NOTES FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR

March 15, 2008
By LeeAnne Campos, Director, Bremerton Symphony Concert Chorale

Everyone sings. My eight year old daughter sings a gorgeous high F on command. My husband sings in the shower and I think he sounds pretty good (so does he). While there are millions of people who are pretty good shower singers, it would never occur to them to vocalize beyond their bathroom doors.  Some people do step out a bit and are found singing at the tops of their lungs with their car radios.  There is obvious joy on their faces as they surreptitiously bond with their favorite musical artist. I don’t know how surreptitious their behavior is because I actively search for them at every stoplight.  And I’m not the only person who gets a kick out of watching those closet car radio vocalists, so if you’re one of them, be warned.  Then there are the brave souls who valiantly seek to do more because they really do have some musical talent and they simply can’t help themselves. The emotional connection to music can be overwhelmingly powerful. Singers willingly share their good fortune with others at every conceivable venue – city streets; company Christmas parties, retirement homes, churches, concert halls and operatic stages.  And what is the compelling topic that we all find ourselves singing about most of the time?  Can you guess?

Love. 

Love of another human being – of requited and unrequited love.  Love of our children or the love of our country, or the love of our God. Love is a never-ending source for beautiful music. One of my earliest memories was of my father placing me upon a stool at a diner, and having me sing “I Want Some Red Roses For a Blue Lady” for the patrons. I was six and it was my favorite song but I didn’t know what a blue lady was. When I was a teenager I’d listen to my Jim Croce album over and over again.  “Time in a Bottle” was MY song. Later it was Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” and Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No.2”. There were no lyrics but the incredibly delicious melodies and  passionate delivery of the instrumentalists and conductor said it all. Whether you sing or choose to listen, love songs have the ability to take us to a place from where all things are possible.

This Saturday, March 15^th at Sylvan Way Baptist Church, 7:30 PM, you are invited to brazenly embrace your longing for a great love song. I Love My Love with the Bremerton Symphony Concert Chorale will feature Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer (Love Song Waltzes) and a diverse collection of songs by Thomas Morley, George Gershwin and Billy Joel, among others. Melissa Paulson and Len Guyt will accompany the Chorale on the piano and organ. Do come. Perhaps you’ll discover your song.

February 2, 2008

If you were magically given the ability to go back in time and meet any two people in the whole world whom would you pick? My first choice would be Jesus and my second would be Beethoven.  Now, these selections might sound odd to you, but in all sincerity that’s exactly what I would like to do.  Of course along with the magic I’d have to be able to speak their language so that I could talk to them or at least listen to them speak.  I really don’t think it would be difficult getting near Jesus, because as an adult he had many followers always gathered around him and he was a natural with talking to people.

However, getting near Beethoven might be more difficult.  In the musical world there are a couple of different types of artists; one type are gracious, human and generous with lay people.  I remember meeting Frederica von Stade, a world famous mezzo-soprano some years back in California.  She was a fantastic combination of someone who was as beautiful on the inside as the out- plus with the heavenly gift of a voice to boot.  After her concert, which I covered as an assistant conductor with Pacific Symphony Orchestra, I saw her backstage and thanked her for sharing her remarkable talent with us that evening.  We spoke for a while and I invited her to my family concert the next morning.  Lo and behold, after my concert, there she was by my dressing room beaming.  She was the type of artist you could talk to and share your appreciation with a genuine comfortability.

Then there are the other types.  We’ve all met them, yes, they may be genius, but they look at you with an expression on their face as if they smell something sour.  They don’t want to be near you, they don’t want to talk to you and heaven help them if you offer to shake their hand-!  I had that exact experience with a conductor/composer from a major orchestra in Los Angeles (that shall go unnamed).  He was so utterly impressed with himself and his ego; his world could hardly tolerate the presence of someone as insignificant as I.  Needless to say I learned a lot about how NOT to deal with unknown admirers from that moment onward and how quickly admiration can fade in the face of reality.

