I hope this finds you and your loved ones staying safe and healthy. Like all orchestras around the country, we continue to make the best of the uncertainty at this time through virtual engagement and planning for the future. I am grateful for the leadership, flexibility and creativity being shown throughout our orchestra from staff, board members, musicians and donors—together, I know we will stay strong and weather this storm, just as we have in past crises. Thank you for being a part of our Symphony family and helping keep our community connected!
I hope you have taken the time, in these past weeks, to connect with us—whether a concert broadcast on KRCB, keeping up-to-date with our musicians through social media, or joining me for a watch party at lecce-chong.com/FLCatHOME. I was particularly happy to see two of our musicians, Concertmaster Joe Edelberg and flutist Stacey Pelinka, have a lovely performance on the SRS Facebook page. Also, this past week, I watched a Facebook live stream of SRS first violinist Eugenia Wie performing from her porch.
I can't tell you when we'll be able to start performing in the Green Music Center again, but until then, I can promise you that my colleagues and I will be tireless in bringing you joy, beauty and hope through music in every way possible.
Sincerely yours,
Francesco |
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IN THIS ISSUE
SRSYO releases virtual concert on May 20
Subscription Renewals - deadline extended
2020-2021 Classical Season Overview
Meet violinist Michelle Maruyama
2020-2021 Family Series Overview |
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SRS Youth Orchestra
Releases remotely-recorded concert on May 20
Online concert will include virtual World Premiere
During this time of sheltering in place and social distancing, the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra is busy planning and preparing a virtual performance. The orchestra will perform, via remotely-recorded video, in chamber groups, the majority of which will be trios and quartets. Each group is collaborating online to prepare the specific piece chosen for their group. Group members learn their individual parts, talk through their ideas and play for one another. When ready, they play for their conductor Bobby Rogers or manager Jane Shelly for approval to record. The individually recorded parts are synced together by tech-savvy SRS ensemble manager Matt Payne and parent volunteer Chitrang Davé into a chamber concert recording.
The most ambitious piece involves the brass and percussion sections. These 26 young musicians perform a world premiere of Michael Murrin’s Fuel of the Soul, a fanfare the SRSYO commissioned for the 60th-anniversary concert, originally scheduled for May 9. Michael Murrin, an alumnus of the SRS Youth Ensembles, is the second composer to participate in the SRS Institute for Music Education’s First Opus Project, which echoes the SRS’ First Symphony Project. This initiative allows young composers to create new compositions for young musicians and emphasizes the important connection between the composer, conductor and musician in the creation of a new work.
The target date for the release of this virtual concert is May 20, 2020. The video will be available on the Symphony's Facebook page, YouTube channel and website. For more information, contact Jane Shelly. |
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Season subscriptions on sale
Deadline to renew subscriptions has been extended!
Patron Services staff is ready to assist you with anything from renewing your same seats, requesting new seats, changing your performance day, or setting up a payment plan. Anything you need, they are available.
Rest assured that though the downtown office is closed, Symphony staff continue to monitor phone messages, return calls and emails promptly, and retrieve and process mail twice weekly.
Because you and all of our subscribers are the core of the Symphony, it has relaxed the subscription renewal deadline for same seats to May 8th. The Symphony staff, musicians and Francesco look forward to when we can all be together again at Weill Hall for live, Santa Rosa Symphony concerts.
Look ahead with us to a bright new season of shared Symphony experiences by renewing your season subscription. There are so many rich performances yet to come.
Here are four easy ways to renew:
Leave a message at (707) 546-8742 for Patron Services staff, who will return your call the same day or next business day.
Renew (for same seat, same day renewals) at srsymphony.org (instructions included)
Mail your completed order form to the Symphony
Photograph both sides of your completed form with your smartphone and email it to tickets@srsymphony.org
Not a subscriber yet?
If you are not a subscriber yet, plan for seven concerts, with your preferred seat and full subscriber benefits! Subscribers save money, get free ticket exchanges, single ticket fees waived and more. |
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2020-2021 CLASSICAL SERIES
SHARE EVERY MOMENT
Saturday and Monday 7:30 pm; Sunday 3:00 pm; Discovery Open Rehearsals Saturday 2 pm;
Concert Conversations one hour prior to every performance (excluding Discovery Rehearsals) |
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FANTASTIQUE!
