Ensemble Monterey Chamber Orchestra
Concert Reflection – January 2009
There is nothing that compares to the experience of seeing a live performance of great works of music. The ability to see the performers engaged with their art, as well as to hear the music as it is produced creates an entirely different adventure in music than sitting at home with a favorite CD, even one of a world class performance.
This was even more apparent than usual at the January 31 concert in the beautifully restored Golden State Theater, when the Ensemble performed the Brahms Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B Minor and the Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence, which is for six strings. In the pre-concert talk, John Anderson highlighted the fact that he does not conduct either of these particular works in performance, rather, the Ensemble players work together, essentially five or six conductors, sharing the leadership as appropriate throughout the pieces. This was most clear in the final movements of the Tchaikovsky, as the theme was repeatedly passed from player to player, making those movements a true visual delight, almost a game, as well as beautiful music. I always leave an Ensemble Monterey concert eager to find out what delights are in store at the next performance!
Sandy Rosenbaum
Ensemble Monterey presents Cosmopolitan Enchantment on March 14th and 15th.
Do you have your tickets for our next concert? Ensemble Monterey presents Cosmopolitan Enchantment on March 14th and 15th. The concert begins with one of Maurice Ravel’s most enchanting pieces. His Introduction and Allegro is a gorgeous harp solo with a dreamy accompaniment of strings and winds. Harpist Jennifer Cass is the featured soloist. Next comes a bright and cheery trio from Beethoven for Flute, Violin and Viola featuring flutist Lars Johannesson. Next a new trio by composer Stephen Tosh, featuring the composer on piano, followed by one of the most reverential pieces of all time; Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question. Finally, desert is served with D’Indy’s Dance Suite in Ancient Style, a witty and romantic French ballet piece for the entire ensemble.
Cosmopolitan Enchantment is presented on Saturday, March 14th at 8 PM at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, and on Sunday, March 15th at 7 PM at Santa Cruz’s First Congregational Church. Conductor John Anderson presents “Insights from the Conductor” one hour before each performance. For information call 333-1283 or visit www.ensemblemonterey.org.
Welcome to Two New Board Members
Sachi Guzman
Ms. Guzman is a Central Coast native and has spent much of her life here, attending elementary, middle school, and high school in Carmel. While in the Carmel Unified School District, Ms. Guzman was active in music, having played piano for twelve years and performed in local stage productions. She has a B.A. in Political Science/International Relations from University of California, Santa Barbara, and was a Dean’s List Scholar. For the past 20 years, Ms. Guzman has worked in the educational publishing field and is currently Senior Editorial and Production Manager at Pacific Metrics in Monterey. This is Ms. Guzman’s first year on the Board of Directors for Ensemble Monterey.
Robin Phillips
Having played in orchestras from youth to college, Robin developed a lifelong, if casual, enjoyment of the more adventurous types of symphonic music for which Ensemble Monterey is well known. His Lubbock, Texas, youth eventually culminated in a Bacheloriate of Fine Arts from Texas Tech University in 1991. He dabbled about his West Texas home town for several years until a fateful 4.5-month sailing trip crewing a sailboat from Thailand to Israel (after which, Lubbock would simply no longer do). He moved to the Dallas metroplex the 1st week of his return. While there, Robin spent the first 6 years as a Marketing Manager and the last 2 years as a semi-professional skydiving videographer and coach. Robin moved to the Monterey Bay in 2005, where he performs project management and coordination tasks for one of the local educational assessment publishing companies. When not working or sleeping, Robin can often be found crossing blades with the denizens of the local fencing clubs or being soundly beaten at one of the many Bay Area tournaments.
Upcoming Concerts
