CONDUCTORS DESCRIBE EXPERIENCE

Perform, from page 1 classes and practice sessions in the music building, the volunteers have begun to build the various ensembles back up from scratch, while the Wildcat Foundation has continued to seek donations from community members.

Los Gatos Music Boosters helps fund items, like instruments and scores, that are beyond what can be purchased via elementary and high school budgets.

Sasha Shkolnik and Simona Freeman recently decided to take on a co-presidentship of the group, something that hadn’t been seen since a husband and wife filled the role, years ago.

“We thought we could make a difference together,” said Freeman, who says it was Shkolnik who reached out to her with the idea. “We’ve been trying to focus on building our community.”

Riley said the duo has put a lot of effort into their twice-monthly newsletters and have helped galvanize parent support for the program.

“The best part is they are really good with communication with the parent community,” Riley said. “I feel we have this great thing going.”

And there’s a lot to do.

After all, the high school alone has three concert bands, a jazz band, a marching band, a color guard, a winter percussion program, two orchestra classes, three choir classes, an AP music theory class and an introduction to music theory class.

“Before AI takes over, we would like our kids to learn the art,” Shkolnik said, pointing to the benefits of music studies. “It forms a well-rounded adult.”

Riley says the program can help instill a sense of purpose and belonging in students.

“They’re part of something that they love to do,” she said. “They’re into it. It’s also a means of expressing themselves. And they come to terms with their emotions.”

Participating in a choir, for example, is about more than just singing, she notes.

“Music is self-expression,” she said. “It’s so important for the soul.”

Parents were responsible for footing the bill for the New York foray, although some financial assistance was made available to some students who wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise, Freeman said.

When 207 Los Gatos community members, including 21 adult chaperones, touched down in New York, April 11, it was about much more than exploring the Big Apple and performing a few pieces.

It was an opportunity for students from across the country to come together in a way that hasn’t been possible for a good chunk of the past three years.

That’s because Carnegie Hall was to be filled with the sounds of three mass student choirs belting out notes under nership with the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council and the many stakeholders involved with this Forest Health Program grant.”

The goals of the funding include:

• Protect upper watersheds where important regional water supplies originate.

• Promote the long-term storage of carbon and reduce the severity of potential wildfire, thereby increasing community and forest ecosystem protection.

• Establish healthy, resilient fire-adapted ecosystems to protect and conserve natural resources.

“We thank Cal Fire for this new award and the confidence they have in the collaborative’s work over the last 18 months,” stated Seth Schalet, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara FireSafe Council. “This new funding enables the collaborative to expand its footprint, treating 841 new acers in sensitive ecosystems at risk for wildfire. With our existing partners, and our new Phase Two partners, each with a deep commitment to the Los Gatos Creek Watershed and experience serving the local community, we look forward to enhancing forest resiliency and helping keep communities safer from wildfire.” the direction of principal conductors Andrew Clark, Rollo Dilworth and Tesfa Wondemagegnehu.

The Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaborative Forest Health Grant is a collaboration between these public and private entities, and is a part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment.

The project is expected to be completed by March 31, 2029.

The Los Gatos Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Los Gatos High School Orchestra were also slated to perform.

On April 13, after a couple days of sightseeing, the band and orchestra received a clinic in a studio from conductors to hone their craft and took part in a rehearsal.

The next morning, as the musicians got a break to do more tourism-related activities, the choir members had a cueto-cue practice.

Of three singing collectives, Los Gatos would be part of the “grandioso” group.

Seeing about 300 students take the stage at the same time was impressive, recalled Shkolnik.

“It was quite remarkable to hear and see,” she said.

At one point, all the other students sat down and just the Los Gatos singers were left standing, with Riley guiding their voices.

“When I was little, in 3rd grade, my only dream I had was to sing in a choir,” she said, sharing her appreciation for what the students were feeling at that moment. “When they started singing you could tell they were having a good time.

“I know that they were proud of their performance.”

This was Riley’s first time conducting at Carnegie Hall.

“It’s unbelievable,” she said, noting that the frequency management in the building is so good that if you removed a candy wrapper, the noise would be heard on the other side of the room. “It was surreal.”

Shkolnik said her 14-year-old son Jacob, a trumpet player, was thrilled with the experience.

“‘Mom, I took a picture from the stage of Carnegie Hall,’” she remembers him telling her, adding she was a little nervous for him—but not too much. “I knew he was going to be great.”

The high school’s band director, Ken Nakamoto, led them through three songs.

And Armeen Ghafourpour, LGHS’s orchestra director, conducted another three pieces.

At the very end, Los Gatos students joined with the other signers to debut “To Repair,” a piece touching on the legacy of slavery in America by Wondemagegnehu, who conducted.

After the finale, Riley was pretty beat, but some of the parents headed down to Times Square and Rockefeller Center to shop and get one last New York excursion in, before heading back to Silicon Valley the next day.

Riley says the trip helped inspire confidence in the students.

“They were really proud of their work, because they did really, really well,” she said, adding this has had a lasting effect on their abilities back in Los Gatos. “They take pride in their performance.”

Riley admits she’s been a bit of a “zombie” the last couple weeks, after the heights of the big New York trip.

But now that she feels human again, she’s already begun to dream bigger.

“Looking ahead in the future,” she said, “maybe we’re ready for an international performance tour.”