Community Newsletter of Ovation | Long Beach Symphony 85th Anniversary | Winter 2020
President’s Column by Victoria Chenevey, President
In This Issue •
President’s Column
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Toys for Tots
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Meet Your Symphony Staff
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Meet Your Orchestra
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Violins of Hope
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Ovation Council
I recently read an article about the 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, published by the National Endowment for the Arts, the latest such survey. It found that in 2017, 21 million U.S. adults, 8.6% of U.S. adults, attended a classical music concert. A slightly smaller number than the last survey conducted in 2012, it’s 3 percentage points less than the 2002 survey. As a volunteer organization, Ovation! is doing its part to support the Long Beach Symphony and have a positive impact on the community. If you are reading this, you are likely one of those 21 million people, and I urge you to continue to encourage your neighbors, friends, and families to become supporters too! Here’s what Ovation members accomplished since the last issue of The Score: • • • • • • • •
New member celebration at the November board meeting Rehearsal Reception and Patron Engagement Table at the November Classical Concert Toy Drive for Women's Shelter of Long Beach families at the December Holiday POPS! concert Volunteered at the Symphony Golf Classic in December Volunteered at the Instrument Petting Zoo in December at Winter in Willmore Volunteered at the Toyota Youth Concerts in February Ovation Occasion “Opera on the 14th Floor” Covered weekly staff meetings at the Symphony office and assisted with mailings
And here are upcoming opportunities:
Ovation 249 E. Ocean Blvd., Suite 200 Long Beach, CA 90802 Tel: (562) 436-3203 Email: info@LongBeachSymphony.org Web: LongBeachSymphony.org/ovation
Classical Concerts – March 7, May 30 Musician Auditions – March 4 - 6 Crescendo – March 29 POPS! Concerts – March 21, May 9 Violins of Hope Week – April 21, 25 & 26 RuMBa Foundation Family Concert: Symphony Under the Sea – May 31 Uncorked – June 7 As always, all Ovation members are welcome at Ovation Council meetings on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 4pm at Marina Pacifica Clubhouse. We’d love to meet you there, and we hope you can join us. In music, Victoria Chenevey “Music is the universal ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
language
of
mankind.”
Ovation Volunteers of the Long Beach Symphony
Toys for Tots by Pauline Eade-Sheppard This program originated as an idea of Mark Saville, the Symphony’s Vice President of Development, responding to a donor who wanted to create an opportunity for those less fortunate to experience the magic of a POPS! concert. The donors might want to focus on the holiday concert as the date fell on their wedding anniversary, and it was the perfect season for spreading joy. Mark drew up a list of non-profits whose missions he thought worthwhile but the Women’s Shelter of Long Beach jumped out at him. Here were women having to seek refuge for their children at the holidays, and flee their homes because of violence and abuse. After receiving an enthusiastic endorsement from the Shelter, we pitched the idea to the donors and were met with their immediate and eager approval. As fate would have it, they had been secretly looking to do something special for the Shelter. The gift that resulted served as a concert sponsorship for the evening, a dramatic increase in their annual support. How to make it happen? Call in the Ovation volunteers!!! Florita organized three tables for the Holiday POPS! concert for the families. Emails and notices went out to the volunteers and we had an amazing flood of gift certificates, toys and gifts for the families donated from the volunteers. Mark organized donations from Jersey Mike’s for boxed picnics and drinks. Busing for the families was organized and our volunteers stepped up to handle the gifts and gift cards. To make their tables really special volunteers decorated the tables with white paper, and had purchased crayons, markers, stickers, coloring books, glitter and even small Christmas trees! Before the concert started, the families were ushered into the lovely “Green Room” of the Long Beach Arena where they had a surprise visit from Santa and they received their gifts. The evening was terrific, and we really hope that beautiful memories were created for these families. Many, many thanks go out to each of you who donated gifts or gift certificates. We sincerely thank you for helping to make this a Special Evening for these families. Please see photos of some of the “table artwork”.