So, if I went back to meet Beethoven, what would I find?  I have an imaginary view of him built upon years of reading, performing his music and hearing others talk about him.  When he was young, I’m sure, he was quite dashing, perhaps impertinent sometimes and yes, probably full of himself.  It would have been breathtaking to hear him improvise at the piano.  But if I could fast-forward to his later years what then?  I think I would find an introspective man, frustrated with his deafness, maybe too overbearing on his nephew and family and driving his many housekeepers crazy.  But what I feel mostly from his music is a great soul and passion for humanity.  Would I see that in him if I met him?  Would he radiate that?

With “Bad Boy Beethoven”, I wrote a script around a concert that delves into some of these ideas and questions.  As we move thru time from his early symphonies to his final work, he will visit us (or more precisely actor Michael Robertson from Fresno, California) to tell us about his life, his compositions and little by little age in front of us.  Was Beethoven a “Bad Boy”?  Yes, probably a difficult person, but not bad to the core.  Then there is the interpretation of “Bad” as “cool”- yes, I think Beethoven is cool too.  You have to be pretty cool to write music that can be transplanted some 200 years and still bring shivers down your spine.  You have to be cool to take a four-note motive and spin out a gloriously triumphant symphony like his #5.  You have to be cool to write the longest symphony until that time in history about the glorification of humanity (#9) while being completely deaf.

Our family concert this Saturday February 2, 2008 at 2:00 PM will be a discovery of Beethoven as a person, composer and genius.  If you try very hard as you listen to his music, you might just be able to put yourself back in time and be awed by his presence.

December 15, 2007

Here at the BSA, we try to make sure we provide our community with a well balanced musical diet.  This is because we believe in your musical health now and for years to come!  Feeding yourself a diet rich in spiritual music, classics, new music and popular music will ensure that you will enjoy years and years of excellent musical performances.  In order to successfully remain on this regiment, you must begin early- some even advocate thinking about a healthy musical diet while in gestation (!) and continue on throughout childhood, young adult, mid-life and of course in your well seasoned years. 

It just so happens that one of our major sponsors believes in a healthy musical diet also.  Our friends at Harrison Hospital including their CEO Scott Bosch, have seen fit for the last couple of seasons to sponsor our annual holiday concert.  This season, we are pulling out the stops with a wonderful production of Messiah by G.F. Handel, composed in London 1741-2 and first performed in Dublin 1742.

A few excerpts are familiar to almost everybody, unlike any other work by its prolific and misunderstood composer. Messiah remains Handel's best known work, although this was not a status that it enjoyed until the last few years of his life, brought about by annual performances in Handel's oratorio seasons and charitable benefit concerts at the Foundling Hospital (an organization for underprivileged children, which still exists today as The Thomas Coram Foundation and another excellent institution that promotes musical and bodily health…). It was not originally envisaged as a Christmas tradition, but its microcosm of Christian doctrine and faith was intended as a timely thought-provoker for Lent and Easter. 

Handel, arguably the most cosmopolitan and versatile theatrical composer of the baroque period, was born and trained in Germany, achieved mastery and success in every musical genre while in Italy, and then settled for nearly five decades in England, during which time he assimilated all those nation's musical styles and specialised in operas and oratorios. Having just returned from conducting in London and treading down many of Handel’s paths, I feel even closer to him and his work.

The libretto for Messiah was designed and selected from the New and Old Testaments with utmost care by Charles Jennens (1700-73), a literary scholar and editor of Shakespeare's plays who was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. Messiah was composed at Handel's usual quick speed- the legend is over 23 miraculously inspired days while locked in his study (food came and went as well as the house keeper…).  It is composed in three parts:  1. The prophecy of Salvation; 2. His life and sacrifice and 3. The promise of bodily resurrection and redemption. 

There is no definitive musical text for Messiah because of the many changes Handel was obliged to make during the seasons it was performed. Some numbers were recomposed, such as "But who may abide", which is best known as the alto virtuoso piece composed for the castrato Guadagni in 1750. Others were customized for the soloists available, such as another version of "But who may abide" transposed up for an additional soprano soloist in 1754.

