2008 -2009 Past Events

PVS Board of Directors Announces 2009 Gottschalk Memorial Awards
Family Concert with Bill Harley
Soup & Game Night
1st Annual Golf Classical
5th Annual Nathan Gottschalk Memorial Award Banquet and Auction

PVS Board of Directors Announces 2009 Gottschalk Memorial Awards

At the final concert of its 70th season, May 16th, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Board of Directors will honor the recipients of the Seventh Nathan Gottschalk Memorial Award: three teachers and violinists who have distinguished themselves as the founders of the Western Massachusetts Suzuki Association. In their studios, Verna Nash, Rose Lander, and Diana Peelle have taught in the Pioneer Valley for over three decades. The WMSA sponsors performances, workshops, and a summer institute, inviting nationally recognized Suzuki teachers to work with local students and their parents.

They are chosen to share the 2009 Gottschalk Award for their "outstanding contributions to music performance and education in the Pioneer Valley." Maestro Gottschalk was Music Director and Conductor of the PVS for 37 years. Upon his death, this award was established in memory of his many years of leadership during which the PVS added a Chorus to its Orchestra and established its reputation as one of the most accomplished community symphonies in the country.

Verna Nash graduated from Grinnell College and the Eastman School of Music. After working in the music division of the Library of Congress, she moved to Gainesville, FL, where she began teaching violin. Later in Amherst, she played with the University of Massachusetts, Springfield, and Pioneer Valley Symphonies and Commonwealth Opera. In the early 1970s, Verna began teaching the Suzuki method after meeting Dr. Suzuki.  She hosted him and his wife at her home in 1981 as part of the Suzuki International Conference held in Amherst. After retiring in 1996, Verna was honored for 38 years of teaching at the Grand Concert of the Western MA Suzuki Institute.

Rose Lander graduated from the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College.  After teaching in New York City and Los Angeles public schools, she pursued Suzuki violin teacher training. Arriving in Northampton in 1967, Rose began teaching privately and continues to maintain an active studio.  Many of her students have gained distinction as concertmasters and soloists of the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestras, students at Meadowmount and the Curtis Institute, and winners of major competitions.  Former student Erin Keefe performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the PVSO last September. Rose currently plays with several chamber groups, the Smith College Orchestra, and Commonwealth Opera.

Diana Peelle graduated from the Indiana University School of Music and received an M. Ed. from the University of Massachusetts.  Currently assistant concertmistress, she has played with the PVSO since 1975, as well as with Valley Light and Commonwealth Operas. Beginning her training as a Suzuki teacher in 1977, she has had a private studio ever since.  She also teaches at the Shutesbury Elementary School.  Former students include graduates of Oberlin and New England Conservatories, participants at Greenwood, Kinhaven, Musicorda, and Tanglewood, and members of professional orchestras.  Several have become violin teachers. Diana co-directed the MA Suzuki Festival in 1993.  She was the recipient of the 2004 Studio Teacher of the Year Award from the MA chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

…Fiendishly difficult to play.  An instrument only for the innately gifted, and even they must struggle to master it.  That’s the truth about the violin.  Right? Rose Lander, Diana Peelle, and Verna Nash don’t think so.

Shinichi Suzuki's teaching system emerged from devastated Japan after the Second World War as a gift to the future, an expression of hope in the midst of despair.  He reasoned that, if very young children could almost effortlessly learn such a complex skill as language, why not music?  Using child-size instruments, teaching primarily by ear through a precisely calibrated step-by-step approach, holding group classes in which children and parents both participate, and dispensing lots of joyously positive reinforcement, Suzuki-trained teachers teach children to play proficiently. The Suzuki system has gradually spread all over the world and been extended to other instruments and disciplines. 

Diana Peelle became an enthusiastic Suzuki convert after attending a training institute.  “When I first heard those kids play in a group, I was astounded.  Everything:  tone, intonation, even the way they looked!  That was 32 years ago, in Ithaca, New York. I had thought of myself as a violin teacher, but the (legendary) former Amherst teacher and PVSO member, Elsa Brown, said, ‘How do you know what you’re doing?’  During my own early training I thought beauty of tone was something you either had or you didn't. 

Then I heard these little Suzuki kids.  Their tone had been nurtured.  There was nothing innate about it.  That was a revelation!”  Among Diana’s students were her sons Tyson and Davin. Both obtained degrees in music, and Tyson has joined her as a teaching colleague with WMSA, and as a member of the PVSO.

