Andrei Gorchov
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Andrei GorchovAn Interview
Tell me about your music education background, and how you got started playing flute.
My first teacher was the beloved Joe Angiulo, who inspired me from the moment he opened the flute case for the first time. He set high standards and expectations, so I was motivated to practice. I loved playing music with friends, it was a perfect outlet, and I wanted to be just like Joe! I knew from the beginning that playing flute was what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I played in the band at Redwood High School and won the award for best musician in school for all four years. I also played in MSYO and won their concerto competition, so I got to play with the Marin Symphony. All this recognition kept me working to be my very best, and I auditioned for the Music Chest scholarships, year after year for seven years, but I didn’t ever win! These were the highest standards I’d ever encountered. I mean, who ARE these students? They must be amazing! This inspired me to work even harder. I finally did win in 2000, when I was 18, by which time I had decided to become a professional musician and teacher. I had a better teacher who helped me improve, and new instrument, and finally, for my last opportunity, I had the confidence to relax into the audition performance, feeling that I was I owned it, and that I had reached the extreme high level Music Chest demands. And now you are a flute teacher and a widespread music educator in Marin County. Yes, also the Associate Conductor and Manager of the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra as well as the Director of Education and Community Engagement with the Marin Symphony. I teach flute privately and am the Director of Music at Marin Lutheran Church. What inspires or excites you the most out of all you are doing? I have a great love for music education, whether in my private studio, working with MSYO or through planning events with the Symphony. I do a lot of planning and administration for the Marin Symphony, which is great because I really love the students and creating and organizing events and opportunities for them. In our Symphony@Schools program, I arrange for our guest symphony performers to play live for kids in their schools. Seeing them work with kids—for ex, Simone Porter at Hamilton School, is extraordinary, and has such an impact. I love seeing the spark happen, how music excites the young kids, and to watch them experience music as discovery. And Symphony Day—I love that! Fourth graders from all over Marin County come to hear our Marin Symphony for free, and for many students it is their first live classical music experience. It’s thrilling for kids to be exposed to the sights, sounds, emotions, and history of classical music. I think a lot of people wonder if there is there a rivalry between pop music and classical. What do you think? Well, for one, classical music is an entertainment genre, patrons come to listen. If that music doesn’t have relevance, people can get bored of same music, no matter how good it is. We need to look for added meaning to add interest. I don’t see a rivalry between pop music and classical, except for getting people’s attention, so it’s good to create different, unique performances and seek impact and connection to the community you’re in. For two, about studying music and getting kids into classical music – I don’t see a drop off in interest in classical music. Kids can always play pop music at their lessons and still play duets by Telemann. What’s interesting to me is that kids don’t always know why they connect to classical music, but they do. It’s bigger than they are, so they can enjoy pop stuff but it’s not as exciting and they can get bored of it. Pop music not as deeply written, and classical is more challenging, so they put more work into it and get more out of it. I find they like reaching higher and pop doesn’t provide that. Capturing kids in the right way in the beginning, providing opportunities, experiencing training with other kids, all of that has its own popularity. And you still play the flute daily! I can get lost in practicing, I could play all day, and I do come home from teaching and pick up the flute! To read more about Andrei Gorchov, check out his website: https://andreigorchov.com/ |
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Anatomy of an Audition: Keeping it Professional
By Spencer Michels, Marin Music Chest Board Member When a teenager or younger steps on to the stage to audition for a Marin Music Chest scholarship the auditorium is empty except for seven or eight judges and Michael Struck. Parents and friends are excluded.
