Vallejo Symphony to feature final conductor audition

(Originally published in the 1/28/16 edition)

   In its search to find a new permanent conductor, the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra has reached its third and final audition. On Sunday, Marc Taddei will be showcasing three powerful pieces for the concert “The Composer’s Muse.”

   Taddei was appointed as music director of Orchestra Wellington in New Zealand in 2007 and has conducted every professional orchestra in the country. He also has conducted many of the major Australian orchestras, the Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and the New York City Ballet. 

   Taddei began playing music in fifth grade and grew to love everything about the art form. 

   “It’s kind of a cliche but this idea of music expressing the unexpressable rings true,” he said. “In terms of the profession, what I like about it is very disparate people come together, and they have very little in common except a love of music, and they’re able to cooperate when there’s room in the concert platform to create something of beauty. For me, that’s a great aspect of music, and almost a microcosm of what society could be.”

   He has also had experience conducting for Hollywood and international movies. Taddei recorded for the soundtrack of last year’s holiday hit “Krampus” as well as Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of “King Kong.” He also recorded for the New Zealand films “Under the Mountain” and “Dean Spanley” as well as the British Channel 4 film “Wagner’s Ring,” based on Richard Wagner’s opera cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung.”

   “It’s quite fun,” he said of the process. “It’s quite technical in terms of there being a monitor, a click track and other visual aids for the conductor. In a way, it’s an oppressive situation because the orchestra and producers will have limited time to put a movie together.”

   He also noted that conducting for live cinema could be quite challenging, especially for silent movies which he says do not have the same level of editing expertise as movies today. 

   “Silent movies, you conduct as the movie is playing without any click track,” he said. “The only visual indication you have is from the movie itself, and that’s fine. It takes a little bit of practice to do it. You have to go through the score in your head while watching the movie.”

   When Taddei saw an opening for a conductor with the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, he applied. 

   “He wanted a regular post in California, and he chose us,” Vallejo Symphony Director Tim Zumwalt said.

   “I am an American even though I’ve lived in New Zealand for quite some time now,” he said. “I would like to return to my homeland and work with a fine orchestra such as Vallejo.”

   Additionally, Taddei’s brother and sister live in Oakland, so he figured it would be a good way to be closer to them. He also is impressed with Vallejo Symphony Orchestra’s professionalism.

   “What’s especially attractive about Vallejo to me, along with many other orchestras in the Bay Area, is that they have access to world-class musicians,” he said. “These orchestras have very high standards, and Vallejo is no exception to that.”

   “The Composer’s Muse” will feature lesser-known pieces by three legendary composers. The show will begin with a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s 1928 ballet “Apollo.”

   “It’s one of the most serene works of modernism,” Taddei said. “It’s a work that introduced Stravinsky to the greatest choreographer of the 20th century, George Balanchine, and because of this work, the two of them were able to collaborate for the rest of Stravinsky’s life.”

   The evening will continue with Ludwig van Beethoven’s song cycle “To the Distant Beloved.”

   “I wanted to do a work of Beethoven’s, but I didn’t want to be so obvious,” Taddei said. 

   Taddei described the piece as very influential to early Romantic composers like Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. 

   The final piece will be Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 5.” 

   “Tchakovsky was the kind of composer that really brought western schooling to the folk idiom that composers were experimenting with in Russia at this time,” Taddei said. “Tchaikovsky had both the genius and the inspiration and the training to marry the German technique with Russian folk songs.” 

   Taddei described all three pieces as disparate masterpieces that encapsulate musical history. Additionally, there will be a performance by San Francisco-based baritone singer Haleigh Adams during the show.

   Zumwalt said the board will go on retreat after the final concert and then decide who will be its new permanent conductor.

   “The Composer’s Muse” will be performed 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 31, at the Hogan High School auditorium, located on 850 Rosewood Ave. Tickets can be purchased at BrownPaperTickets.com. For more information, visit VallejoSymphony.org. 

Benicia's "Nutcracker" ballet celebrates 25-year tradition

(Originally published in the 12/1/15 edition)

   Benicia Ballet Theatre will hit another milestone this weekend. Saturday will mark the 25th year that the organization has brought the beloved holiday classic “The Nutcracker” to Solano County.

   “The Nutcracker,” based on the 1816 short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” was first adapted into a ballet by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov by 1892 with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The production tells the story of a young girl named Clara who receives a nutcracker for Christmas. She is soon whisked away into a magical world where she meets the Nutcracker Prince and where toy soldiers square off against the Mouse King and his army.

   The production was not initially a success, but since the mid-20th century it has been performed countless times around the holiday season. Benicia Ballet Theatre has been putting it on since 1990, although there will be a change of venue this year to Fairfield’s Downtown Theatre.