“I like the democratic aspect,” says Rose Lander.  “If you really want to learn music, you can do it.  It’s not just for the select few.  There’s also the social aspect.  Kids play with other kids, so they learn social as well as musical skills.”  She first learned about the Suzuki system from an article in Time magazine.  “I was very interested in children, and the violin is important in my life. I wanted to be able to transmit my love and dedication to my students." Although she is not a member of the PVSO, she is performing in tonight's concert and frequently plays chamber music with Nathan Gottschalk's daughter Susan.

“It’s not about turning out professional musicians," she commented.  "Whether my students continue to play or not, they will always have a deep appreciation of music.”  Peelle agrees:  “People look for ‘success stories,’ but musical achievement is not only, or even primarily, what Suzuki is about.  It’s about the child.  It’s not teacher-centered. You’re not just hunting for talent.  Each child is an adventure.”

Verna Nash remembers Dr. Suzuki as very welcoming.  "You felt comfortable with him.  He was like an uncle.” About Nathan Gottschalk, she says, “He was above all a friend.  When he knew that my father was dying, he came over to me before rehearsal to offer some kind words.  He was a wonderful conductor.  When he wanted to explain a technical point to the strings, he would grab [former concertmistress] Robin Stone’s violin and show us how to play it.”

This trio of Suzuki teachers meshed well.  Again Nash:  “Rose took the leadership role.  Diana and I didn’t always agree with her, but it was never an adversarial relationship.”  According to Peelle, “Rose and Verna were the activators.  I was the functionary who pulled it all together. We started our summer camp so that participants wouldn’t have to travel to distant Suzuki Institutes. Parents could stay home, go to work, and still participate in the lessons.  Some enjoyed it so much that they kept coming back after their kids moved on.” 

The next time you hear a violinist, or a whole bunch of them playing together, think about the people who taught them that simply impossible (or implausibly simple?) skill.
                   — Interview by Zeke Hecker

Previous Years' Gottschalk
Memorial Award Recipients
2002-03            Deborah Sherr
2003-04            Alice Parker and Ron Bell
2004-05            Robin Stone and Gary Steigerwalt
2005-06            Judy Hudson
2006-07            William Bolcom and Joan Morris
2007-08            Paul Calcari and Patricia MacLachlan

March 28, 2009
Greenfield High School, Greenfield, MA

PVS Announces Special Family Concert featuring 2009 Grammy Storyteller Bill Harley and "Peter and the Wolf"

Press Release
Program Notes - by Zeke Hecker | by Bill Harley and Debbie Block

Concert is expected to sell out quickly - Order tickets today!
Tickets (Special pricing, $10 Adults & $5 for children under 18)
Directions

PVS joins American Orchestras Food Drive

Pioneer Valley Symphony ANNOUNCES
SPECIAL Family Concert
Saturday, March 28, 2009 · 7:00 PM
Greenfield HS Auditorium, Greenfield, MA
Featuring Two-time Grammy Award Winning,
Songwriter, Storyteller & NPR Commentator
Bill Harley

JOHN WILLIAMS ... Harry Potter Symphonic Suite
BILL HARLEY ... There’s a Pea on My Plate
BILL HARLEY & PAUL PHILLIPS ... Come On Out and Play
SERGEI PROKOFIEV ... Peter and the Wolf (narrated by Bill Harley)
BILL HARLEY ... You’re In Trouble

To encourage families to attend, reduced ticket prices are $10 (adult) and $5 (child). Concert will sell out well in advance.  Order your tickets today: www. pvso.org, or send order with payment and SASE to 91 Main Street, Greenfield, MA 01301

John Williams' children's favorite, Harry Potter Symphonic Suite returns to the PVS stage along with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf narrated by Bill Harley who will also perform from his own repertoire of songs and stories "of wonder, irreverence, big trouble, and life's little moments" that delight children worldwide. (www.billharley.com).The Greenfield High School Auditorium will be filled with song, music, laughter, and applause!

Bill uses song and story to paint a vibrant picture of growing up, parenting and family life. Poignant and hilarious, his work spans the generation gap, reminds us of our common humanity and challenges us to be our very best selves. A prolific author and recording artist, Bill is also a regular commentator for NPR’s All Things Considered and featured on PBS. Harley’s newest recording, a live performance CD set and DVD, Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live won the 2009 GRAMMY AWARD for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.

