This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
8


December 2011 Few Gifts Like A Live Music


Performance By Dana Mambourg Zimbric One of my first memories of attending a live


concert is from the 5th grade. My class walked across the street to the middle school auditorium, where the high school band performed their holi- day concert for us. Part way through the concert, the band director asked who would like to help conduct the next piece. I waved my hand like cra- zy, and he looked right at me…and chose the girl to my left. I was crushed.


Camerata Sorrento Musicians I was 20 years old before I realized that what I really wanted to do was become


a conductor. But that 5th grade memory has stuck with me all these years. The sheer excitement of hearing music performed live was such a gift for me that day…and it remains a gift each and every time.


We all carry around these libraries of recorded music in our pockets. And all we


have to do is pop in the ear buds to hear perfectly performed, digitally mastered ver- sions of our favorite tunes. But it’s not the same.


Recorded music lacks the energy and the immediacy of a live performance.


There’s an electricity that crackles back and forth between artist and audience, be- tween stage and seats. I feel it from the podium when I conduct, and on the rare oc- casions when I get to be part of the audience, I feel it as I sit on the edge of my seat. Even Apple hasn’t figured out how to capture that.


We’re so lucky in this region to have world class performances so close to home.


Whether it’s a performance of the California Chamber Orchestra, a visiting interna- tional artist, an intimate chamber ensemble, or a rollicking Klezmer band. There are so many options to hear, to see, to feel, to be touched by live music.


I’m working my way through my Christmas list right now. And there are people


on it who’d be so happy to get a CD that I picked out for them, or an iTunes gift card. But then I think how those same people could be thrilled by a chance to hear their favorite artist or explore a new style of music live and in person. Yes, there will be tickets under the tree for many of my loved ones this year. And I can’t wait to see the look in their eyes, to hear their excitement as they tell me about what they expe- rienced at the theater.


Oh, and that band director who chose the wrong girl to conduct that day? He


was my high school band director, and a tremendous mentor for me as I began my career as a professional musician and conductor. But I realized I’ve never told him this story. I’ll have to send him a copy of this column.


May your holidays and the year to come be filled with the magic of music, and I look forward to seeing you and your loved ones at the theater.


Dana Mambourg Zimbric is Artistic Director of the Golden Valley Music Society and Conductor of the California Chamber Orchestra.


Candlelight Classics Rings In Holidays with “Four Seasons”


Continuing its tradition of festive chamber concerts to ring in the holidays, the


Golden Valley Music Society presents its annual Candlelight Classics performanc- es at 3pm on Sunday, December 4 and Sunday, December 11, in the Club at the Merc, Old Town Temecula Community Theater. For these performances, the Merc is dressed in its holiday finery and bathed in candlelight. It’s the perfect atmosphere for chamber music.


This year, Candlelight Classics returns to its roots with Antonio Vivaldi’s in-


comparable “The Four Seasons,” a series of four violin concertos that are some of the best-known examples of chamber music. Performing Vivaldi’s music along with a selection of other holiday favorites is Camerata Sorrento, a San Diego area en- semble. A smaller version of the ensemble has appeared many times at the Merc as Quartetto Sorrento. The group features Ondrej Lewit, Steve Stohs, and Michael Dvoskins, violins; Paula Simmons, viola; Gordon Grubbs, violincello; and Odile Richart, harpsichord.


Tickets for Candlelight Classics are $25, and are available at the Theater’s Ticket Of- fice, online at: www.TemeculaTheater.org, or by calling 866.OLD.TOWN (866.653- 8696).


The Chronicle


www.ChronicleMediaGroup.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24