Conductor Allen Gross
Dear Friends:
The Santa Monica 2001-2002 season begins at a time of national tragedy and world crisis. During the past two weeks we have all felt how music helps give outlet to our emotions, whether it be singing the National Anthem, or our Congress singing "God Bless America" on the steps of the Capitol, or by hearing Samuel Barber's poignant "Adagio for Strings" at opening symphonic concerts. Music confirms that we are not isolated human beings, but part of a global humanity, and when men and women all over the world make music together they are affirming their kinship with the rest of human community.
The Santa Monica Symphony is our community's orchestra, and we bring you music that once again shows us that we are not alone in this world. Music that despairs, music that weeps, noble music, joyous music, music that affirms life. We bring you all this during our season
On our first concert, the suite from Janacek's opera "The Cunning Little Vixon," affirms the common bond between the world of human beings and the world of animals, while Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, the "Emperor," contains some of Beethoven's most noble and heroic music. At our second concert, Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet," a piece we have all heard many times, sings of love and this music shows us that the power of love ultimately brings peace and transfiguration. On March 3, Shostakovich's final symphony, No. 15, is an enigma, a work that expresses the composer's despair about his world. May is the month of springtime, and Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony brings us the joyful, renewing power of the dance and of pilgrimage.
We are fortunate this season to present three world-class soloists, two of whom live in our area. Vatche Mankerian, pianist on October 14, is an exceptional musician who is making his second appearance with us. Vatche Mankerian is also a teacher, who will transmit the power of music to a new generation of music-makers and listeners. Continuing the Santa Monica Symphony's commitment to new music by local composers, we present Susan Greenberg on May 26 as soloist in Bruce Broughton's Concerto for Piccolo and Chamber Orchestra. The piece was written for her, and we are delighted to present the first public performance in the Los Angeles area of the complete concerto. On December 14, we present for the second time the young Cuban violinist Ilmar Gavilan. Ilmar made his debut with us in 1996, and has just recently won the prestigious Texaco-Sphinx Competition for Black and Latino string players. Among other orchestras, he will be appearing with the Atlanta Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony - and the Santa Monica Symphony!
Tell your friends about us and come back to listen. Music is a universal healer. It reminds us what it is to be alive, even as we mourn for those who have lost their lives.
Sincerely,
Allen Robert Gross
Music Director and Conductor
Music Director/Conductor of the Santa Monica Symphony since 1991, Allen Gross continues to delight the public with enthusiastic and well-prepared performances of a challenging and diverse repertory that embraces the new and the old, the familiar and the unfamiliar. A native New Yorker, he studied with Pierre Monteux, Walter Susskind, Sandor Salgo and Hans Swarowsky, beginning at Queens College and UC/Berkeley before earning his doctorate at Stanford and continuing at the Vienna Music Academy and the American Institute of Orchestra Conducting. From 1972-1978, he directed the Heidelberg Castle Festival, also serving as conductor of the Junges Kammerorchester Heidelberg and in the opera houses of Freiburg and Aachen. Back in the United States, Gross directed the orchestra and opera programs at the University of Louisville before joining the music faculty at Occidental College in 1983 to serve as Director of the Occidental-Caltech Symphony Orchestra. He has since served as Music Director/Conductor of the Pasadena Young Musicians Orchestra and the Pasadena Summer Youth Chamber Orchestra and has appeared with the Los Angeles Monday Evening Concerts, the Minnesota Composers Forum, broadcast concerts from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and honors orchestras in California and Nevada. Last Season, Mr. Gross returned from China, where he conducted a concert with the orchestra of the Shenwang Conservatory of Music. The past two summers, he has traveled and concertized in Italy, the Czech Republic and other Eastern European countries with members of the Santa Monica Symphony.
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