Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ain’t Just Kiddin’ on the Keys


The accordion evokes a wonderful nostalgia for me. It takes me back to my undergrad years at the Oberlin Conservatory (where I met my wife!). I had the good fortune of befriending Michael Pisani, who later became assistant conductor of the Houston Grand Opera. Michael was a super accordionist—he played his own arrangement of Mozart’s Figaro Overture at breakneck speed, or the last movement of Brahms’s Violin Concerto, covering the orchestra and the soloist parts on his accordion.

We were poor music students, and Michael and I were lucky enough to land a strolling restaurant job at the Oberlin Inn. While people were eating their roast beef or pasta dinners, Michael and I would serenade them, he on the accordion and myself on the violin. We played our own arrangements of Strauss waltzes, some Kreisler showpieces (imagine the Praeludium and Allegro with those opening chords on the accordion—it’s fantastic!), and even popular stuff—the movie Young Frankenstein had just come out, and the music was great for that kind of swooning crooning stuff that one expects in strolling dining territory.

Of course, the accordion has had its fair (or unfair!) share of jokes leveled at it. “I’ve always wanted to play the accordion badly, and now I do,” or “Play the accordion and go to jail—that’s the law.” But we must take these in stride, and put ’em next to all those viola jokes, drummer jokes, singer jokes, and yes, conductor jokes.

Fast forwarding to the present, I am simply awed by our guest soloist this week. Peter Soave is a true virtuoso—the National Accordion Association calls him “The Great One.” He has mastered Max Simončič’s Accordion Concerto. It’s an exciting world premiere—a novel addition to the repertoire.

And here’s the thing: Peter’s accordion doesn’t have any piano keys, both sides are entirely button-operated. It’s fascinating to watch, and to listen to. Peter really isn’t just kiddin’ on the keys!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Passion at Any Age

We know it can be harder to pick up a second language when we’re older, or more difficult to learn how to ride a bike as an adult than as a kid, right? In the same way, the older we get, the more effort and courage it takes to tackle a musical instrument for the first time—which is why I admire the high school kids at Weston Ranch High School who play in their orchestra, led by music teacher Joe Barron. Many of these students—even some seniors—are just beginning to experience the joys and challenges of playing string instruments for the first time. I just visited them today, and was impressed by their enthusiasm and passion, their dedication, and their ability to focus—and a lot of that inspiration comes from Joe, who is tireless in his spirit for promoting the great things music ensembles can do for us.

The experience took me back to when I played violin in a school orchestra for the first time. I was nine, in Berkeley in the 1960s. Our elementary school had an orchestra, and this was a true symphony, not just a string ensemble. We had winds, brass, and percussion along with a healthy string section.

Back then, California used to rank at the very top of our nation in terms of per-capita spending for the arts and for education in general. Now we’re practically at the bottom. Many school systems are no longer offering musical ensembles at the elementary school level, and recent cuts have taken a severe toll on middle school programs as well. Which is where Joe and his school come in. We need music in our curriculum; it’s not just a frill. Joe knows that, and the kids know it, too, so they sign up for orchestra, relishing the musical pursuit, even at the entry level. ’Way to go, Weston Ranch—thanks for keeping it going!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Musical Radar

When we’re lucky, it just clicks. We’re so used to the idea of “no pain, no gain” that we’re amazed by those few occasions when we can achieve something wonderful with a minimum of effort—it does happen just once in a while! That’s the way it was working with our recent piano soloist, Martina Filjak, playing beautiful performances of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G. She just makes it happen, and it was so easy to perform with her.

One of the many fascinating parts of my job is getting to work with quite a few world-class soloists. Sometimes I’ve met and worked with these artists before, but just as often we’re meeting for the first time during a concert set—it’s about 50/50. In this case, I had never met Martina before last week—but it was certainly about time, we’ve been trying to book her with the Symphony for quite a while, and the schedules finally meshed.

Last Monday afternoon, Martina played through her concerto for me in Atherton Auditorium—just the two of us were in the hall. Listening to her, it was obvious right away by her sense of timing what a treasure these performances would be. We made just a couple of suggestions to each other, but she made this difficult work so easy—working in rehearsals and concerts with Martina was a breeze.

All great artists have a great feeling for rubato—when to stretch the tempo, when to push ahead, and so on. But even within that keen sense, there’s what I call musical radar. Some great artists play in such a way that when a stretch is about to happen, she/he telegraphs the ideas in advance. We’ve been so fortunate at the Stockton Symphony to be able to work with so many soloists who possess specifically that gift of creating poetry through musical time. When you’re working with a great artist like Martina, the radar is wonderful. You don’t even have to look at her, you can sense what’s coming. I sometimes think the nonverbal communication you get when collaborating with soloists and with an orchestra is the closest we can get to telepathy.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Vibrant Colors and Rhythms Open Symphony Season

’Hard to imagine, but in the early 1930s most of the U.S. had never seen nor heard some percussion instruments we now take for granted—bongos, maracas, claves (wood blocks), and the guiro (notched gourd played with stick). The fascinatin’ dance rhythms of Latin America were just beginning to take hold, and two iconic American composers contributed to that enthusiasm, each traveling south of the border and bringing back a musical souvenir. These inspirations bookend our season opener with the Stockton Symphony: George Gershwin’s catchy Cuban Overture, inspired by the rumba; and Aaron Copland’s vivacious El Salón México, incorporating folk melodies while evoking a dance hall in Mexico City.