Commenting about this special concert with the PVSO, celebrating its 70th season, Bill Harley writes,

I’ve always been interested in how story and music go together, and having grown up in a family that listened to a lot of orchestral and classical music, couldn’t wait to work with an orchestra. When I was looking for someone as a collaborator, I knew Paul Phillips was the right guy. Both in his arrangements of my songs and stories, and in his role as conductor, Paul brings a love of music, command of the art, and a sensitivity to kids and families that is hard to find.  Plus, he has a good sense of humor, which is necessary if you’re going to work with me. Together, I think we’ve created some work that will entertain children and families for a long time to come. Best of all is when we get to be on the same stage at the same time. As Bear says in “Come On Out and Play” –“You never know what might happen!”

PVS Music Director Paul Phillips responds:

Bill Harley’s return to the Pioneer Valley Symphony this year will certainly be the highlight of the season for anyone 12 years old or younger. It will also be the highlight for many PVS audience members who are a lot older than 12, since Bill is one of the world’s most gifted and entertaining singer-songwriter-storytellers. Bill can bring a smile (or a tear) to anyone’s face with his funny, wildly entertaining stories. Since his previous appearance with the PVS in 1998, Bill has won two Grammy Awards (2007 and 2009). Many know him from his 28 recordings; videos and television specials, while many more have seen and heard him perform live throughout the US. I’ve been privileged to know Bill for over a dozen years, and collaborated with him in 1996 to compose “Come On Out and Play”, a beautiful story about a wonderful “bear who lived in the woods” who makes life better for all the other animals in the forest and causes a very magical thing to happen. I’ve also orchestrated some of Bill’s songs, which he has performed (along with “Come On Out and Play”) with numerous orchestras. It’s always a great pleasure to share the stage with Bill, and I’m delighted that he will be joining us this year to help celebrate the Pioneer Valley Symphony’s 70th Anniversary Season.

For one little boy, to be able to hear Peter and the Wolf performed by the PVS Orchestra, and narrated by Bill Harley, is a dream come true.

Local parent Nancy Robbins wrote recently:

It is really hard to put into words how much the PVS has meant to my family!  PVS chamber players opened my older son's 3-year-old eyes to a passionate interest that I knew nothing about!  Through his journey over the past two seasons, our whole family has come to love and appreciate classical music. All PVS musicians have treated Wylie with such respect, allowing him to ask questions at every opportunity.  "Peter and the Wolf" was Wylie's first favorite classical CD.  He loves to hear the instruments introduced, so he can hear what they sound like over and over again. When I asked Wylie why he enjoyed it so much.  He told me "The violins sound so beautiful and make me feel so calm inside". His younger brother Ransome spent his first 2 years listening to it every day, and now yells "Peter!  Wolf! Peter!  Wolf!"  

The Sandri Company of Greenfield is proud to be the lead sponsor of this very special concert for children and their families. Sandri President Tim Van Epps, shares: At Sandri we feel very strongly about supporting the community where we do business and our customers live. We receive an overwhelming amount of requests for sponsorships and charitable donations, and we try to do as much as we can. What’s great about partnering with the PVS to make this Family Concert possible is that our contribution reaches across all ages and the event is open to the entire community. 
  
Additional Support for this concert is made possible by: Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Greenfield Co-operative Bank, legrandice audio, the PVS Annual Fund, WHAI, WRSI, The Recorder, The Sohorganizer, and others.

When Christine Gray-Mullin of Amherst called to order tickets, she shared:
“Bill Harley is an entertainer that nobody in our family seems to outgrow. I don’t know who enjoys Bill Harley more … my husband and I or the kids. If you want to make everyone in the family happy, go see Bill Harley.”

Tix: $10 Adult; $5 Child
· World Eye Bookshop, Broadside Bookshop, Amherst Books, and Brattleboro Book Cellar
· On-line or 413-773-3664
· You may also send payment and SASE to the PVS
· Concert is expected to sell out.

Please bring a non-perishable food items to our special Family Concert as part of "Orchestras Feeding America"  - a national food drive to benefit local food pantries.

Program Notes - by Zeke Hecker | by Bill Harley and Debbie Block

Program Notes by Zeke Hecker
PETER AND THE WOLF, op. 67; Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Sergei Prokofiev was one of the greatest Russian composers of the twentieth century.  He began composing music for the piano when he was only five years old, and he wrote an opera when he was nine.  He graduated from the music conservatory in Saint Petersburg, where he won the prize for best pianist.  He traveled all over the world, to London, Paris and the United States.  In 1936, after having been away from his homeland for many years, he decided to return there to live.  