As Scholarship Chair of the Marin Music Chest, Struck has put together these formal auditions for the last 28 years. He may be among the best qualified to judge the quality of the performances, but he stays scrupulously out of it. He is the organizer of the auditions, which he makes sure are as fair and professional as they can be. The judges don't learn the names of the students nor their schools. And the judges are forbidden to talk among themselves until after they vote. Only the youngsters' ages and the name of their optional and required pieces -- which must be memorized -- are revealed. This year pianists had to perform a Beethoven sonata. Struck, 68, is a professional musician, a piano teacher, and a member of the Music Chest Board. He is also the organist and choirmaster at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, where he started in 1983. In addition, he served as conductor of the Winifred Baker Chamber Chorus and organist for St. Raphael's Church. Even with all that experience, he lets the players play and the judges judge. The auditions that Struck organizes happen twice in the spring, once for juniors, 10 to 13, and once for seniors, those 14 to 18. Music teachers and friends often suggest talented musicians apply for the 10 to 16 scholarships the Music Chest awards each year. Besides the money, the awards carry prestige that has advanced many a musical career. Struck handles the auditions carefully and judicially. He tries not to personally get too close to any student or parent; he keeps communications mostly online so as not to show favoritism. When he first started, he learned quickly that personal conversations with parents or their talented kids could skew the impartiality that was needed. Unlike some professional auditions, the Music Chest decided long ago not to use screens to hide the musicians from the judges. Instead, each judge uses his own musical background and training to assess technique, musicianship, tone quality, memory, and stage presence. Mike Struck puts it all together: the auditorium, the practice rooms, tuning the piano, the ever-changing schedules of busy students, the score books for the judges. And the most satisfying part of the job: tallying the scores and notifying the winners that have been awarded scholarships. |
Mike Struck
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Dawn Madole
Dawn Madole, High School Senior Portrait
Dawn Madole, Teacher of the Year Award 2019
(reprinted with permission from the Marin Symphony)
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Dawn Madole, ViolinScholarship Recipient 1994, 1995, and 1996
Our spotlight for February 2023 is on Dawn Madole. Dawn was a Marin Music Chest scholarship recipient in 1994, 1995, and 1996. After college, she continued to pursue her passion for music, often wearing many musical hats as a performer, teacher, and administrator.
As a music teacher, she is instrumental in helping her students grow in their musicality, and prepare for auditions and competitions (including the Marin Music Chest competitions!). Dawn was recognized by the Marin Symphony in 2019 as a “Teacher of the Year,” an award given to teachers who demonstrate excellence in teaching and exceptional commitment to their students. Read on to learn more about Dawn Madole. Q: When did you start playing violin, and what made you choose it?
A: I started lessons at age 3 on a 1/16 size violin (which I still have!). I have a cousin, 3 years older than me, who was already playing violin. Whenever our families got together, he would always play for us. I wanted to be just like him, and so I asked to play violin as well. I blame him! (He is also a professional violinist now). Q: Did you ever consider any other instruments? A: My parents tried out piano for me even before I started playing the violin. But it wasn’t for me. I just kept asking to play violin! In college, I really fell in love with the Elgar Cello Concerto and asked a cellist friend of mine to help me learn the opening chords. My violin technique didn’t translate easily to cello, and it was a solid fail. But, I absolutely have a soft spot for cello too. Maybe in another life! Q: You’re a Marin County native, and a former Marin Music Chest winner. Tell us about your musical experiences growing up in the Bay Area. A: I grew up in Novato and studied the Suzuki method from age 3 to 9. Then in 4th grade, I began studying with Serban Rusu, and he was my long-time teacher and mentor through college. I joined the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in 8th grade. Alasdair Neale (current Music Director of the Marin Symphony) was the conductor of the SFSYO when I was a member, and I played in the orchestra from 8th grade until I aged out my sophomore year in college (I was still in the area at UC Berkeley). Some of my fondest and most influential life experiences happened during my time in that orchestra. I made life-long friends, learned an immense amount of repertoire, and played music at an exceptionally high level because of Alasdair Neale and the musicians of the orchestra. Q: What else do you do besides teach violin? A: I wear many hats and I have my feet in a few lanes. Besides playing violin in a few Bay Area orchestras, I have a private teaching studio of 20+ students, and I am a classroom music teacher for pre-K to 8th graders at GATE Academy. I also work in arts administration for the Sun Valley Music Festival in Idaho, and