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Two
Events: TICO And XLNC Radio
By
David Amos
San
Diego has become, and keeps evolving into, a cultural magnet. In recent
conversations with people involved in the musical arts, we commented that only a
few years ago, it was difficult to find a concert or a recital on a particular
evening; today our choices are far greater, with visiting and local
organizations providing us with many worthwhile options, sometimes at
unavoidably conflicting times. Community, school, and professional ensembles are
improving in quality and number, and happily, this trend will continue. Permit
me to point out two events that will take place around mid-June.
The Tifereth Israel
Community Orchestra will present a program featuring music by Beethoven, Liszt,
Cimarosa, and Valarie Morris. It will be played twice, on Sunday, June 11, 3
p.m., at Ohr Shalom Synagogue (located at Third and Laurel, near downtown San
Diego), and at its home base, Tifereth Israel Synagogue on Tuesday, June 13, at
7:30 p.m.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 has been called “a dainty princess flanked by two
giants,” obviously referring to the epic Symphony
#3 (The Eroica), and the ever-popular Fifth
Symphony. But the Fourth, although
it is not performed as frequently as its monumental siblings, it is a work rich
in the very sounds that we recognize and love in the music of Beethoven: driving
rhythms, dramatic crescendos, rich melodic content, and plenty of fireworks and
virtuosity. Vintage Beethoven.
For the members of
the TICO audiences who have attended the other concerts of this season, you will
well remember the spectacular composition by Valarie Morris: her Voices of Shekhinah, for four female voices and large orchestra,
which was commissioned by TICO and premiered last November. The June 11 and 13
concerts will present another of her works, the award-winning Symphony
of Light and Shadows. As the composer describes her work: “Picture a
rowboat traveling on a gentle stream surrounded by a lush countryside. Leaves
occasionally drift down as the sun and breeze transform clouds, creating changes
in light and shadows, shimmering on the water and playing on the earth.”
The program will open
with the Overture to The Secret Marriage by
Domenico Cimarosa. This composer was a contemporary of Mozart, and considered by
many as his Italian operatic counterpart and rival. I wonder what Salieri
thought of this music.
Concluding the
concert will be the Second Piano Concerto
by Franz Liszt, with guest pianist Richard Cionco. This virtuoso showpiece for
piano and orchestra is a wonderful vehicle for Mr. Cionco. He was praised by the
New York Times for his “sensitive
pianism.” He first performed as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of
nine, and has since performed with many orchestras in the U.S., Europe, and
Asia. He graduated from the Juilliard School, is a Steinway Artist, and has
received numerous awards in competitions. Cionco is on the Piano faculty of
Sacramento State University.
For more information,
tickets, group rates, or directions call Ohr Shalom for the June 11 concert,
619-231-1456, and Tifereth Israel at 619-697-6001 for the June 13 program.
* * *
On June 15, the
classical music station, XLNC1 (90.7 FM), will launch its Summer Membership
Campaign. It will run until Saturday, June 24.
For those of us who prefer to listen only to the music, and find the
fund-raising tedious and wordy, we have to consider that one-third of the
operating budget for the station is raised through contributions of music lovers
such as yourselves. We well know that classical music needs our constant
support, whether it be for what we hear on the radio, on recordings, and the
best of the three: live concerts.
But classical music
is losing ground on all fronts. It has become a hard-sell to keep the market
share of classical music where it is now, to say nothing of trying to increase
it. Blame it on the so-called “graying audiences,” or the dismal music
education in the schools or at home. Let’s save this subject for another time.
But in order to keep XLNC on the air, it is essential that you listen, hopefully
enjoy the music that will be played, and that you phone in your contribution,
large or small, to let your voice be heard that our beloved classical music
needs to continue and have a broadcast forum.
During the campaign,
there will be great giveaways and premiums, announced and interspersed among the
rich variety of musical selections, and I strongly urge you to contribute, with
the making of a simple phone call. The number will be read frequently on the
air.
As a non-profit,
non-commercial station, XLNC1 depends on its listeners. The campaigns are
limited to three times a year, and this will be the second one of 2006. The goal
is to raise $70,000. The station is only six years old, yet, it is the only
classical music radio station in the world that broadcasts bilingually, Spanish
and English. It is registered in Mexico, and can be heard, 24 hours a day on the
air, and on the internet through its website.
For more information to join as a member, donor, or a phone volunteer for the
campaign, visit the website www.XLNC1.org
call 619-575-9090 ext. 452.