Prokofiev liked children, and wrote several pieces for young listeners and performers.  Shortly after he came back to Russia, he brought his own children to see shows at the Moscow Children’s Musical Theater, and the director of the theater asked him to compose something for them to perform.  They decided to have a story about a child and a group of animals, in which each animal would be given a theme using a different instrument of the orchestra so that the audience would learn how the instruments look and sound.    

Prokofiev wrote the story of Peter and the Wolf himself It doesn’t take long to tell, he said, because the purpose of the story is to help the children listen to the music.  He composed a piano version of the music in less than a week, and finished the orchestra version nine days later!  Since its first performance it has become one of his best-loved works, and the most popular orchestra work for children. He conducted the premiere on May 2, 1936, at the Nezlobin Theater in Moscow. Photo: Prokofiev family, 1936

The Story

This is the story of Peter and the Wolf.  Each character in the tale is going to be represented by a different instrument of the orchestra. For instance, the bird will be played by the flute. The duck will be played by the oboe and the cat by the clarinet. The bassoon will represent the
grandfather. The wolf will be played by the French horns and Peter by the strings. The blast of the hunters' shotguns will be played by the kettle drums.

Let’s begin.

Early one morning, Peter opened the gate and went out into the big green meadow. On a branch of a big tree sat a little bird, Peter's friend.  "All is quiet, All is quiet," chirped the bird gaily. Just then a duck came waddling round. She was glad that Peter hadn't closed the gate, and she decided to take a nice swim in the deep pond in the meadow. Seeing the duck, the little bird flew down upon on the grass, settled next to her and shrugged his shoulders. "What kind of bird are you if you can't fly?" he asked. To this the duck replied, "What kind of bird are you if you can't swim?" and dived into the pond. They argued and argued, the duck swimming in the pond and the little bird hopping along the shore.

Suddenly, something caught Peter's attention. It was a cat crawling through the grass. The cat thought, "The bird is busy arguing, I'll just grab him.” Stealthily she crept towards him on her velvet paws. "Look out!" shouted Peter, and the bird immediately flew up into the tree, while the duck quacked at the cat from the middle of the pond. The cat walked around the tree and thought, "Is it worth climbing up so high? By the time I get there the bird will have flown away."

Just then grandfather came out. He was angry because Peter had gone into the meadow. "It is a dangerous place. If a wolf should come out of the forest, then what would you do?" Peter paid no attention to his grandfather's words. Boys like Peter aren't afraid of wolves. But grandfather took Peter by the hand, locked the gate and led him home.

No sooner had Peter gone, than a big grey wolf came out of the forest.

In a twinkling the cat climbed up into the tree. The duck quacked, and in her excitement jumped out of the pond. But no matter how hard the duck tried to run, she couldn't escape the wolf. He was getting nearer, nearer, catching up with her. Then he got her and with one gulp swallowed her.

And now, this is how things stood: the cat was sitting on one branch. The bird on another, not too close to the cat. And the wolf walked round and round the tree, looking at them with hungry eyes.

In the meantime, Peter, without the slightest fear, stood behind the gate watching all that was going on. He ran home, got a strong rope. and climbed up the high stone wall. One of the branches of the tree around which the wolf was walking stretched out over the wall. Grabbing hold of the branch, Peter lightly climbed over on to the tree. Peter said to the bird:  "Fly down and circle over the wolf's head. Only take care that he doesn't catch you." The bird almost touched the wolf's head with his wings while the wolf snapped angrily at him, this side and that. How that bird teased the wolf! And how the wolf wanted to catch him! But the bird was clever, and the wolf simply couldn't do anything about it.

Meanwhile, Peter made a lasso and, carefully letting it down and down and down, caught the wolf by the tail and pulled with all his might. Feeling himself caught, the wolf began to jump wildly trying to get loose. But Peter tied the other end of rope to the tree, and the wolf's jumping only made the rope round his tail tighter.

Just then hunters came out of the woods, following the wolf's trail and shooting as they went. But Peter, sitting in the tree, said, "Don't shoot! The bird and I have already caught the wolf. Now help us take him to the zoo."

Just imagine the triumphant parade: Peter at the head. After him the hunters leading the wolf. And winding up the whole procession grandfather and the cat. Grandfather shook his head discontentedly. "Well, if Peter hadn't caught the wolf? What then?" Above them flew the bird chirping merrily. "My, what brave fellows we are, Peter and I! Look what we have caught!"