I’ve been a long-time personal assistant for a Bay Area conductor. Q: What do you like about teaching? A: I love the individualism of every student. No two students are alike, and therefore no single lesson is ever the same. The beauty of private lessons is that the approach to teaching a technique or a piece can be different for each person, depending on their learning styles. I learn a lot from my students as well. Understanding what inspires them and what clicks for them helps me to bring out their own best work. My most favorite part of teaching children is seeing them grow and mature year after year. I’m lucky to work with students who start young and play into their teenage years and beyond. It’s a joy to get to know them and a privilege to be a part of their lives. Q: If there was one piece of music you could listen to on repeat, what would it be and why? A: The first movement of the Brahms Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major. This piece is a great, big, warm embrace. When I want to be swept away, this is the piece for me. The melodies are glorious, sometimes haunting, but always achingly beautiful. And the partnership of the violin and cello is especially satisfying and rhapsodic. Q: Who is your favorite violinist? A: I’ve never been good at “favorite” questions because it’s too hard for me to choose just one. My teacher introduced me to Heifetz, Milstein, and Menuhin, and I definitely grew up listening to their recordings. I’ve always been a huge fan of Maxim Vengerov. And today, I’d happily go to any performance of James Ehnes or Augustin Hadelich! Q: Tell us something about yourself that would surprise most people. A: I’m getting married in April! Q:What are you really bad at? A: Deleting emails from my inbox. I won’t tell you how many are in there! The funny thing is that I’m a very organized person. But there’s something so disconcerting to me about the finality of pressing delete. Q: Seems like you spent your childhood and college years right here in the Bay Area, and you currently live here now. Have you ever lived anywhere else? A: I moved to Vienna, Austria the year after I graduated college. I had earned a scholarship to study privately abroad, and I was accepted as a student of Daniel Froschauer, one of the concertmasters of the Vienna Philharmonic. My year consisted of practicing Mozart Concertos and Fritz Kreisler pieces (how Viennese!), and I went to see as many concerts and operas as I could attend for a year. Standing tickets were 2.50 Euro, and I was seeing 2-4 performances a week. It was an amazing year. Q: What do you hope your students learn from you? A: To breathe before playing; to practice first slowly and always with integrity; and to not forget that music is an emotional experience (not just a technical one), whether as a performer or as a listener. |
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JOE ANGIULO – September 22, 2022
Joe Angiulo joined the Marin Music Chest Board of Directors in 2002, and for two decades has been instrumental in supporting and promoting its programs, organizing outreach concerts, developing a healthy donor base, and advising and steering the organization. Continuously serving as a valued judge for the audition process, he has served many roles, including President. Joe, along with Bob Greenwood and Chuck Lavaroni, jointly established the Young Artists concerts. Joe continues to administer this program which features the top five winners of the Music Chest Scholarship Awards as an annual part of the Chamber Music Marin concert series each May. We applaud and celebrate his service to Marin Music Chest and thank him for his determination to keep classical music alive in our ears and hearts. |
Joe Angiulo
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A BRASH MUSICIAN
Joe Angiulo – who taught music to hundreds of youngsters in Mill Valley – hated practicing. He never told that to his elementary and middle school students, as he urged them to practice the all four string instruments which I taught, and the winds. Angiulo spent 37 years teaching music, after moving to Marin County in 1974 to take a job teaching strings following studies at Sacramento City College and San Francisco State.
“I was brash,“ he said. “I told them I could teach strings.” But David Smiley, the father of one of his early students and a classical viola professional, quickly told Angiulo, “You don’t know a hell of a lot about teaching strings.” Angiulo agreed and took lessons from Smiley, a violist with the San Francisco Symphony. The lessons paid off. Over a long career, Angiulo inspired generations of young musicians to play and, just as importantly, to listen to classical music.
To further that goal, Angiulo, 81, has been an active board member of the Marin Music Chest for more than two decades. He also served on the board of Chamber Music Marin (formerly Mill Valley Chamber Music Society), where he initiated the Young Artists Concerts in 2000, featuring winners of the Music Chest’s auditions. He also brought professional musicians into Mill Valley schools to play chamber music, a highly popular outreach program.
“I love the sound of strings,” he confessed, though he usually thought of himself as a trumpeter. But the Mill Valley resident never pursued a career as a professional musician. “I knew where I fit; I knew I wasn’t going to make my living playing.” Still, he says, “Music has been the only focus of my life.”