Therefore it can be bewildering to sort out exactly which authentic version of Handel's Messiah - if any - to perform. Yet Messiah, in one form or another remains a well loved and familiar masterpiece that can cope with being presented in numerous ways. Conductors (with the aid of their chorale directors, such as BSA’s extremely talented LeeAnne Campos) usually pick and choose their favorite versions to make an inauthentic composite program, but the character and flair of Handel's music is rarely anything other than supremely dominant. 

Thus, we will be presenting this great masterwork this Saturday with four soloists, full choir and orchestra for your continued musical health and pleasure.  Come, enrich and re-energize yourself with family and friends and I’ll see you--at the symphony!

November 3, 2007

Do you ever stop and try to imagine worlds outside of our own earthly home?   Certainly ever since our foremothers and fathers looked into the heavens, we have been wondering about this very idea.  I specifically remember my father planting me, as a first-grader, before the television, to see the first man step on the moon in 1968 and later being fascinated by projects like Voyager 1 and 2 in the 1970’s.  These mighty little spacecrafts have lasted 25 years beyond their five-year expectation and have sent back incredible photos of our solar system.  Both Voyager spacecrafts carry a greeting to any form of life, should that be encountered. The message is carried by a phonograph record - -a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by the late Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages.  I really love the idea that one day someone or something may listen to Bach’s Brandenburg #2, Beethoven’s Symphony #5, Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” aria and even “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry- what a great way to show what humans can accomplish both in composition, performance and sheer creativity.

Gustav Holst fell in love with astrology in 1913 and spent hours casting his friends’ horoscopes for fun (who can’t pass that part in the newspaper without reading your own?).  Each movement of his most famous work The Planets is intended to convey ideas and emotions associated with the human psyche, not the Roman deities.  Many have asked why Earth is not included as a movement of his colossal composition- the reason being the concept of this work is astrological rather than astronomical.  Holst lived well before the time when images (that we are so used to) of the planets and outer space were so prevalent in every day life.  Perhaps he looked into a telescope or gazed up to the heavens, but more likely he just used his strong sense of imagination coupled with his enthrallment with astrology to conjure up the remarkable sounds of each distinguished movement depicting some of our closest planetary neighbors.

When I taught music appreciation, some years back to non-musicians, I always loved to begin with the “Music of the Spheres” idea proposed over 2500 years ago by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras.  Whether it was a class of know-it-all middle school kids or graduate students in computer science, they were always mesmerized by the idea that stars could be giant instruments, literally “singing stars”. Pythagoras claimed that the universe was based on harmony, and that the spinning of planets and stars created music that only the Gods could hear.  He claimed that we as humans, if put under sway of good music, would become good people (and vise versa- thus the statement from your mom trying to penetrate the blasting sound system “don’t listen to that trash, it’s making you a bad person”…).  Mythology turned into science when the field of asteroseismology took off in the 1970s. Astronomers found that stars do pulsate, and are not stabilized by their strong magnetic field as was previously thought.

So, there you have it, maybe, just maybe, all this talk about how music can set a mood and control human emotions is based on the fact that we are children of the universe created from the dust of stars and that music was created well before we were a twinkle in God’s eye.  In any case, we will be performing Holst’s expansive The Planets and listen to two talented BSA players spin out their impressive concertos with Lia Wax on flute and Gary Dahl on timpani.  In the lobby before the concert you can peruse the wears of other talented artists: Anita Albala- hand-made hats; Karyn Cott- fused art; Terry Cott- custom furniture; Lynn Hollister- fiber and textile art; Patrick Hutchison- raku and ceramics; Kathy Pascal- hand-made wooden Santa's and Patricia Peat- jewelry- just in time for holiday gift ideas.  I hope to see you- at the symphony!

October 21, 2007

Let’s talk about fear:  shivery, chills up your spine, hair standing on end, edge of your seat, hands over your eyes- fear!  Do you remember the first movie that scared the pants off you?  Whether you are six or sixty, somehow we like that creepy feeling; we’re hooked on that adrenaline rush that comes with anticipating the unknown.  Moving pictures have a unique ability thru story line, lighting, acting, special effects and let us know forget- music to conjure up our deepest and darkest fears.