And if you listen very carefully, you can hear the duck quacking inside the wolf, because the wolf, in his hurry, had swallowed her alive.

Program Notes by Zeke Hecker

Program notes by Bill Harley and Debbie Block
Bill Harley's Stories and Songs

There’s a Pea On My Plate
The epic struggle over food. In both words, and music, this is a “theme and variation” – Paul has offered the melody I wrote in the first verse, and then presents it in a different way in each verse.  Is it a standoff at the end? Does anybody win? You decide.
 
You’re in Trouble
Most of the time, we get in trouble by accident. As a songwriter, I often look for a common place phrase – something we use every day – and try to put a new spin on it. This arrangement is as fun as the words – pay attention to the percussion section!
 
Come On Out and Play
I performed this story for years with just voice and guitar, but I always heard an orchestra. Paul took my little melody, introduced motifs, or musical ideas, for all the main characters (or should I say animals?), and brought it to life in a completely new way that captures the glory of joining story and music.  I believe that music and story have always lived well together, whether in a traditional story (where it’s known as a cante-fable) or in a more sophisticated form (musical theater, or opera). I have come to love Bear’s simple and steadfast faith in his ability to succeed – he’s a lesson for all of us. And then, too, there’s the porcupine!

About Bill Harley

Bill Harley has the uncanny ability to reaffirm life for listeners, be they five or fifty. Humor, empathy, intelligence and reality all radiate from his work and from him.
- Penguin Books

A two-time Grammy award-winning artist and recipient of the Magic Penny Award from the Children’s Music Network, Bill uses song and story to paint a vibrant and hilarious picture of growing up, schooling and family life. His work spans the generation gap, reminds us of our common humanity and challenges us to be our very best selves. A prolific author and recording artist, Bill is also a regular commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered" and featured on PBS. He joined the National Storytelling Network's Circle of Excellence in 2001 and tours nationwide as an author, performing artist and keynote speaker.     

Bill began singing and storytelling in 1975 while still in college.  His work has influenced a generation of children, parents, performing artists and educators. Bill's songs are joyous, direct and honest, his stories are filled with the details of daily life – all told and sung from his slightly off-center point of view.

"Humor is my weapon," says Harley of his award-winning recordings. A two-time Grammy winner, Bill's recordings have also garnered numerous other national awards including Parents' Choice, NAPPA (National Association of Parenting Publication Awards), ALA (American Library Association) and the highest honor from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio for his concert DVD, "Yes to Running!" filmed in conjunction with Montana PBS.
    
Bill's trademark wit and wisdom can also be found in his picture books and novels for children.  His first novel, The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher was chosen by Bank Street School of Education as one of the best children's books of the year and his second novel, Night of the Spadefoot Toads was awarded the Green Earth Book Award as best environmental book of the year in the children's fiction category.  His picture books, based on his songs, stories and poems also stand out as 'pick of the list' from ABA and a Storytelling Award Winner.  An advocate for children and educators, Bill is currently at work on a book about the culture of schools.

Touring nationally in theaters, schools, libraries, festivals and conferences, as a workshop leader, keynote and inspirational speaker, Bill's work affirms our commonality and reminds us to laugh out loud.  In the car, the classroom, at home or on stage,

 "no one beats Harley for intelligent, polished children's entertainment – he's simply the best."
 - Mothering Magazine

Storytellers were our first magicians, our first history keepers, society builders, culture shapers and spiritual and emotional filters, making sense of the world long before written communication.
 
For all our sophisticated technology and mass electronic entertainment, we still need those voices in the dark, by the fire, in the hall. A master storyteller connects us and intimately affirms our lives with resonant truths, no matter how embroidered, funny, mysterious or horrific the tale.
 
Bill Harley is a master storyteller.
 
The nationally touring, critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter, author, musician and monologist is considered by fans and peers alike to be one of the best storytellers in the country for his celebrations of commonality and humanity through comic narrative songs and confessional spoken works.
 
Entertainment Weekly labeled Harley, a two-time Grammy Award winner and multiple Grammy nominee, “the Mark Twain of contemporary children’s music.”
 
But tagging Harley with the “children’s artist” label, even of the top-drawer variety, is as deceptive as this gifted artist’s Puckish demeanor. In slice-of-life vignettes about school and family life, Harley uses humor and a fine-tuned sense of the ridiculous to illuminate compassionate truths, even while inspiring belly laughs.
 
