AUGUST 2004

EWSLETTERN Newsletter Editor:Karen Bird (birdk@msu.edu)

A Few Words from Our Conductor

Hello and welcome back! I hope your summer was enjoyable. I am really excited to start our season. I have been hearing from new members and returning members, and it looks like we are going to have a great group of people in our orchestras! We have wonderful music planned for both ensembles. I hope to see you all at our season opening picnic at Laylin Park on September 7th, where you can pick up your folder for the first concert, meet new members, greet familiar ones, and of course, enjoy delicious desserts and finger foods!

The Youth Symphony has an adventurous season planned – we are going to double the amount of concerts that we gave last season! The Youth Symphony and the Community Orchestra will be giving four joint concerts. Each concert will feature individual performances from both orchestras as well as com-bined selections.

For the first concert, the Community Orchestra will be per-forming an array of marches and military music including: Prokofiev’s Suite Symphonique from Lieutenant Kije, Verdi’s Grand March from Aida, and Sousa’s Tales of a Traveler. The Youth Symphony will be performing a varied assortment of programmatic music including: Themes from Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets by Williams/Cerulli, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas/Balent, A Suite of Kabalevsky’s music, and Carnival of the Animals Suite by Saint - Saens/Rosenhaus. The orchestras will be joining forces to end the concert with Alford’s Colonel Bogey March.

The Holiday Concert will include brass carols arranged by Nestico, and two chamber pieces by the father – son duo of Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart: Three German Dances K. 605, of which No. 3 is Wolfgang’s rendition of a sleigh ride; and his father’s rendition of a sleigh ride, Schlittenfahrt. The full Community Orchestra will be performing The March of the Toys from Babes in Toyland by Herbert/Langey, Anderson’s A Christmas Festival, and Custer’s arrangement of Winter

Wonderland. The Youth Symphony will be performing: Santa at the Symphony arr. by Williams, Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah by Handel/Meyer, Rock the Bells arr. Lopez, Sleepers Wake by Bach/Brubaker, and A Rockin’ Christmas arr. Sayre. As is tradition, the concert will conclude with everyone’s fa-vorite Sing-Along-Carols featuring guest conductors chosen from the audience and Anderson’s Sleigh Ride.

At the Pops concert, the Community Orchestra will perform: Khachaturian’s Masquerade Suite, Marquez’s Danzon No. 2, Rosenhaus’ Kitchen Percussion March, and Hirsch’s Concerto Gross featuring three guest soloists to be announced later... The Youth Symphony will be performing Gypsy Overture, which is based on Russian Gypsy Melodies by Isaac/Lewis, Isle of Calypso by Smith, Rosenhaus’ American Spiritual Festival, and Espana Cani arr. Isaac. The concert will end with two joint orchestra pieces: The X-Jet, from the X-Men by Kamen/Lopez, and The Stars and Stripes Forever by Sousa.

In the final concert of the season, the Community Orchestra will perform the fourth movement of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, Hovhaness’ And God Created Great Whales, which features recorded humpback whale songs, and Schubert’s Entr’acts from Rosamunde. The Youth Symphony will be performing: Selec-tions from the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Williams/Story, Bach in Rock by J. S. Bach/Feldstein, Ander-son’s Plink, Plank, Plunk, which features the string section, and Symphony No. 7, Movement III by Bruckner/Leidig. We will end the season with a joint orchestra rendition of Berceuse and Finale, from The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky/Isaac.

The programs are subject to change.

As always, we welcome new members and encourage current members to bring new people to our orchestra to share in the joy of making music.

I look forward to seeing you in rehearsals and in our audi-ence!

˙ Laura Joella, MOS Conductor

Calendar of Events, Fall 2004

Tuesday, September 7, 7:00 p.m. - Laylin Park, Season Opening PicnicMonday, September 13, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., Youth Symphony Rehearsal

Tuesday, September 14, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., Community Orchestra Rehearsal

Rehearsals will be held in the Mason Middle School Band Room.