“Sinister Cinema” will be an afternoon filled with the discovery of how movies and music are be wedded together to produce the most diabolic characters filling us with intense emotions.  But, to give it a special spin, we will reach back to the days before sound tracks to the early part of the 20^th century when silent films and “photo play” music were joined at the hip.  We’ll see excerpts of old classic horror films like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” then progress to “talkies” like “Dracula” and “Frankenstein”. 

Of course we’ll have our annual costume contest and fun preconcert activities in the lobby beginning at 1:15 with regulars like the instrument petting zoo, provided by Ted Brown music and Treasure Chest where you get to submit questions to be answered on stage at the concert.  Then we’ll have some new folks- joining us to tell us about bones and skeletons we’ll have the Bone and Joint Surgery Center from Port Angeles and a special para-normal group that will help us spot where the real ghosts are hanging out.  We will be giving out prizes for best costumes and you’ll get a chance to win the DVDs of the classic horror movies we will be watching during the concert.  Everyone will get treats at the stations in the lobby with the bag you decorate.  What better way to get into Halloween, than to bring a friend, throw on your favorite costume and come to Bremerton Symphony Association’s Family Concert this Sunday at 2:00 PM and I’ll see you- at the symphony!

October 6, 2007

After a good ten-week hiatus, the Bremerton Symphony Orchestra got back together last Monday to begin rehearsing for our opening night concert “For Friends and Lost Heroes” sponsored by Kitsap Bank.  Starting my fifth season, you’d think I would know my players and board pretty well by now, having been on and off the battlefield of any number of rehearsals, committee discussions and concerts.  One of the things I learned right away at the start of this season is there is always room for discovery. That was brought to my attention when our new BSA president, Holly James, took the helm, changed the site for board meetings to Mayor Bozeman’s lovely 6^th floor conference room in the Norm Dicks building (you should go up there and treat yourself to an incredible view--all things are possible when you look at that every day!) and invited board members to share good things they had heard about the symphony. It is inspirational to gather with professionals from all walks of life that just happen to want to serve as volunteers for the BSA as board members.  Heaven knows their time is precious; someone such as Dr. Howard Podolsky, who is not only a new board member but also a doctor and a lawyer at Harrison Hospital, has plenty to do!  But he, like so many of the BSA board members, is proud to help the BSA exist. 

After that eye-opening incident, I started thinking about the connection we have with “Friends and Lost Heroes” in our orchestra.  Usually I’m all business when it comes to rehearsing; at the first rehearsal of the season it is very important to not only get the rust off but get the lead out. It’s not easy to come back after a ten-week break to Beethoven’s Symphony #3 and Brahms Violin Concerto, so jumping in with two feet is the only way. Still, looking around the room at all those familiar, dedicated musicians and knowing we just auditioned a couple new folks (Christine Melody, viola and new Kitsap Bank employee and Joel Wallgren, clarinet fresh out of Northwestern’s Music School and holding down a coffee job in Poulsbo while regrouping), I thought it might be a nice opportunity for us as an orchestra to do a little “sharing”.  So, I asked them if we could go around the room, say our names, how long we’ve played in the orchestra and what we do in real life.  There was a moment of panic- “is she not rehearsing tonight?” “how long will this take?”, but off we went around and around the rows listening to one another one at a time.  It was fun and refreshing, the experience deepened us as a group.  Some spoke of their careers, others their retirement; some were just starting families, others enjoying their grandkids.  They all addressed when they joined the orchestra, they remembered the conductor who was at the helm, what they played.  They exchanged knowing looks when another said “yes, I came on 23 years ago too when so-and-so conducted”.

When that was all said and done, I simply said, “I’m starting my fifth season; my husband and I are musicians and we are raising two daughters”, then off to the Beethoven “boom, boom”.  We had spent the time introducing ourselves, but Beethoven hardly addresses an introduction in his third symphony- just two chords and off he goes into the heroic adventures of his work. I believe the production of a BSA concert is a miracle and it certainly takes heroes, like the folks I work with everyday, to pull it off. They find it somewhere in the depths of their feelings, we hone it together and Beethoven provides the rest.