Adults absorb a Harley performance through a double filter of past and present. Children respond from the immediacy of their own lives, as with rubber-faced abandon he examines human foibles, flaws and embarrassments, common fears and simple pleasures.
 
Playwright and author David Kranes was artistic director of the respected Sundance Playwrights’ Lab when he heard one of Harley’s National Public Radio performances and invited him to Sundance in 1990 to participate as a “strong and individual voice” outside the traditional realm of theater.  “Even over the radio,” Kranes remembers, “it was easy to imagine listeners leaning forward to participate in what Bill was offering. His art was an art of closeness.”
 
Harley “has an instinctive thing that artists have, a unique individuality that transcends any particular box or genre he performs in,” says Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of New York’s high-profile Public Theater. (Eustis first met Harley at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and was head of Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island, when Harley’s first musical, “Lunchroom Tales: A Natural History of the Cafetorium,” was staged there in 1996.)
 
Harley’s work resonates, Eustis believes, because he is “simultaneously” a son, a father, a husband, a child and a grown up, and has remained true to all those facets of his life.
 
Harley, who lives in Seekonk, Massachusetts, with his wife and professional partner Debbie Block with whom he has two grown sons, graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, in 1977 with honors and a religious studies degree. He found his calling in community service, not the seminary, leading a program in conflict resolution for families and educators and co-founding with Block and others a community-based adult education platform.
 
He was receptive early on to folk artist/activist Pete Seeger’s use of music as an expression of community. Supportive, too, of other musicians, Harley and Block were among the founders of Stone Soup Coffee House in Rhode Island, a music performance venue now in its 28th season.
 
As a folk musician in the Seeger, Woody Guthrie tradition, Harley still lends his voice to social justice, environmental and political causes.
 
Harley began his work with children while still in college and released his first album, “Monsters in the Bathroom,” on Round River Records, the label he co-founded with Block in 1984. Twenty-eight albums later, Harley’s work includes song and story collections for adults, and a diverse mix of world music, reggae, blues, folk, rock, jazz, do-wop and more.
 
In recent years, Harley has authored eight children’s picture books and two novels for gradeschoolers. Among his theater projects are My Sarajevo, a full-length play set during the Bosnian war, and “Stickeen,” a retelling of stories from the life of naturalist John Muir.
 
Whatever Harley’s forum, it’s always all about story, community and connection.
 
“Storytelling is such a simple art form, but it goes to the core of who we are as human beings,” says Brian Bemel, Artistic Director for Performances to Grow On in Ventura and the founder of the Ojai Storytelling Festival.  “When Bill is telling his story, your own story is happening as you’re listening to his. Storytelling brings people together because you have this common experience. I think people hunger for that.”
 
The lowest-denominator world that is too often reflected by the media persuades us to devalue ourselves and weakens our sense of community. Through his work, Bill Harley appeals to our better angels, reminding us that we’re human, making us laugh, sometimes making us cry. “As a rule, I have a hard time figuring out where I fit,” he says of his multi-faceted career, “but I got into this because I’m trying to make the world a better place.”
 
One story and one song at a time.

Program notes by Bill Harley and Debbie Block

PVS held the first annual Golf "Classical" on Sunday, September 21, 2008

October 9, 2008

Dear Friends and Sponsors:

THANK YOU!  Our 1st Annual PVS&C Classical was a success!  Gary Brown, columnist for The Republican, wrote, “Only at Crumpin-Fox:  A Symphony & Chorus Golf Classic.” (The Republican, “Hitting To All Fields” September 24, 2008).

Everyone had a great time and enjoyed a lovely fall day at Crumpin-Fox Golf Club in Bernardston, Massachusetts.  For those who could not join us, for golf and/or dinner, please consider joining us next year for another fabulous day of golf and friendship.

Speaking of next year, mark your calendar and put your team together because we are gearing up for the 2nd Annual PVS&C Classical.

Location:  Crumpin-Fox Golf Club, Bernardston, MA

Date:       June 26, 2009 (Friday)

Time:       12:30 p.m. shotgun start

Format:    4 person team scramble (gross score)
               Cocktails, Hors d’Oeuvres, and Dinner to follow

Fee:         To be determined for Golf and Dinner and Dinner Only

More details will be posted as they are developed or, if you have questions, contact anthony_galluzzo@verizon.net

• Results Page

The Board, Orchestra, and Chorus of the Pioneer Valley Symphony thank all those who made our first Golf Outing a success! The second golf outing is already in the planning stages….

