jackie Crowley (Advertising), SteveOzawa, Design EDGE (the Program BookArt Director, who provided design andprinting assistance), Helene Reid (whohandled Symphony Association officesupport), Chris Stillians, CMS DesignPortraiture (who did the cover photography –and some of the interior photos too), Sueand Larry Andrews, Ken Gash (who alsoprovided photography), and CaroleWestberg (who continues her many-yeareffort of writing our program notes).

For each concert, publicity flyers must beprinted and distributed, detailed inserts areprinted and inserted in the program booksand the books must be stored and retrieved.We thank the volunteers who do thesetasks: Ken Gash, Helene Reid, Jack andMidge Trost, James and MargaretVuncanon, Neville Howarth, Jane Copper,Charlie Shriver, Eugene McAdoo, Caroland Roger Schamp, George Bender,Bruce Erickson, Brendon Bond, BertWertz and Chuck Klaus.

We also thank the organizations that eitherallow us to place flyers at their facilities orhelp us distribute flyers to the community. These include: Amuse Music, TheCanterbury, Harbor College, MarshallMusic, Palos Verdes Estates City Hall,Peninsula Seniors, Rancho Palos VerdesCity Hall, Rolling Hills City Hall, RollingHills Covenant Church, Rolling Hills

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Summer Pops ConcertJuly 22, 2012, 4:30 p.m.

Rolling Hills Covenant Church 2222 Palos Verdes Drive North

Rolling Hills Estates

Fiddle-Faddle by Leroy Anderson

“On the Trail” from The Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé

Selections from “Porgy and Bess” by George Gershwin

The Carousel Waltz by Richard Rodgers

Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller

Selections from “The Wizard of Oz”by Harold Arlen

Selections from “West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein

“America the Beautiful” by Samuel Ward

Conducted by Wayne Abravanel

Estates City Hall, Palos Verdes Library, St.Luke’s Presbyterian Church, Torrance CityHall, Torrance Library, San Pedro Library,First Presbyterian Church of San Pedroand 15 Street Elementary School in Santh

Pedro.

This year we had a grant from the NationalEndowment for the Arts which supported thesoloist fee for Esther Keel, musicalpresentations by Ms Keel at three Title 1 schools, and the bringing of children fromEshelman Elementary School to enjoy theorchestra’s music at the dress rehearsal forour last concert. Among the volunteers whohelped with this were: John Copper, KenGash, Nancy Wilcox and Mona Gifford fromthe Symphony Association as well as RichardPeterson, principal at Carr Elementary inTorrance, Helene Webster, magnetcoordinator at Lomita Math/Science MagnetSchool, Rhonda Pannell, principal atEshelman and Connie Acosta, assistantprincipal and Mr Ali, music teacher whochaperoned the Eshelman students.

There are many others who provide time andexpertise, among whom is Bruce Ericksonwho maintains www.pensym.org Website(which you should visit often), and the staff atRolling Hills Covenant Church, especiallyEllynn-Marie Artuccio and Ken and DianaBauma and Mark Cramer, stage manager.

A SPECIAL THANKS goes to Midge andJack Trost who regularly miss much ofeach concert so that they can provide thecoffee and refreshments for the audienceduring intermission.

Finally, I thank those people without whom Icould not have done this job - my proofreaders, contributors, folders and mailers, and

Helene Reid, Faye Schwartz, Janecritics:

Jones, Anita Gash, John Copper, JimVuncanon, Eugene McAdoo, GeorgeBender, Brendon Bond, Roger and CarolSchamp, and Charlie and Jean Shriver.

2012 - 2013 Concert Schedule

A full schedule for the exciting fourthseason of the orchestra under thedirection of Maestro Gary Berkson willbe available at the Membership Deskat the June 17 concert. Gary hasprepared a wonderful program withsoloists at all four concerts. Be sureto get one, read it and then renew orupgrade your membership.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPermit No. 47

Palos Verdes PeninsulaCalifornia

Contact InformationAny questions or requests about the Peninsula Symphony, the Peninsula Symphony Association, Symphony Sounds, or the Friends of the Peninsula Symphony should be sent tothe Peninsula Symphony Association office. We will route your message to the appropriateperson.

The Peninsula Symphony Association Post Office Box 2602 Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274

The office is normally staffed from 9:00 to noon on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You maycall at any time (310-544-0320) and leave a message on our answering machine, but phonereplies will usually be made only during normal staffing hours. You can e-mail us atmusic.pensym@verizon.net. General information about the Symphony (current seasonschedule, etc.) can be found on our website (www.pensym.org).

Other contacts are:

Peninsula Symphony Association President, Kenneth B. Gash 310-541-3516 kgash@cox.net Friends of the Peninsula Symphony, Mona Gifford, Chair

310-377-7711 monagee@cox.net

Music Director/Conductor, Gary Berkson conductor.pensym@verizon.net

Post Office Box 2602

Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED