Monday Morning Violin Gossip, Op. 16

By Darcy Lewis

HURRICANE-RELATED NEWS

Orchestras Respond

9/8/05 – The Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Wichita Grand Opera are offering jobs to musicians from the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The symphony will hold open one place in its violin, viola and cello sections for each of the eight classical concerts to be presented this year. Musicians from the Louisiana Philharmonic will have the first chance to fill those seats, for one concert or all eight -- no audition required. The musicians would earn around $700 a week. “We just want to do something to help these people,” says Mitchell Berman, executive director of the orchestra.

Orchestras in Texas have donated concert tickets to evacuees, including the Dallas, Houston, East Texas and Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestras.

Many orchestras have already held benefit concerts, including the Acadiana, Elgin and Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestras. Dallas Arts United and the Performing Arts Society of Acadiana have also held benefit events.

Of course, many other orchestras have benefit concerts planned:

9/12/05 – The musicians of the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Sonoma County Bach Choir will donate their services at a benefit concert at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. Free tickets are available by calling (707) 546-8742.

9/16/05 – The Plano Symphony and Plano Civic Chorus are welcoming area musicians to join them as they perform at 8:15 p.m., following a 6:30 p.m. rehearsal.

9/16/05 – The Seattle Symphony will give a special fundraising concert to benefit the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. All personnel involved are donating their services, from the ushers and stagehands to the orchestra musicians to Music Director Gerard Schwartz. Cellist Lynn Harrell, already scheduled to be in town, will also donate his services to perform at the event. Tickets must be picked up in person; it’s best to call (206) 215-4747 for full details.

9/17/05 – The Shreveport Symphony will accept monetary donations for hurricane victims at their opening concert. A local food bank will also accept non-perishable food donations.

Regional Orchestra Update

The ASOL has compiled a status document of all orchestras within Hurricane Katrina’s path. This PDF document may be accessed via the ASOL’s Hurricane Update page click here

Here is the list of 18 orchestras whose status is currently unknown as of 9/9/05:

Etowah Youth Orchestras (AL), Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Huntsville (AL), Montgomery Symphony (AL), Musica Sacra Orchestra & Choir (AL), Red Mountain Chamber Orchestra (AL), Sunbelt Sinfonia (AL), Tri-State Community Orchestra (AL), Fundacion Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional (FL), Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus (GA), Lake Charles Symphony (LA), Nachitoches-Northwestern Symphony (LA), New Orleans Hot Jazz (LA), Corinth Symphony (MS), Greenville Symphony (MS), Hattiesburg Youth Orchestra (MS), Meridian Symphony Orchestra (MS), Starkville-MSU Symphony (MS) and Tupelo Symphony (MS).

Officials from several orchestras report varying degrees of damage:

Mobile Symphony (AL) – “The Mobile Symphony office is fine and we believe the Saenger Theatre is also fine…A few of our musicians lived in the hardest-hit areas of Biloxi, Ocean Springs and New Orleans…Many of our musicians in Hattiesburg [have some damage but are safe]….We opened our season the Saturday before Katrina hit and had the lowest attendance on record. We have a cash reserve…and I bet we’ll be using it this year.” – Christina Littlejohn, executive director.

Acadiana Symphony (LA) – “Despite losing our performance venue for the next few months due to government acquisition for shelters, our season is proceeding on schedule.” – Dr. Timothy Bergman, executive director

Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra (LA) – John Fairlie, LPO player and executive director of this orchestra, has confirmed that the GNOYO’s instrument storage room is totally under water and the group’s status is “totally up in the air.” – Submitted by Caroline Whiddon of the Vermont Youth Symphony.

Louisiana Philharmonic – “We are [currently] spread across the U.S., as many musicians were completing summer engagements and fortunately had not returned to New Orleans when Katrina called….We remain committed to live LPO music in Louisiana and are working for that reality to resume in January 2006.” – Babs Mollere, managing director.

Gulf Coast Symphony – “Our office was amazingly left untouched, meaning all 45 years of records, music library and computer data are intact. That must mean we are supposed to salvage what we can of a season. Although the orchestra suffered little damage, I lost my home and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi is completely devastated. Please everyone, remember [us]. We have a budget of $500,000, 75 professional orchestra members from four states and an amazing sound…Even though we won’t have roads, donations or maybe much of our usual 25,000 yearly audience, we’ll be ‘playing on’.” – Natalie Robohm, executive director.