2008 PVS Classical Sponsorships (In alphabetical order)

• www.anewfacedayspa.com A New Face Day Spa, 335 Federal Street, Greenfield, MA
• Bete Fog Nozzle, 50 Greenfield Street, Greenfield, MA
• Caddie Consulting, Turners Falls, MA
• www.ctvalleyoralsurg.com Connecticut Valley Oral Surgery Associates, Amherst, Greenfield, Northampton, MA & Brattleboro, VT
• www.golfthefox.com Crumpin-Fox Golf Club, Parmenter Road, Bernardston, MA
• Kathleen Galluzzo, Greenfield, MA
• Dillon Chevrolet, 54 Main Street, Greenfield, MA
• Don Lorenz, Inc., 369 Federal Street, Greenfield, MA
• Fairview Gardens, 8 Main Street, Northfield, MA
• Foster’s Supermarket, 70 Allen Street Greenfield, MA
• Hair N Company, 63 French King Highway, Greenfield, MA
• Lorenz Honda, 409 Federal Street, Greenfield, MA
• Timothy & Elise Rice, Greenfield, MA
• www.richardsonscandy.com Richardson’s Candy Kitchen, Routes 5& 10, Old Deerfield, MA
• www.piercebrotherscoffee.com Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters, 76 Hope Street, Greenfield, MA
• David & Jan Puchalski, Greenfield, MA
• www.sandri.com A.R. Sandri, Inc., 400 Chapman Street, Greenfield, MA
• Wachovia, Fred McGee, 34 Bridge Street, Northampton, MA
• Wilson’s Department Store, 258 Main Street, Greenfield, MA
• www.ymcaingreenfield.org YMCA in Greenfield, 451 Main Street, Greenfield, MA

5th Annual Nathan Gottschalk Memorial Award Banquet and Auction

Sunday, October 29, 2006
UMass Campus Center, UMass Amherst 

View photos from this year's Award Banquet

We honor the memory of Nathan Gottschalk, who served as Music Director of the Pioneer Valley Symphony & Chorus from 1956 through 1993 by presenting the annual Memorial Award in his name. Each year, we present the award for outstanding contributions to music performance and education in the Pioneer Valley. On October 29, 2006, Gottschalk Memorial Awards were presented to William Bolcom and Joan Morris.

For the past third of a century, William Bolcom and Joan Morris have delighted audiences at the summer Mohawk Trail Concerts in Charlemont with their amazing range of repertory, from art song to ragtime, Tin Pan Alley to Latin America, Victorian parlor to cabaret and everywhere else song takes them. William Bolcom is one of the great composers of our time. His operas play at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and Chicago’s Lyric Opera, his scores have been commissioned by the major American orchestras and he has been showered with grants and prizes, including four Grammy Awards. Joan Morris’ career has ranged just as widely, from the operatic stage to the Cafe Carlyle. She is a leading exponent not only of her husband’s work, but of the whole panoply of American popular song. In performance, she combines the skills of a scholar, a singer and an actress.

Bolcom and Morris will be honored at the fifth annual Nathan Gottschalk Memorial Award Banquet and Auction, featuring a festive dinner, the presentation of this year’s awards and a silent and live auction, on Sunday, October 29, 2006, at the UMass Campus Center, Amherst, Massachusetts. For more information on the Gottschalk Memorial Awards or the October 29th event, call the PVS office at 413-773-3664.

Board President Zeke Hecker introduced the 2006 recipients at the dinner with the following remarks:

"Good evening, everybody, and thanks for coming to the party ...

We've got many people to acknowledge. The staff of the UMass hospitality center, who have welcomed and served and fed us royally. The Organizing Committee, headed by Paul Peelle, who put this whole thing together; you can imagine how much work it takes to do that.The donors of all our auction items, whose generosity makes it possible for you to feel righteous about being competitively acquisitive.

I'd like to recognize a few notables among our guests. First Polly and Susie, Nathan Gottschalk's wife and daughter. Next, Ruth and Hilary Black, whose long-lasting friendship with our honorees accounts largely for bringing us together at this event.