Curiously, he focused his career on younger students. His personality, he admits, seemed to click better with 12 and 13 year olds than with high school students. He wasn’t as comfortable with the older kids, though he did serve as guest conductor of the Tamalpais High School orchestra at least once a year.
Born in Canton, Ohio, the youngest of five children in an Italian-American family, he moved to Sacramento after high school to be with his older brother and then to San Francisco to attend San Francisco State. He began teaching at age 22, and he realized early on that, especially in the arts, the teacher was the most important factor in getting kids involved. “I really liked what I did,” he said. “And I was a good fit.” He traveled between all the elementary schools in Mill Valley, plus the middle school. Largely because of his efforts the district now has orchestras in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, plus band and chorus.
“My feeling was I was not to teach them to be musicians. I was teaching kids about music to make them appreciate and enjoy someone who does it well.” But of course he has inspired some very accomplished artists who hold positions in orchestras around the country.
What he hopes is that the schools and the community will realize the value of music programs for the young, and expand them in an era when budgets are tight and classical music is fighting to retain its popularity with the younger generation.
By Spencer Michels, MMC Board member
Joe Angiulo – who taught music to hundreds of youngsters in Mill Valley – hated practicing. He never told that to his elementary and middle school students, as he urged them to practice the all four string instruments which I taught, and the winds. Angiulo spent 37 years teaching music, after moving to Marin County in 1974 to take a job teaching strings following studies at Sacramento City College and San Francisco State.
“I was brash,“ he said. “I told them I could teach strings.” But David Smiley, the father of one of his early students and a classical viola professional, quickly told Angiulo, “You don’t know a hell of a lot about teaching strings.” Angiulo agreed and took lessons from Smiley, a violist with the San Francisco Symphony. The lessons paid off. Over a long career, Angiulo inspired generations of young musicians to play and, just as importantly, to listen to classical music.
To further that goal, Angiulo, 81, has been an active board member of the Marin Music Chest for more than two decades. He also served on the board of Chamber Music Marin (formerly Mill Valley Chamber Music Society), where he initiated the Young Artists Concerts in 2000, featuring winners of the Music Chest’s auditions. He also brought professional musicians into Mill Valley schools to play chamber music, a highly popular outreach program.
“I love the sound of strings,” he confessed, though he usually thought of himself as a trumpeter. But the Mill Valley resident never pursued a career as a professional musician. “I knew where I fit; I knew I wasn’t going to make my living playing.” Still, he says, “Music has been the only focus of my life.”
Curiously, he focused his career on younger students. His personality, he admits, seemed to click better with 12 and 13 year olds than with high school students. He wasn’t as comfortable with the older kids, though he did serve as guest conductor of the Tamalpais High School orchestra at least once a year.
Born in Canton, Ohio, the youngest of five children in an Italian-American family, he moved to Sacramento after high school to be with his older brother and then to San Francisco to attend San Francisco State. He began teaching at age 22, and he realized early on that, especially in the arts, the teacher was the most important factor in getting kids involved. “I really liked what I did,” he said. “And I was a good fit.” He traveled between all the elementary schools in Mill Valley, plus the middle school. Largely because of his efforts the district now has orchestras in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, plus band and chorus.
“My feeling was I was not to teach them to be musicians. I was teaching kids about music to make them appreciate and enjoy someone who does it well.” But of course he has inspired some very accomplished artists who hold positions in orchestras around the country.
What he hopes is that the schools and the community will realize the value of music programs for the young, and expand them in an era when budgets are tight and classical music is fighting to retain its popularity with the younger generation.
By Spencer Michels, MMC Board member
Michael Mello
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Interview with Michael Mello - January 21, 2022
Michael Mello is one of Marin’s hidden treasures, quiet and unassuming but stalwart, committed, and known to many for his tremendous keyboard skills, musicianship, and solid, reliable presence in the performance hall. He is an extraordinary accompanist, but is also a music coach and teacher, gently encouraging students to express themselves with musicality, no matter the instrument or the level. Having lived all his life in Marin County, he is an important part of our musical landscape, and one of our true musical heroes. Michael won Music Chest scholarships three times as a youth and has recently retired from teaching and joined the Music Chest Board of Directors.