OTHER STRING-RELATED NEWS

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has announced two one-year viola appointments. Michael Larco will serve as acting assistant principal viola while Alexandra Moellman is on leave this season. Also joining the viola section for the season is Marc Anderson, a master's degree candidate at the Eastman School of Music. He is Eastman's first Orchestral Studies student to win a position in the RPO since the program was founded in 1999.

The Austin Symphony Orchestra has announced that Jessica Mathaes has been named concertmaster. She succeeds Vincent Frittelli, who retired in August 2004. Caroline Slack has been named to the first violin section, and Aleksandra Holowka and Sarah Okura to the viola section.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra has chosen Jennifer Anne Puckett to fill in as principal viola for Michael Molnau, who is taking a one-year leave from the orchestra. Puckett is a recent alumna of the New World Symphony and has served as violist and orchestra manager for the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra.

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music has announced the appointment of Karen Ritscher to its viola faculty.

The Bangor Symphony Orchestra has named Trond Saeverud concertmaster. He joins co-concertmaster Lynn Brubaker. Saeverud has performed extensively in Europe, Japan and the U.S., and has nine CDs to his credit. He is also active as a conductor and teacher.

Alexander Zhuk has been named acting assistant concertmaster of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, where he will make his performance debut September 20. Zhuk was one of the New World Symphony's concertmasters from 2000 to 2003 and has performed extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. as soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster.

UCLA has named Lorenz Gamma Lecturer in Violin, as Mark Kaplan has relocated his pedagogic activities to Indiana University for the time being. Be sure to read Laurie’s thoughts on Gamma, a native of Switzerland whose teachers have included Kaplan, Steven Staryk and Franco Gulli. Gamma also is the First Violinist of the Grammy Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music.

9/8/05 – The Kansas City Star reported that Kansas City Symphony double bassist Steven Peters "was the victim of a fatal shooting Tuesday at his duplex ... Police said it was a homicide, but they released little information about the crime Wednesday ... Peters' brother-in-law David Messbarger said burglars had hit the home four times in the past six months when Peters was not at home. He said Peters had a gun collection, and he speculated that the intruders opened fire when they found Peters at home." Incoming music director Michael Stern comments: "It's devastating ... I'm now joining an orchestra that is so much like a family and has lost one of its members." According to the paper, Peters joined the symphony in 1984 and was a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. He was one of six double bassists for the symphony, and he performed in local chamber ensembles and as a freelance jazz bassist. He also played electric bass guitar, frequently with the Kansas City Symphony's pops concerts ... Symphony musicians remembered Peters as a peacemaker, a quiet professional who was always eager to help and had a strong work ethic. He was 51.

9/8/05 - Conductor Randall Behr died suddenly in Bloomington, IN as he prepared Indiana University students to perform Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte. The IU School of Music will dedicate the upcoming production of the opera to Behr.

9/13/05 - The fourth annual Concert for Peace will take place at New York's Merkin Concert Hall. Sponsored by Musicians For Harmony Inc., the benefit concert this year supports Dr. Patch Adams’ Gezundheit! Institute, which is now seeking to build the world's first arts-centered hospital. Featured performers include violinists Arnold Steinhardt and Colin Jacobsen, cellist Peter Wiley, and the Shanghai Quartet.

9/17/05 - Violinist Jaime Laredo will perform with the Indiana University Philharmonic to launch the school’s new season.

WHERE TO DONATE

Three funds have been set up to benefit displaced musicians.

The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Relief Fund
c/o Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra
Attn: Babs Mollere
P.O. Box 14209
Baton Rouge, LA 70898
You can make deposits to this account at any Bank One or Chase branch.
Also, the American Symphony Orchestra League has established the Gulf Coast Orchestra Relief Fund to support storm-affected orchestras, including the LPO, the Gulf Coast Symphony in Biloxi, the Meridian Symphony Orchestra and the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra.
To contribute, send a check payable to the ASOL:
American Symphony Orchestra League, 33 W. 60th St., 5th Floor, NY NY 10023.
Write "Gulf Coast Orchestra Relief Fund" on the face of the check. For further information, contact Stacey Weston at sweston@symphony.org. As of 9/9, online donations are being accepted via their Hurricane Relief page click here

The American Federation of Musicians has also set up a fund. Donations should be sent to:

AFM Gulf Coast Relief Fund
1501 Broadway, Suite 600
New York, NY 10036

Checks or money orders should be made payable to the “Gulf Coast Relief Fund.” An online payment system will be activated within in a few days. The AFM will match every dollar contributed, up to $100,000.

Note: If you are seeking information about a specific member of the LPO, visit
LPO Family

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