Tonight we supposedly honor William Bolcom and Joan Morris by presenting them with the annual Gottschalk Award, but that's not really what's happening. Instead, they're the ones who honor us by accepting it, and by sharing their music with us as they did last night, not to mention for the past third of a century up the road a piece at Mohawk Trail Concerts in Charlemont.

I'm not going to go through the whole biographical sketch business, the Grammys, the Pulitzers, the commissions, the stage appearances, and so on. You can read about those in lots of places, virtual and actual. Instead, I'd like first to say something about the nature, the essence, of a performance by William Bolcom and Joan Morris, as I see it; and then to tell you a story.

Bolcom and Morris country is wide. It encompasses a century and a half of American song, from the Victorian parlor and the 1950's night club, from Broadway and Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building, from ragtime and jazz and rhythm and blues, from opera and art song. It acknowledges every ethnic source. It stretches into every region of the nation, and down through Latin America. A Bolcom and Morris performance is, musically speaking, democratic and egalitarian. The focus is on the song and its particular excellences. For one thing, when they do a number from what we now insist on calling "The Great American Songbook," we hear not only the familiar first chorus, but the less often heard verse and, if there are any, the second and subsequent choruses.

Between songs, they talk about them. They are both scholars, and we get plenty of information that places each song in its social and artistic context, but there's no whiff of the academic. A Bolcom and Morris evening is not like your conventional recital, with its rituals and artifice. It respects the audience and the music, but in a relaxed, intimate way that's closer to a club act than a symposium.

A word specifically about Joan. She doesn't sing songs. As the best vocalists know, that isn't enough. In show business parlance, she 'sells' them; she acts, dances, and lives them. She becomes the voice, the persona, of the song; she incarnates all the characters who populate it. Each song creates its own world. That's the way it should be done.

When Bill plays a solo, a classic rag or one of his own, like the now standard "Graceful Ghost," a Gershwin prelude or a tango by Nazareth, he tosses it off the way I imagine Gershwin himself did at all those legendary parties; none of that "Will he make the putt?" intensity, that priestly solemnity of a Glenn Gould or a Horowitz, but nonchalant, with a few casual flourishes.

Put 'em together, which they are, and you get Bolcom and Morris; to many of us, that has become one word. But now I'll separate them again and tell you the story.

I frequently bring students to the Metropolitan Opera. On December 5, 2002, four students and I were at a performance of "A View From the Bridge," music by William Bolcom, libretto by Arnold Weinstein and Arthur Miller, based on Miller's play. I have the Playbill right here. We had really good orchestra seats, close to the front. The opera is a gritty affair about Italian dockworkers in New York. The first act was moving along nicely: compelling story, strong acting and singing, dramatic score. Then something new happened. From the orchestra, in the lower strings, there welled up music of startling beauty, slow and legato. It told us that something important, something special, was about to happen. A secondary character, Rodolpho, stood in a spotlight downstage left. Rodolpho is a young man, a recent immigrant to New York, homesick for his native land but overwhelmed by the lights of the Manhattan skyline. At the Met the role was taken by the lyric tenor Gregory Turay. Out of this orchestral introduction grew his aria, "New York Lights." Remember: this was autumn 2002. I was entranced; it seemed to me one of the most gorgeous things I'd ever heard in an opera. Well, that's saying a lot; maybe it was just me. But I became aware of an unusual hush in the packed house, a kind of collective leaning forward by 4000 people, and I realized that I wasn't alone. I wasn't making this up. It was happening to all of us. The song ended, and there was nothing for a few seconds. Then my students and I and our 3,995 friends went nuts. 

A few days later the New York Times devoted a couple of columns to this phenomenon, with a practically life size color photo of Mr. Turay in full cry, and interviews with the various people involved, including the composer. The thrust of the article was that here, for the first time in recent memory, was an opera aria to join the pantheon, and perhaps even to cross over into the popular repertory, like, say, Gershwin's "Summertime." The composer, I repeat, was William Bolcom. Let's invite him and Joan Morris to cross over and accept the Gottschalk Award."

Here are some photos from the 2006 Gottschalk Award Dinner:

Previous Years Award Recipients
2002 Deborah Sherr
2003 Alice Parker and Ron Bell
2004 Robin Stone and Gary Steigerwalt
2005 Judy Hudson

Past Special Events - 2002-2005:

• 2005 Annual Gala and Auction
• 2004 Nathan Gottschalk Memorial Award Dinner and Auction
• 2002-2003 The Art of the Violin
• 2003 Nathan Gottschalk Memorial Award Dinner and Auction