In Saturday’s (3/19) San Jose Mercury News (California), Richard Scheinin writes, “This coming week, Symphony Silicon Valley will tackle one of the grand Romantic masterpieces, Brahms’ German Requiem for chorus, soloists and orchestra. It’s an ambitious undertaking, though no more ambitious than the orchestra’s May program, featuring a world premiere from jazz saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera—or its June program, pairing Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony with an exotic percussion concerto by Israeli composer Avner Dorman. Approaching its tenth season, which begins this fall at the California Theatre, Symphony Silicon Valley has confounded skeptics. It is a surprising organization with its enterprising and even innovative programs (a risk in the musically conservative South Bay); with its unusual business model (it saves money by operating without a music director or principal conductor); and with its overall tenacity and loyal audiences (a challenge to maintain in the current economy). … This is ‘a very tough year financially,’ [President Andrew] Bales says, complicated by a deficit of about $250,000 last season. … In any event, come October, the orchestra will be back for season No. 10, and that’s something to celebrate. ‘I’m proud of this orchestra,’ says Bales.” Conductors for the season include Gregory Vajda, Giampaolo Bisanti, Jose-Luis Novo, Mitchel Sardou Klein, George Cleve, Paul Polivnick, and William Boughton.
Posted March 21, 2011
