SYMPHONY SEASON GETS OFF ON POSITIVE NOTES

With summer concerts in full swing, the newly formed Garden Grove Symphony will present its first outdoor concert Saturday night at Village Green Park in Garden Grove.

Under the direction of Edward Peterson, the orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” (complete with cannon and bells), Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Procession of the Nobles,” and Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances.”

The guest soloist in the 6:30 p.m. concert will be soprano Corliss Taylor-Dunn. Formerly of New York and now a resident of Garden Grove, the actress-singer will present selections from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child” and Verdi’s “The Force of Destiny.”

The Garden Grove Symphony, which made its debut last May, is joining the musical marketplace at a time when many local symphonies are experiencing financial crises.

But Barbara Ness, the symphony’s public relations vice president and acting treasurer, believes that strong community association with the 76-member Garden Grove orchestra--as well as the ensemble’s wide repertory--will continue to bring support for the organization’s annual $50,000 budget.

According to music director Peterson, the symphony raised $11,000 in the one-month period between the announcement of its formation and its inaugural concert last May through private donors, advertising sponsors and ticket sales.

Since the May concert, the City of Garden Grove has made a donation of $5,000, Ness added.

“It has been really refreshing to see the type of interest that seems to be in the community for something that has been lacking. There has not been a full-scale symphony here before,” Peterson said.

Peterson’s aim is for his audiences to leave a concert feeling good about what they hear regardless of their musical experience. “We want the widest range of audience possible,” he said.

While Peterson uses 12 to 15 union musicians to fill principal chairs, about one-third of the orchestra is composed of local university, college and high school students who have competed for the positions through a rigorous audition procedure.

“Many are first-chair players in their own right at the high school or university level,” he said.

The remaining 25 to 30 chairs are filled by adult musicians in the community, also selected through auditions. Many of these musicians work in the field of music education within the Garden Grove school district and are non-union musicians.

Although the practice of using student players as well as musicians at different pay scales has, according to Peterson, the potential for a plethora of problems, he said there is a “really nice feeling within the symphony. If the group is going to be able to make music, to get past the notes on the page and become something special, there must be emotional ties.”

According to Peterson, adult players frequently switch chairs, going into the various sections of the orchestra to work with the younger musicians, helping them with technique. “There is a lot of camaraderie,” he said.

Board member Yaakov Dvir-Djerassi, however, believes the real unifying force is Peterson. “He’s young, he’s articulate, he transmits the music well, and there’s a response. There is a leadership and that’s what pulls people together,” he said.

The Garden Grove Symphony’s subscription season will begin Oct. 20 and will feature guest artist Richard Carpenter. The season will include four concerts at the Don Wash Auditorium, Garden Grove.