Musician $50Student Musician $40

Senior Citizen Musician $40Family $60

˙Sue Domrase, MOS Membership Chair

During the summer the MOS Woodwind Quintet continued to play together. We were very happy to have been asked to per-form at the home of Lew Resnick on June 17th to celebrate his birthday. (You will have to ask him which one!) In attendance to play for this most momentous occasion were: Gaile Griffore and Kay Rinker-O’Neil on flute, Lew Resnick on oboe, Sue Domrase on bassoon, Tracy Sonneborn on horn and Wayne Steinhour on clarinet. The Woodwind Quintet was also invited to perform on July 11th for the Advent House Ministries Garden Tour at the home of Rick and Cindi Benavides in their beautiful garden. We even had a photo opp with Mayor Benavides. We were asked to please return and play at next year’s garden tour, and of course we said YES! Performing were: Gaile Griffore-flute, Kay Rinker-O’Neil-flute, Sue Domrase-bassoon, Tracy Sonneborn-horn and Wayne Steinhour-clarinet.

Dick Brown, Steve Beck, Elizabeth Bennett, Tony Thias and I also played this summer in the East Lansing Kiwanis Com-munity Band, which was great fun, performing five concerts during the month of July.

The highlight of the summer for me came last week, when Kay Rinker-O’Neil and I attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. We played in the adult concert band under the direction of Donald

Annual Membership DuesWith the beginning of a new concert season comes the time to collect Orchestra Membership Dues. I will start collecting dues at our first gathering on September 7th at Laylin Park. If you are unable to attend, I will continue collecting dues for both the Youth Symphony and Community Orchestra at rehearsals. The rates are unchanged. Please make your checks payable to Mason Orchestral Society.

Please Join Us for Our New Season!Believe it or not, the Mason Orchestral Society’s 2004-2005 season will begin in just a couple of weeks! Our conductor, Laura Joella has put together an exciting and varied program of music that is sure to please our mem-bers and our audience. Please read all about it in Laura’s article in this newsletter.

Take time now to mark your calendar and plan to attend our General Information Meeting and Get-Together on Tuesday, September 7 at 7:00 p.m. at the Laylin Park Pa-vilion in Mason. (Laylin Park is on Maple Street, about a block east of the Mason Nazarene Church.) Please bring a “finger-food” snack or dessert to share while you mingle with your musical friends, talk with Laura, and pick up

your music for the first concert. We are always looking for new members, especially string players, and I urge you to bring a friend or two along!

The Youth Symphony will begin its rehearsals on Monday, September 13, and the Community Orchestra will begin on Tuesday, September 14. Both groups rehearse at 7:00 p.m. in the Mason Middle School band room.

On behalf of the Board, I want to thank all of you for your support and suggestions during the past year. I am looking forward to seeing all of you and lots of new members in September. Let’s make the 2004-2005 season the best and most enjoyable one ever!

˙Gaile Griffore, MOS President

Flickinger. This was a challenging and very rewarding musical expe-rience, one we plan to repeat next August. I encourage any member of the MOS to look into the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp programs. We are very fortunate to live so close to such a wonderful place to learn and grow as adult musicians.

˙Sue Domrase

At least one other group with members in Mason Community Orchestra continued to play together during the summer. The Telos String Quartet, now in its third year, includes MCO cellist Gail Richmond, violinist Karen Bird, and past (and,we hope, future) MCO violist, Barb Powers. They enjoyed providing the before and after music for a wedding that took place in MSU’s perennial gardens. The ceremony included elements of American and Native American traditions. The quartet played pieces ranging from baroque to swing, the bride entered to the strains of a native flute, and Native American musicians sang and played drums during the ceremony and recessional. A most interesting and enjoyable experience!

Fun With Music This Summer!

Ruth Steinhour writes:

“Thank you, Mason Orchestral Society, for awarding me with a scholarship! I used the money to go to the MSU Junior High School Band Camp during the summer. I played some very cool and exciting pieces, and I learned a lot.

This year, I am in the 8th grade band at Mason Middle School. I also take private lessons from Kay O’Neil, who is an excellent teacher.”

I am very thankful to have recieved this scholarship. I used the $150 to help pay my tuition for Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. I went to session III from July 28th to August 8th. When I first applied, I was a bit skeptical of whether or not I would win but when I did, I was glad. I have been playing my violin for five years, and I have played in the Youth Symphony for three years--this will be my fourth. I take lessons with my instructor Isoa Chapman, who is from New Zeland and is working on his doctoral degree. He helped me prepare for my scholarship audition, and I thank him for it. I hope to win the Brian Arnold scholarship again next year for a chance to attend Blue Lake again. Thank you! Josh Vercruysse

Brian Arnold Scholarships Award Winners, 2004

Tim Edinger writes: “This is my fourth year as a percussionist (third year with the Mason Orchestral Society), although I have been playing piano for seven years. I’ve wanted to be a drummer ever since I was young, but my mom wouldn’t let me be a drummer unless I also took piano lessons. I used the scholarship to go to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. I learned a lot, too. Besides the Mason Junior Symphony, I play in the school band and a youth praise band in church. I hope to one day be on the high school march-ing band drum line.”