Meet Your Symphony Staff by Renee Simon Count on Kelly to bring to the staff an abundance of enthusiasm wrapped around a bundle of talent and experience otherwise known as Bella Staav, our new Vice President of Operations & Education or known to others as “the new Issy.” Bella has been with Long Beach Symphony since May 2019. She had for several years been the Director of Orchestra Operations for the Pacific Symphony where she began as an intern in 2013. Among the challenges her work there included was organizing several tours for the Symphony’s high school and middle school youth ensembles. The high school group’s China tour meant herding 107 students, all their instruments, and nearly 20 adults to three cities besides having to draw on buckets of patience negotiating China bureaucracy. This February, Bella has been enjoying a new challenge doing all the planning and organizing for one of her new responsibilities: the annual Long Beach Symphony Toyota Youth Concerts that brings twelve thousand 4th and 5th graders to our Performing Arts Center for a two-day performance marathon. On the heels of that event, Bella has been organizing another big project for the following month: her March 29 wedding scheduled for a venue in Redondo Beach although without having to accommodate a 70-piece symphony orchestra. Bella has studied flute for many years and knew she would always want a career doing something in music. Professional performance was not going to be it but at Chapman University she took a double major in music education and flute performance with a minor in Public Relations, took on the role as their music librarian and from there became the manager of the Chapman Chamber Orchestra. 2
Ovation Volunteers of the Long Beach Symphony
Meet Your Orchestra by Pauline Eade-Sheppard Were you among the volunteers helping with our recent orchestra auditions? Alex Granger, then a hopeful violist whom you may have met, in fact competed successfully and today is one of the orchestra’s newest string players, helping to build a richer sound for our viola section. Alex is an experienced performer who has performed for the sound track of several movies. Most recently he and his viola are among the musicians providing the music for the Netflix film, “Green Eggs and Ham.” He also has an impressive resume of solo recitals, chamber groups, is a founding member of the Ubuntu String Quartet, and numerous festival appearances. However, the Long Beach Symphony is his first orchestral position. He is a graduate of the Biola Conservatory of Music and of USC’s Thornton School of Music where he studied with Henry Gronnier, Bing Wang, and the esteemed violinist, Midori. Classical music was all around him growing up. His mother was a pianist, his grandpa a trumpeter. Alex started studying viola and violin at age seven. In between performances and practicing, he is an avid sports enthusiast, particularly basketball. Asked about his feelings for performing and listening to music, he explained, “the more one listens, the more you learn. It is an incredible experience to create the performance.” For him, he says, the best part of life as a professional musician has to be, “the combination of both the people and the music that is interesting.” Alex also enjoys teaching and has had as many as 15 private students although he has set teaching aside for now. The 2020 Toyota Youth Concerts were Alex’s first opportunities to play for thousands of 4th and 5th graders. “I’m looking forward to being part of this wonderful event,” he said. It brings to mind for him the first orchestral concert he attended with his mother when he was about that age. In fact, it was at that concert that he was attracted to select the viola. Alex and his wife, Chiai, live in Huntington Beach with their “sweet little dog” (his words) Ella.
Meet Your Symphony Staff continued She knew she had found the way to be part of music production. Bella grew up Yorba Linda where she loved performing in her school’s marching band. She is delighted to be part of the Symphony, the breadth of her responsibilities, the opportunity to be part of the concert planning process, and to work with the small, extremely competent staff. For her non-work time, she still has her flute in her life but mostly is totally devoted to swing dancing, the Lindy Hop of the Big Band era. She also relishes spending time with her family who are still in Yorba Linda, is looking ahead to joining the Long Beach yoga on the Bluff group and is returning to the piano she had studied formerly. Ovation members look forward to meeting Bella and I know we all welcome her to our Long Beach community.
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Ovation Volunteers of the Long Beach Symphony
Violins of Hope Gifts The touring collection of restored violins associated with the concentration camps of the tragic Hitler-era slaughter of Europe’s Jews and so many others will be the feature of our Symphony’s April concert. The instruments and the stories behind them have been called a “stirring testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of music.” Their stories have inspired many to sponsor an instrument – two Ovation members among them. We have invited Sally Boyne and Pauline Eade to write briefly about what compelled them to take the extra step to “adopt a violin.” Sally writes: Even though I was a child during World War II, I still was acutely aware of the reason American men and women went to war. The newspaper headlines have stayed with me forever. I am awestruck by the determination of the prisoners who clung to life through music. Pauline explained: In September 1917 my grandmother left her home in Paris where she had lived for two years, with her three small boys and a baby in arms. She went back to England, back to her mother. She was 23 years old. France was being invaded. My grandfather was killed, my mother was the baby. He never saw his daughter. My grandfather was born in Lodz, Poland; he immigrated to England. Many of his family members were taken off to the camps during the war. In 2014 my husband and I and son visited Aushwitz-Berkenau. The Violins of Hope program spoke to me. I wanted to help honor the memory of those who have passed.
Ovation Council Elected Officers Chair Chair-Elect Past Chair (Administrative) Secretary Treasurer Membership Co-Chairs
Victoria Chenevey (open) Ethel Sanford Judy D’Ambrosio Mary Hester Vicki Sawtelle, Ethel Sanford
Appointed Committee Chairs Education Team Toyota Youth Concerts Instrument Petting Zoo
Doug Lane, Sally Boyne Doug Lane
Newsletter Advisor
Renee B. Simon
Nominating Office Volunteer Coordinators
Ethel Sanford Bobbie Cusato, Shannon Taylor
Ovation Occasions/Social Events
Pauline Eade-Sheppard, Bobbie Cusato, Suzanne Rowland
Parliamentarian
Suzanne Rowland 4
Patron Engagement Table
Mary and Steve Lang
Personal Communications
Pat Mohler
Rehearsal Reception Refreshments
Shannon Taylor
Tributes and Memorials
Pat Mohler
Honorary Council Members
Judy Boland, Patricia Salkowski