This colorful program also explores the intriguing Gershwin-Ravel connection. French composer Maurice Ravel had traveled to New York in the late ’20s, becoming infected with a healthy dose of Gershwin’s current take on jazz. Likewise, Gershwin had traveled to Paris, getting acquainted with Ravel’s music on his home turf, and he began to orchestrate his American jazz elements with a bit of the French master’s sophistication.

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G continues to show the composers’ mutual admiration, incorporating wonderful elements of jazz harmony and rhythm. Our fabulous soloist, visiting Stockton for the first time, is the international pianist sensation Martina Filjak, winner of the 2009 Cleveland Piano Competition. We’re all eagerly anticipating her performances of Ravel’s virtuoso vehicle, and you may want to check out her accomplishments in detail at http://www.martinafiljak.com/.

The second half of our program explores two very different facets of Aaron Copland. The Orchestral Variations, in the compact space of 12 or 13 minutes, shows a dramatic, powerful, brooding side of the composer that we don’t often get to hear. Rounding out the evening in rousing contrast is El Salón México described above, exhibiting the same exuberance of those familiar Copland “cowboy” ballets, like Rodeo.
What a great way to open the concert season—we look forward to having you join us!

Thursday, September 22, at 8:00 p.m., repeated on Saturday, September 24 at 6:00 p.m. at Atherton Auditorium on the campus of San Joaquin Delta College.

Purchase tickets at 209-951-0196 or visit our website by clicking on the link below.
stocktonsymphony.org

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Blockbuster Classics Season Finale—Soloist Back by Popular Demand

Pianist Chu-Fang Huang is back! Having taken our breath away a few seasons ago, she has returned to deliver Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, beloved for its hallmark Romantic tunes and dazzling virtuosity. Just a few weeks ago, Chu-Fang was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. This is an amazing honor. One can't even apply for one of these grants—the Avery Fisher talent scouts, after an extensive process, simply select an artist for the award. Chu-Fang now joins the company of other distinguished awardees, including Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, and Christopher O'Riley. We're all looking forward to Chu-Fang's stunning performances with the Stockton Symphony, infused by her vivacious personality and consummate musicianship.

Bookending "Rach 2" are two favorites from the Russian symphonic repertoire—Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite—hence we've entitled our season finale "From Russia with Love." The great Russian composers had a way of creating themes that instantly appeal to us with a folklike character: sometimes these melodies are actually based on folk songs, but more often the composers create a bit of genius by crafting a tune that simply sounds folklike. This is certainly true in Glinka's overture. Once we get past the pyrotechnics of the opening (listen to our orchestra fly!), we hear the lyrical second theme that sounds instantly familiar—even if we've never heard it before. Stravinsky had this same genius in spades. His Firebird suite became so popular during his lifetime that he conducted it almost 1,000 times, and now the music has permeated our global culture so thoroughly that we even hear the music featured in the skating routines of the Winter Olympics.

Our season finale provides a real tour de force for both our guest artist and our symphony—we look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

My Invitation to Mr. Forbes

In response to Forbes magazine labeling Stockton as our country’s “most miserable” city, I wanted to come up with something positive, which is what prompted me to invite Mr. Steve Forbes to visit us here in Stockton. Following is the invitation letter, which has since been printed in the Record and forwarded to several folks by email.

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Mr. Malcolm Stevenson “Steve” Forbes, Jr., Editor-in-Chief                                    February 11, 2011
Forbes Magazine

60 50th Avenue
New York, NY 10011

Dear Mr. Forbes:

We in Stockton, California—residents of the city again dubbed by your magazine as our country’s “most miserable”—would love to have you visit us! We’d like to show you a great time. We’d be honored to have you as our guest at our season finale of the Stockton Symphony either April 7 or April 9. We’d love it if you could stay a day or two—check out our interesting blend of businesses, visit the Haggin Museum and art galleries, eat at some great and reasonably-priced restaurants, play a round of golf, take in another show, check out the University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta College—you name it.

Yes, we know that your magazine has criteria for determining which cities in America will be labeled “most miserable,” so please don’t reply by telling us that’s why we get the prize. Instead, we’d like some frank answers to a couple of questions:

1) Honestly, do you think city residents across our nation measure their relative state of happiness or misery by your criteria?
2) What is your magazine actually accomplishing by coming out with an annual list of “miserable” cities? Is this good business for America?

We’re not deluded here in Stockton. We know we have a big measure of the troubles that afflict practically all cities in the U.S. And yes—we admit it—if you visit we’d go out of our way to make sure you have a good time. But isn’t that the point? Isn’t the real pulse of a city felt by the personalities of the people and what they do?

So please visit us, Mr. Forbes. Give our office a call at (209) 951-0196. We really want to meet you and show you the Stockton we know and love. I’ll bet you a lunch we won’t be the most miserable experience you’ve ever had.

Yours in eager anticipation,


Peter Jaffe
Music Director and Conductor
Stockton Symphony

cc: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento News and Review, Modesto Bee, Stockton Record