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Your connection to Marin Music Chest goes back to when you won scholarships in the late 1960s?
Yes, in fact it was Faith France, my piano teacher, who suggested I apply, and I won in 1968 and 1969 as a sophomore and junior in high school, then again in 1971 as a freshman in college. I was attending Oberlin at the time, where I was practicing eight hours a day! It was VERY competitive. But I developed tendinitis while there, so I came back home.
Home was here in San Rafael. Were you born and raised here in Marin?
Well, officially I was born in Santa Rosa, but I grew up in San Rafael. I was your typical Catholic boy—I started at St. Raphael’s, then attended Blessed Sacrament 2nd - 8th grade, though that school closed years ago, and on to Marin Catholic high school. I was taught by Dominican Sisters all those years.
Tell me about how you got into piano.
My mother noticed early on that I loved music and was fascinated by toy instruments, and recognized I had talent. It wasn’t until I was about 10 that my mom finally convinced my dad to take ownership of the heavy, upright piano that had been upstairs in my aunt’s grand old home in the Russian River Valley. That was my piano until freshman year of high school. At that point my dad acquired a beautiful old Knabe rosewood grand piano that had been purchased and shipped around the horn to San Francisco by the famous orchestral conductor Andre Kostelanetz! But it had a cracked sound board!! Ultimately in 1969 my dad bought the Steinway that’s in my living room today.
I understand you were in the thick of the music community as a youth.
My first piano teacher was Audrey Franzini, whose daughter Joan, also a Music Chest winner, went to San Domenico. Audrey connected me to Faith France, who was my teacher for five years, from 8th grade through high school. Joan and I played a lot of music together in high school.
I played in the Marin Youth Symphony Orchestra under Hugo Rinaldi, covering the harp parts on piano and sometimes playing percussion when needed – such as the gong in Pictures at an Exhibition! In my freshman year, fellow pianist Mary Rosenquist and I played Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals, and in junior year, I played the Liszt Second Piano Concerto with the orchestra. Maestro Rinaldi also conducted the San Domenico Orchestra de Camera, and with that group I played the Bach double concerto with Joan Franzini.
I was even the accompanist for the Marin Civic Light Opera in the late 1970s and Marin Opera in the early 80s –that sure was fun.
I know you also enjoy singing, as you have sung with the Marin Symphony Chamber Singers and other local groups.
Absolutely! I always loved choir—since grammar school. I sang in choir at Oberlin: St John Passion (Bach) and Haydn’s Creation. When I came back to California I attended College of Marin, and was fortunate to sing under Martin Frick.
But being back home, I understand you experienced somewhat of a personal crisis.
I found myself asking “am I doing music for egotistical reasons?” I was reading Thomas Merton, then Jacques Maritain, who wrote a great deal on philosophy of the arts. The message came through that one could be an artist or musician for love, not ego. This gave me a new viewpoint – that music is a gift that we can share with other people. That, and the fact that my tendinitis had finally cleared up, led me to gradually start playing piano again, this time at Dominican College. I was in a class with some other amazing musicians, including Jan Gauder Volkert (a Music Chest winner), Mark Jordan, Paul Smith, and Tara Flandreau, who later served on Music Chest’s board. What a group!
Then your career really began.
I worked at St Rita’s in Fairfax for a couple years as choir director, then went on to Stanford to get an MA in Early Music/Gregorian chant, graduating in 1978. Home once again, I freelanced as a piano teacher. The magical moment for me was an evening at the Marin Symphony, where by coincidence I sat right behind Faith France and Hugo Rinaldi. She turned around to me and offered me a job at San Domenico right then and there! I started in the fall of 1978 and taught my last classes during the first four months of the pandemic in 2020 – a total of 42 years.
At San Domenico I first worked primarily as accompanist to the San Domenico Singers, directed by Martin Frick, as well as accompanist to some of the music students. I also was a staff piano teacher – lots of lessons! Then around 1982 I was hired there as a religion teacher so I could be full time. Eventually I became the director of the San Domenico Singers, and that rounded out my position.