For the “Friends” part, we are inviting Simon James, Association Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony, to join us on Brahms’ stupendous Violin Concerto, presented as the first half. I always like the story about how Brahms wrote the concerto for his dear friend Joseph Joachim, who in turn supplied generations of violinists with an amazing cadenza for this work. Brahms asked Joachim's advice on the writing of the concerto. Joachim’s explained the areas that were impossible, what should be rewritten and technically beyonds the demands of known violin playing.  Brahms, in turn, did not change a note. So there we have it!  I hope you will find time in your busy schedule to attend the opening night of the Bremerton Symphony Association’s 2007-2008 season “Classical Music: Exposed”.  Having an appreciative audience will validate the efforts of our board, volunteers and mostly our dedicated musicians.  See you--at the symphony!

July 1, 2007

“Summertime and the livin’ is easy”…Yes it’s summertime here in the Pacific Northwest.  Just last Friday I was sitting in the parking lot waiting to pick up my daughter from her last day of 5^th grade.  Once the bell rang, the kids didn’t just run out of school, they bolted!  They were FREE!  They hollered and waved their arms, jumped over bushes and got away as soon as possible (was school really that bad-?).  The point is, now is the time to take advantage of this lovely time of year.  And what goes better together than good times, good food, good company and of course good music?

Some people, present company excluded of course, might have the impression that after an incredible season, like the one we just finished with Beethoven 9, the Bremerton Symphony Association is sitting back with our feet up drinking lemonade…nope, we’re presenting a pops concert on July 1, Sunday afternoon at 4:00 on the grounds of the Silverdale Beach Hotel.  It’s part of a new Pop Concert series the BSA is embarking on to bring together lighter music with entertainment in a more relaxed atmosphere.  What could be more pleasant than sitting in your lawn chair or on a blanket with your choice of food looking over the sound as you hear the refrain of “America the Beautiful”, “Aura Lee” or the “1812 Overture”?  We’re teaming up with the Kitsap Chordsmen, a dedicated group of talented male vocalists, on some combined selections and of course they’ll get time to show off on their own to your ears’ delight.

How did this all come about?  Well, I’ve been hoping to include a pops series with the BSA for a long time; we’ve been successful with our classic series (regular evening concerts) and with family concerts (afternoon matinees for youths); and in the past, before my time, I know that there were concerts presented at the Admiral called “Popcorn Pops”.  So, when I attended the Silverdale Noon Rotary earlier this spring upon answering one of their closing questions with “…yes, I’d love to do a pops concert in the summer, but it would need funding”. They promptly suggested I apply for some of their hard earned Duck bucks for this project and even suggested the site at the lovely Silverdale Beach Hotel (have you been in it lately? they’ve done some beautiful renovation work under the expertly managed hands of Chris Koebelin).  A short time later, we were awarded some Duck Bucks.  Next, I approached some generous BSA sponsors, the Soriano’ s, who have been prominent in our community for many decades and they agreed that part of their annual donation would be well spent on sponsoring a summer concert for our community.  And presto- (after the BSA board’s approval) the summer pops concert was born! 

What is important now, is to get folks down to the Silverdale Beach Hotel this Sunday at 4:00.  Did I mention it’s free?  That is FREE as in this concert will not cost you any admission, there are no tickets, no will call, no waiting in line, no parking costs, no ferry costs- IT’S FREE!  Pretty good deal huh?  Now if you don’t want to spend the time packing your own picnic basket that Sunday morning because you’re thanking the Lord for all you have, Michael Low, of the Silverdale Beach Hotel, is putting together a scrumptious barbeque that you can purchase right there on site (heaven forbid there would be growling stomach sounds during the concert….).

So there you go- a free summer concert with pops and patriotic music meant for all ages in a beautiful setting on a Sunday afternoon.  Too good to be true? Nope, not here in God’s country, just come on down and you’ll have a grand ol’ time.  Take advantage of this opportunity now- even if you don’t usually follow the symphony, because this is what summer is made of – “easy livin’.”