GARDEN GROVE : Symphony’s Return Is Glad Event

Forced to the sidelines for a year and unable to perform because of mounting debts, the Orange County Symphony of Garden Grove made an upbeat return last week, performing in a free Children’s Concert at Don Wash Auditorium.

About 1,000 children attended the program, sang with the orchestra and gave a standing ovation to two young classmates who were featured violinists in a Bach concerto.

To make the performance possible, nearly 50 musicians played without pay. Guest conductor David Warble also donated his services. Radio and television personality Rich Capparela narrated “Peter and the Wolf” without charge.

And members of the group’s board of directors used their own money to help pay some outstanding debts after the City Council earlier this year refused, on a 3-2 vote, to give money for performances.

Corporate grants totaling $13,000 from Target and Pacific Bell also helped make the Children’s Concert possible by paying back wages owed to musicians for previous performances.

“Music is incredibly important, especially to youngsters in a fast-moving society filled with great stress,” said Martha Alves, president of the board of directors. “It gives you joy and raises your spirit.”

Alves, a former music teacher and supervisor in the Garden Grove Unified School District, said she hopes to use the children’s performance as a catalyst for more citywide concerts.

She plans to ask the council this month for money to put on a summer concert in one of the vacant city theaters, she said.

“So much is spent on ugliness and violence and crime,” she said. “For a wholesome community, there should be activities that focus on the beautiful.”

Dick Hain, one of four symphony directors, said debts at one time piled up to about $140,000 but have been cut to about $15,000 by grants and donations. Some loans were forgiven.

Hain termed the Children’s Concert a rebirth that will give impetus for more concerts because it establishes credibility and increases chances for grants.

Two musical luminaries for the program were Garden Grove pupils Howard Konishi, 12, and Lougene Meers, 11, who were featured performers in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor.

Though they each have played violin for only about 2 1/2 years, they dazzled the audience and orchestra members and received a standing ovation.

“It’s pretty fun to play the violin,” Howard said before the performance. “It’s a challenge to see how good you can do.”

Alves said the organization still needs financial help and that no donation is too small.

The organization rents a building from the city for $1 a year and uses it for an office. It has no telephone because it has been unable to pay off previous bills. Recently, thieves forced open a rear window and stole the group’s only computer and typewriter, Alves said.

Alves said the Orange County Symphony of Garden Grove can be contacted at P.O. Box 1810A, Garden Grove 92642.