NOVA VISTA SYMPHONY PERFORMS The Nova Vista's concert of November 11 was reviewed very favorably by Peninsula Times Tribune correspondent Janice Riese. Some highlights: "Growth in the caliber of the orchestra was immediately noticeable..." "The orchestra's first chair cellist, Kathleen Johnson, played with warm, full tone and blended well with the pianist." "Conductor Ray had the orchestra under good control and kept it and the soloist well attuned in tempos and dynamics." "The winds came together well in the two charming "Happy Workshop" movements...by Strauss." and of course, many words of praise for Helene Wickett, our fine soloist. MARK YOUR CALENDARS The Nova Vista Symphony will be performing a children's concert at Foothill College on June 28th at 2:30 P.M., to be preceded by a 12 noon rehearsal and Mirassou Vineyards has invited us again to play on July 3 as part of the Independence Day celebrations. TICKET CONTEST The ticket contest has concluded with the following winners: NANCY BERG, GRAND PRIZE BRUCE BAILEY LOUISE DETWEILER NATALIE MCCLURE SANDRA GOODWIN LARRY MCGEE CAROL MASINTER LUSIJAH ROTT ED LEE Congratulations! The Board would appreciate feedback from the orchestra on the contest. Shall we try again next year? Our treasurer reports that more season tickets were sold this year than last year, but we are still lagging behind the best years of the not so distant past! Thanks to Dorothy Papo for opening her home to the orchestra for the Christmas party on December 16th. The party was well attended, there were many, many delicious goodies, punch and wine and a good time was had by all. Let's make this an annual tradition! Excerpts from Nicolas Slominsky's "Lexicon of Musical Invective" On Verdi: Time increases our conviction that in England and France the operas of Signor Verdi only pass because there is nothing else, and that the first more elegant and gracious Italian composer who arrives can sweep them away to the limbo of forgotten frenzies. These coarse and brutal Verdi commonplaces, raucous and clamorous choruses, these screaming unisons, these iron-clad, hard melodies, in which we have the most original and individual part of Verdi--how happy one is to forget it! On Stravinsky: Sÿÿtravinsky...is entirely unable to formulate a musical idea of his own. As a member of a savage orchestra he might perhaps be allpowed to play a recurrent rhythm upon a drum--as the only evidenceÿ of real form in his work is that kind of primitive repetition which birds and babies also do very well. (Rutland Boughton, Musical Times, London, June 1929) On Beethoven: The merits of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony we have before discussed, and we repeat, that...it is a composition in which the author has indulged a great deal of disagreeable eccentricity. Often as we now have heard it performed, we cannot yet discover any design in it, neither can we trace any connection in its parts. Altogether, it seems to have been intended as a kind of enigma--we had almost said a hoax. (The Harmonicon, London, July 1825) The San Jose Young People`s Orchestra has openings for strings, oboe, bassoon, French horn, trombone, tuba percussion. The Orchestra is for young people ages 12-18 who play at an intermediate to advanced level. Rehearsals are Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 P.M. at Markham Middle School, 2105 Cottle Avenue, San Jose. For more information call Rosita Amador 408-272-2037. Welcome to our new principal trumpet, JOEL MASSER! Congratulations to Natalie McClure on the birth of Shannon Elizabeth McClure, January 2, 1987. Anyone interested in helping with publicity, contact Chris Doxtad!