But you always continued to accompany students.
Yes – I love being with young musicians and accompanying them is such gratifying work. And I’ve always had a church job – I’ve worked at several Catholic churches in the Bay Area including St Raphael’s, St Dominic’s, Our Lady of Lourdes, St Cecilia’s, and currently St Anselm’s.
And you still sing!
Always! I loved singing with the SF Chamber Singers under Bob Geary, the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and of course the Marin Symphony Chorus. I was first their accompanist, in 2004, and have been a singer and accompanist since 2011. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing chorus and orchestra right here in our backyard.
And now you’re on the Board of Music Chest.
I was delighted to be invited on, and feel that it’s a perfect way to serve our music community. As a member of the board, I quickly became aware of the great diversity of people who are so supportive of classical music in Marin County, and especially supportive of young musicians. The board includes not just musicians but persons from other fields and occupations – business, academia, television, and more – who join together in strong support of our next generation of musicians. This dedicated commitment benefited me many years ago. It is my pleasure to pay this support and commitment forward!
Steve Bergman
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Interview with Steve Bergman 4-17-21
Intro: Steve Bergman, born in SF, raised in Marin, was a three-time Marin Music Chest Scholarship winner in the 1970’s who has gone on to have an illustrious career as a performer and most notably as a teacher. Many years, many times his students have been top scholarship winners. Steve credits the Music Chest with giving him the start he needed, in days when lessons were a luxury not all families could afford and when the Music Chest paid the teachers directly for the students’ lessons. We recently interviewed Steve, who is joining the Artistic Council for this May’s auditions. |
You grew up in Marin, but then moved away, and came back. Where did you go, and what brought you back? I chose University of North Texas to study music, because at the time it was the only place where you could study both classical and jazz. During my high school years in Marin, I studied clarinet with David Breeden, who played with the SF Symphony. David Breeden attended the University of North Texas, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Mr. Breeden was Principal Clarinetist of the SF Symphony and sadly passed away at a relatively young age. I stayed in Texas for twelve years, because there was work to be had both teaching and performing, though what I really sought was the prima position as a first clarinetist in a major symphony orchestra. Those positions were scarce and I never landed one. But I did a lot of performing in Texas. That was really my intention, and I practiced 4-6 hours a day. The trick is to make a living wage as a performer. I quickly realized that teaching was more lucrative and consistent, as I could teach in schools and also privately after school.
I came back in 1990 mostly because I was homesick! I love Marin. At U of North Texas I studied wind instruments that interested me – clarinet, saxophone, flute, and recorder. I also learned how to fine-tune my private teaching abilities, having a private studio of 81 students. I already had a foothold and a fair amount of experience in that regard. In eighth grade I was a TA in a summer program with Dixie School District, and started teaching there, and by high school I had 15 students. I had connections here and history here, and I was glad to come home.
What did you do upon your return?
Well, for two years I tried working in the wine business. I did very well and became Sales Manager for the North Bay Region. But I recognized that playing music was my true passion. So I circled back to the people and places I knew, and landed a job at San Domenico in 1992, thanks to Faith France, and the fact that Bob Olney happened to be stepping down at the time. Basically, I took over his position. Hugo Rinaldi knew me well from the years of playing in Marin Youth Orchestra, so I was fortunate to be well connected. I’ve worked at San Domenico ever since, though I was furloughed last September due to Covid. Teaching has been my mainstay, but I also love performing and I always play a lot of classical gigs, jazz, shows on the side.
And you’ve always had tons of private students.
Band directors got to know me and would send me students all the time. My students frequently got into various Bay Area Youth Orchestras and won MMC prizes. I found students elsewhere as well, through The Magic Flute for example, and I was pretty good at hustling students. I’m still in touch with many of them, and will always be “Uncle Steve” to many of my former students.
A lot of your students have won Music Chest awards over the years. One year you had a Senior and 3 Junior winners.