   “We have been performing at Solano Community College for several years, and they have closed their theater due to renovation,” Publicity Coordinator Renee Albrecht said. “We chose Downtown Theatre because of their availability and because we needed to quickly book a place.”

   Additionally, the organization also needed to find a venue that had an orchestra pit and a stage large enough to fit such a large cast.

   “The question we get asked all the time is ‘Why is this not in Benicia?’” Albrecht said. “The answer is there’s nowhere in Benicia that is big enough to house this production.”

   The 25th anniversary production will feature over 120 symphony musicians and dancers, including a pair of Benicia High School seniors- sisters Isabelle and Sophia Briseno. Maestro Steve Thompson will lead the Symphony Orchestra of Northern California in performing Tchaikovsky’s enduring score.

   Additionally, there will be slight story changes. In past productions, Clara has been a young girl the whole time through. In this anniversary production, Clara will dream she’s an adult when meeting the Nutcracker Prince.

   “There’s now going to be an older and younger version of Clara and the Prince,” Albrecht said. 

   There will also be a Silver Anniversary Silent Auction between the two shows on Saturday. Tickets for the auction are separate from the main event.

   As with many holiday classics, “The Nutcracker" continues to be popular every December.

   “It symbolizes the holiday season for a lot of people,” Albrecht said. “And of course, the music is just fantastic.”

   “The Nutcracker” will be performed at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5 and at 2 p.m. on Dec. 6. All performances will take place at the Downtown Theatre, located on 1035 Texas St. in Fairfield. Seating is assigned, and tickets can be purchased from $15 to $24 at the box office or through DowntownTheatre.com. Additionally, there will be a silent auction in between the two Saturday shows from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets for this event are $20 and can be purchased through BeniciaBallet.org.

   For more information, contact 746-6757 or at info@beniciaballet.org. 

Classical guitarist to bring holiday cheer at free library concert

(Originally published in the 11/3/15 edition)

   Christmas will come to the Benicia Public Library early this year, as the Dona Benicia Room will be filled with the classical guitar stylings of Peter Fletcher on Nov. 15.

   Of course, Benicia will be just one stop for the New York City-based classical guitarist who is doing a national tour to promote his new CD “Music for the Christmas Season.” Fletcher will be playing selections from his new album as well as works he has recorded in the past.

   Fletcher began studying guitar at the age of 7 under classical guitar instructor John Sutherland.

   “I was told that if I start with the classical style, then other styles would come easier,” Fletcher said. “I did some recordings and decided to stay with classical and have loved it ever since.”

   Fletcher has been performing professionally since the age of 15, and his journey has taken him to appearances on NPR and full houses at Carnegie Hall. 

   After being requested by fans, Fletcher finally decided to make a Christmas album. The CD features classical guitar arrangements of holiday standards like “Silent Night” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” as well as classical compositions associated with the season, like Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from “The Nutcracker.” Other highlights on the record include three pieces from Michael Praetorius’s “Terpsichore,” the traditional Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts,” and “Jubilation” by contemporary guitarist Andrew York.

   Fletcher has played at the Benicia Library before and has gained enough of a following in Benicia for Fran Martinez-Coyne to invite him to play again. 

   “We thought it was time for a return visit,” Fletcher said. 

   In addition to performing music from the CD, Fletcher will also be performing some of the selections he performed at Carnegie Hall last spring, like Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “Prelude No. 1,” as well as selections from an album he did of recordings of compositions by Edvard Grieg. 

   There will be two different portions of the show where he uses two different guitars designed by Darren Hippner.

   “I use a spruce top for the first half of the concert and a cedar top for the second half,” he said. “The spruce top is more suited for the first half like Bach. The idea is that the clarity will bring out the texture of the music.”

   “The cedar has a warmer, sweeter, darker tone, which I feel is more suited for the Romantic tone, which I’ll play in the second half of the concert.”

   The Benicia Library is nowhere near as large as Carnegie Hall, but Fletcher says he has no preference between large and small venues.

   “I consider all performances equally important,” he said. “I have as much fun, and I try to play my best whether it’s a library or a larger venue.”

   That said, Fletcher does like the intimacy of the smaller performances. 

   “You have more options,” he said. “You can play more quietly and have a bit more range dynamically. With a larger hall, you can’t play as quiet.”

   Overall, Fletcher enjoys being able to create and share music.

   “I enjoy the practicing, the recording and the process of making something beautiful,” he said. “When you have a life in music, you get an education- not in the practical things of living, but an education in feeling and beauty and poetry.”

   The concert will take place at 6 p.m., Sunday Nov. 15, in the Dona Benicia Room of the Library, located on 150 East L St. The event is free and open to all ages.