October 3-5, 2020
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor
Alexander Toradze, piano
MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG: Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 2
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique |
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TRIUMPH & TRAGEDY
November 7-9, 2020
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor
Elina Vähälä, violin
GABRIELLA SMITH: Tumblebird Contrails
KORNGOLD: Violin Concerto in D major
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6, Pathétique |
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BEETHOVEN'S NINTH
December 5-7, 2020
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor
Elizabeth Prior, viola
SSU Symphonic Chorus
Vocal soloists, TBD |
BRAHMS: Academic Festival Overture
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Flos Campi for Viola, Orchestra and Chorus
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9, choral |
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KLEZMER & SCHEHERAZADE
January 9-11, 2021
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor
David Krakauer, clarinet
TRADITIONAL KLEZMER: Selections TBD
DAVID KRAKAUER/KATHLEEN TAGG:
The Fretless Clarinet Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet and Orchestra [World Premiere]
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade |
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AMERICAN RHAPSODY
February 13-15, 2021
Aram Demirjian, guest conductor
Michelle Cann, piano
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WILLIAM GRANT STILL: Darker America
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue
GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody
COPLAND: Appalachian Spring |
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HEMINGWAY & BOLÉRO
March 20-22, 2021
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor
Zuill Bailey, cello
ERNESTO LECUONA: Malagueña from Andalucía Suite
GABRIELLA SMITH: Symphony No. 1 [First Symphony Project]
MICHAEL DAUGHERTY: Tales of Hemingway
RAVEL: Boléro |
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CLASSIC ELEGANCE
May 1-3, 2021
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor
Julian Rhee, violin
SHAW: Entr'acte for String Orchestra MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 5, Turkish RACHMANINOFF: Symphony No. 2 |
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Classical Series Subscriptions: $147-$595
Discovery Open Rehearsal Series Subscriptions: $112 adult (new lower price); $70 youth (18 and under)
(707) 54-MUSIC (546-8742)
50 Santa Rosa Ave., First Floor, Santa Rosa
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Meet Our Musicians
Michelle Maruyama, second violin
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Second violinist Michelle Maruyama has been with the Symphony since 2002. She is also a member of the Marin and California symphonies and was concertmaster of the North American Tour of The Phantom of the Opera for two and a half years.
Michelle knew she wanted to play the violin when she was two and a half. Imagine this toddler, who had been told the importance of being a big sister to her newborn brother, declaring, "Now that I'm two and a half, don't you think I should have a violin?" Her shocked parents realized she had seen Itzhak Perlman on Sesame Street. She received a plastic Mickey Mouse guitar for her next birthday. |
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"I was really mad! This was not a violin! My parents heard about the Suzuki method and told me to wait until I was four. I think they thought I would forget, but I kept asking and when I turned four, I started private lessons. I remember seeing Perlman play Gavotte from Mignon (from Suzuki Book 2) on Sesame Street years later and being so proud that a song I knew how to play was on TV!"
Born in Washington DC, and raised in Maryland, Michelle also took up the viola in middle school orchestra. "When you are a violin student, you play the melody most of the time, but playing viola, you learn to appreciate the way supportive voices add color and character to music. The viola often plays the third of the chord, and so determines whether it is major or minor!"
She continued to play that instrument in addition to the violin through grad school but never considered abandoning her first love, the violin, for it. She also played double bass in the middle school and high school jazz band.
Though her lab scientist parents always supported her musical ambitions, her mom also encouraged her to have a well-rounded education. Michelle was a National Merit Scholar, with deferred admission to MIT and waitlisted for Harvard after telling the interviewer she had no intention to attend the school.
Michelle's favorite composer is Beethoven. She says he is "both the most human and the most sublime. It is so radical when he rebels against the Classical forms, precisely because his use of them is so good. More than that, Beethoven has so much vigor and humor and tenderness and simplicity. The quartets are sacred to all of us string players, but I love all of it, early, middle, late." |
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2020-2021 FAMILY SERIES
Musical afternoons with the family!
FREE Instrument Petting Zoo at 2 pm for all Family Series Concerts |
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LOST IN SPACE
November 1, 2020
3:00 pm
Bobby Rogers, conductor
SRJC Planetarium
Join the orchestra on a musical trip to outer space, with music from the original Lost in Space TV series, Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, E.T. and Holst's The Planets. This interactive, multimedia concert will engage youngsters and adults alike.
Come in costume and enjoy the free photo booth at 2 pm! |
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GERSHWIN'S MAGIC KEY
January 24, 2021
3:00 pm
Bobby Rogers, conductor
Classical Kids Live!
A poor newspaper boy and the great American composer George Gershwin meet on the streets of New York City. While the orchestra magically weaves 20 of Gershwin’s greatest hits like “I Got Rhythm” and “Rhapsody in Blue” into the drama, the boy explores the vast melting pot of American music and unlocks his own musical potential. |
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FRANCESCO AT BAT
April 11, 2021
3:00 pm
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor
Francesco strikes up the orchestra with his bat(on) for this fun, interactive concert, which includes a singalong of Take Me Out to the Ballgame! Discover how musicians train just like athletes, with practice and teamwork. Feel the excitement as Coach Francesco pulls them together to play winning music. Show your team spirit by wearing a sports jersey! |
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Family Series Subscriptions: $54/adult; $27/child (12 and under)
Family Packages start at $144 (must include 4 subscriptions, of which 2 are child subscriptions)
(707) 54-MUSIC (546-8742)
50 Santa Rosa Ave., First Floor, Santa Rosa
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