Yes, that was 1998. Two of those Juniors went on to be Senior winners. And this is what I love: Jessica went to Pomona & UC Berkeley, Samantha went to Cornell, Matt went to Harvard, and Gregory went to UC Davis. Those are the types of young people who audition for Marin Music Chest. They are self-motivated, driven and intelligent. It’s always been like that. We all understand that it’s important to make a commitment to your art — to do something besides math and English. And I still have students winning – Cy Stock in 2019 and 2020 for example.
Marin County has often been viewed as secondary to the arts culture found in San Francisco. But that’s not necessarily accurate, in your view.
When I was a youth, we had a youth orchestra here that was phenomenal in its day — still is an outstanding group. But SF had nothing like it. Their San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra was founded in 1981. Whereas, Hugo Rinaldi and Barry Boland, a Marin Symphony violinist, founded the Marin Youth Orchestra in 1955! I attended Terra Linda High School, which at the time had the best music program in the county. Wind and brass players went right into Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra. I love the fact that Marin Symphony, the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Marin Music Chest, and San Domenico School have had a close relationship for many decades. The first three formed the cultural core of Marin County back in the day. But Marin links to SF in many ways. Let us not forget, Alasdair Neale was the Music Director of SF Symphony Youth Orchestra for twelve years before coming to Marin Symphony in 2001!
Tell us about Marin Music Chest when you were earning your scholarships.
In those days, the Music Chest actually paid the teachers directly. I received scholarships in 1975, 1976, and 1977, and those three years of paid clarinet lessons made my life. The monetary award was meant to support further study, and they didn’t have winners’ concerts then. But what they did was pretty cool. The Music Chest would put on programs at the Civic Center, called “Best of Marin Music Chest.” The performers weren’t necessarily that year’s winners. I played there when I was 19 — Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata — with a fabulous pianist who was a MMC winner from some years before. They paid a stipend for this gig, which at $500 was a lot for the time.
You served on the Music Chest Board of Directors in the 90’s, and I notice that 1996 was the first year they offered scholarships to a Junior Division.
Right — when I joined the Music Chest Board in the mid 90’s there was only the Senior division. It was my idea to form a Junior division, and I took on the responsibility of choosing all the music for every instrument and the paperwork involved. Ultimately, though, Mike Struck had to bail me out on that, recognizing that paperwork is not my skill area. We ramped up the playing level by choosing harder repertoire. I believe this helped interest in the organization grow. It certainly encourages just that many more students to practice, practice, practice!
And you’ve been the initiator of other programs during your career, right?
I was employed by the San Francisco Early Music Society, and started the “Music Discovery Workshop” program, along with Lee McCrae. Lee and I founded the program and were teaching faculty members. We also hired the other teachers. I’m proud to say that the program is still continuing in Berkeley, although I have bowed out. I’ve always been attracted to recorders — perhaps my Flemish background? — and did a lot to develop recorder and wind instrument playing at San Domenico in the Primary School. Also rock bands for their primary and middle school students! I developed a band program at Our Lady of Loretto, also a band program at Good Shepherd Lutheran, both of those are still going on, or were, prior to Covid.
What is it about Music Chest that makes it special?
The students who apply aren’t competing against each other, they’re competing against a standard of excellence. It’s about selection, not rejection. So it’s not really a competition, it’s a scholar-based organization, seeking, supporting and encouraging artistic excellence in our youth.
I came back in 1990 mostly because I was homesick! I love Marin. At U of North Texas I studied wind instruments that interested me – clarinet, saxophone, flute, and recorder. I also learned how to fine-tune my private teaching abilities, having a private studio of 81 students. I already had a foothold and a fair amount of experience in that regard. In eighth grade I was a TA in a summer program with Dixie School District, and started teaching there, and by high school I had 15 students. I had connections here and history here, and I was glad to come home.
What did you do upon your return?
Well, for two years I tried working in the wine business. I did very well and became Sales Manager for the North Bay Region. But I recognized that playing music was my true passion. So I circled back to the people and places I knew, and landed a job at San Domenico in 1992, thanks to Faith France, and the fact that Bob Olney happened to be stepping down at the time. Basically, I took over his position. Hugo Rinaldi knew me well from the years of playing in Marin Youth Orchestra, so I was fortunate to be well connected. I’ve worked at San Domenico ever since, though I was furloughed last September due to Covid. Teaching has been my mainstay, but I also love performing and I always play a lot of classical gigs, jazz, shows on the side.