Alexis Dawdy, 16, reports that her summer was filled with music. She performed at a fiddle jamboree near Charlevoix, and used her scholar-ship to pay for summer lessons with Sam Spurbeck. She is looking forward to another year with the Mason Youth Symphony, as well as the Lansing Junior Symphony. Vio-lin has been a big part of her life for 10 years, and she feels that competi-tions keep her sharp.

Steven Dawdy began flute lessons at 6, and likes play-ing with the orchestra because it’s “a team effort” and “Ms. Joella is the greatest, a ter-rific teacher.” This summer Steven used his scholarship to continue lessons at MSU school of Music. Steven also swims with the Capital Area Swim Team.

The Mason Orchestral Society awards Brian Arnold Scholarships to promote the music education of deserving winners each year. Scholarship winners are selected through an application and audition process, based on musical potential, desire, and performance. These monetary scholarships may be used for summer music camps, private lessons, and other music-related items or activities upon approval of the Mason Orchestral Society Board.

This past spring, five such scholarships were awarded and were greatly appreciated by the recipients!

The MOS sadly notes the passing of Dr. Lee M. Sonneborn, a supporter of the orchestral society and former principal tuba in the Community Orchestra.

Lee began his tuba career in his early teens as a member of musical ensembles at Indiana University during the war years of the early 40’s. While too young for the military, he was nonetheless drafted into service at an early age for duty in a variety of musical and theatrical adventures. He was recruited into the orchestra on the strength of his skills on the violin and the tuba, and an early-developed Mephistophelean stage presence, together with a rich, bass voice, made him a natural for sinister dramatic roles.

When Lee entered college at 15, he found it impractical to hitchhike from southern Indiana to northern Ohio with his instruments, and so his tuba skills developed more or less silently for nearly six decades.

His active return to the tuba was unreasonably overdue and lamentably short. After he had retired from the math department at MSU, Lee’s close friend and local opera impresario Attila Farkas devised an ingenious scheme to activate Lee’s dormant tuba genes. Sig. Farkas deftly persuaded a mutual friend to feign ignorance in attempting to restore a rusty trombone to playing condition. Lee jumped at the bait and before long, he was playing again. His immediate move away from the trombone back to the tuba, while logical and perhaps

inevitable, remains, of course, commendable.

Lee was a rarity among amateur lower brass players, a tubista “di grazie” as opposed to “di forza” or perhaps “spinto;” in modern talk, one could say his playing fell cleanly into the “musical” category as opposed to the prevailing practice, which might, diplomatically, be called the “amateur athletic” school of lower brassmanship.

Few of those who played with the Community Orchestra in the 2001-2002 season will forget the dulcet tones of his solos, particularly his gallant efforts in the “Wizard of Oz,” an unusual arrangement that featured not only a delicate tuba-piccolo duet in “If I Only Had A Brain” (which, he observed, may have been composed with a piccolo but surely not a tuba in mind) but also a hair-raising version of “Over the Rainbow” that demanded a heroic leap of over an octave to a high C above the staff from the star-crossed horn section. With typical restraint, Lee chose to reserve judgment on the obvious question whether the arranger had envisioned a career at the New York Philharmonic or, more likely, had attempted to discern the qualities of unfamiliar orchestral instruments from a mistranslated German textbook.

Lee’s son, Tracy, and daughter-in-law Barbara, both members of the Community Orchestra, are among the many who will miss Lee but remain ever thankful for the fond memories of time spent together.

TAPS . . . For Lee Sonneborn

Lee’s son and daughter-in-law, Tracy and Barbara Sonneborn, were married at Lee’s home on July 24. Friends opened the ceremony with “Do You Love Me” from Fiddler on the Roof; the recessional was the British music hall song, “Ever So Goosey” which was featured on an episode of the BBC series, “Jeeves and Wooster.” By all appearances, Lee thoroughly enjoyed himself. In closing his toast after the brief ceremony, Lee empathized with guests over the sobering spectacle they had just witnessed and cheerfully offered antidotes to those in need. ˙Submitted by Tracy Sonneborn

And Wedding Bells for Tracy and Barbara

c/o Karen Bird1132 Sabron DriveEast Lansing, MI 48823-2635

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