And you’ve always had tons of private students.
Band directors got to know me and would send me students all the time. My students frequently got into various Bay Area Youth Orchestras and won MMC prizes. I found students elsewhere as well, through The Magic Flute for example, and I was pretty good at hustling students. I’m still in touch with many of them, and will always be “Uncle Steve” to many of my former students.
A lot of your students have won Music Chest awards over the years. One year you had a Senior and 3 Junior winners.
Yes, that was 1998. Two of those Juniors went on to be Senior winners. And this is what I love: Jessica went to Pomona & UC Berkeley, Samantha went to Cornell, Matt went to Harvard, and Gregory went to UC Davis. Those are the types of young people who audition for Marin Music Chest. They are self-motivated, driven and intelligent. It’s always been like that. We all understand that it’s important to make a commitment to your art — to do something besides math and English. And I still have students winning – Cy Stock in 2019 and 2020 for example.
Marin County has often been viewed as secondary to the arts culture found in San Francisco. But that’s not necessarily accurate, in your view.
When I was a youth, we had a youth orchestra here that was phenomenal in its day — still is an outstanding group. But SF had nothing like it. Their San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra was founded in 1981. Whereas, Hugo Rinaldi and Barry Boland, a Marin Symphony violinist, founded the Marin Youth Orchestra in 1955! I attended Terra Linda High School, which at the time had the best music program in the county. Wind and brass players went right into Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra. I love the fact that Marin Symphony, the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Marin Music Chest, and San Domenico School have had a close relationship for many decades. The first three formed the cultural core of Marin County back in the day. But Marin links to SF in many ways. Let us not forget, Alasdair Neale was the Music Director of SF Symphony Youth Orchestra for twelve years before coming to Marin Symphony in 2001!
Tell us about Marin Music Chest when you were earning your scholarships.
In those days, the Music Chest actually paid the teachers directly. I received scholarships in 1975, 1976, and 1977, and those three years of paid clarinet lessons made my life. The monetary award was meant to support further study, and they didn’t have winners’ concerts then. But what they did was pretty cool. The Music Chest would put on programs at the Civic Center, called “Best of Marin Music Chest.” The performers weren’t necessarily that year’s winners. I played there when I was 19 — Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata — with a fabulous pianist who was a MMC winner from some years before. They paid a stipend for this gig, which at $500 was a lot for the time.
You served on the Music Chest Board of Directors in the 90’s, and I notice that 1996 was the first year they offered scholarships to a Junior Division.
Right — when I joined the Music Chest Board in the mid 90’s there was only the Senior division. It was my idea to form a Junior division, and I took on the responsibility of choosing all the music for every instrument and the paperwork involved. Ultimately, though, Mike Struck had to bail me out on that, recognizing that paperwork is not my skill area. We ramped up the playing level by choosing harder repertoire. I believe this helped interest in the organization grow. It certainly encourages just that many more students to practice, practice, practice!
And you’ve been the initiator of other programs during your career, right?
I was employed by the San Francisco Early Music Society, and started the “Music Discovery Workshop” program, along with Lee McCrae. Lee and I founded the program and were teaching faculty members. We also hired the other teachers. I’m proud to say that the program is still continuing in Berkeley, although I have bowed out. I’ve always been attracted to recorders — perhaps my Flemish background? — and did a lot to develop recorder and wind instrument playing at San Domenico in the Primary School. Also rock bands for their primary and middle school students! I developed a band program at Our Lady of Loretto, also a band program at Good Shepherd Lutheran, both of those are still going on, or were, prior to Covid.
What is it about Music Chest that makes it special?
The students who apply aren’t competing against each other, they’re competing against a standard of excellence. It’s about selection, not rejection. So it’s not really a competition, it’s a scholar-based organization, seeking, supporting and encouraging artistic excellence in our youth.