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Greetings!
We hope you enjoy this edition of SoundPost, with information on the musicians, new board members, upcoming concerts and events, and more. We look forward to seeing you soon!
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Great Scott...Where in the World is our Maestro?
Since our closing concert in July, Festival Mozaic music director Scott Yoo has had several busy months of conducting and playing around the world, making the six weeks he spends in SLO each year the longest period of time he spends in any one place, including at home in his New York City apartment.  Performances at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival immediately followed Festival Mozaic's summer concerts, and then Scott participated in the first of two residencies with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, where he is a frequent guest. This fall featured concerts with superstar soprano Dawn Upshaw. Scott then crisscrossed back West to lead the San Antonio and Colorado Symphony Orchestras. In November, our Maestro completed recording sessions of two Mozart piano concertos with the young Russian pianist, Vassily Primakov, and the Odense Symfoniorkester in Denmark. In December, he heads south to the Mexico City Symphony to conduct works by Beethoven and Mozart and to join the orchestra as soloist in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. Most of January will be spent in South America, leading the City of London Sinfonietta in six different programs at the Cartagena Festival in Columbia. After concert engagements in Canada (Manitoba and Calgary Symphony Orchestras), Scott makes a brief American stopover to conduct the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra and the Princeton Symphony this spring, before heading to Asia, where he will again conduct The Seoul Philharmonic and the Yomiuri-Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo's famed Suntory Hall. Everywhere our music director travels, he is an ambassador for our Festival, for San Luis Obispo County and for all the Festival music lovers who have this globe-trotting artist all to themselves each July. Note: Scott will be sharing 'musical photos' of his travels in our Maestro's Picks updates featuring favorite recordings...coming soon to your inbox! |
2009 Fund Drive in Overdrive
"Art demands that we should not stand still!" thundered Beethoven, and Festival Mozaic's Board of Directors have taken that directive to heart by launching an aggressive fundraising campaign to raise $300,000 for the 2009 season. Counting on music lovers to support the local institutions they have always cherished and nurtured, the Festival has designed new benefits for supporters to bring them closer to the music and the musicians. With a minimal corporate base in SLO County, the Festival relies on individual giving for over one-third of its operating budget. Even though markets are rocky and the economy uncertain, the Festival leadership has already raised over 15% of the goal.
"The legacy of five centuries of music transcends time and events," says Board President Dwyne Willis. Willis is spot on: historically, in times of crisis dating back to the 1930s, people have flocked to concerts and cultural events in need of solace, escape, transcendence and a shared sense of community. "The Festival has always sought to provide that for our audiences, at the highest levels. More than ever, people will need these opportunities in uncertain times."
Curtis Pendleton, the Festival's executive director further comments, "If composers stopped composing and musicians stopped playing in times of war, turmoil and economic upset, we would be without masterpieces from Bach to Bob Dylan." Directors are counting on music lovers to 'hear the call' and support the ongoing human need for great performing art. |
Your Voice Has Been Heard: Results from the 2008 Audience Survey
The Festival "takes me to a place that transcends ordinary existence" ~2008 survey respondent
Last summer's Festival Mozaic was one of the most outstanding in recent memory, according to survey participants. The Festival welcomed almost 500 new ticket buyers and, despite record gas prices, enjoyed a significant increase in the number of attendees from out-of-town.
Overwhelmingly, you agreed that the quality of the programming and high professional standards of the musicians was the best thing about the Festival.
 The majority of you want a variety of composers and styles on each concert, and you want to hear more Classical, Romantic and Baroque works (in that order). Almost half of you want the Festival to program more 20th century works, "because we don't get many high quality opportunities to hear 20th century music locally," according to one respondent.
One-hundred percent of you will attend any venue where there is a Festival concert you are interested in. Your favorite venues are the Performing Arts Center and Grace Church, though 56 percent would like to see more outdoor concerts at the Festival.
There was indeed a 'mozaic' of opinion on the festival's name change. While many of you expressed sadness or confusion over the Board's decision to change the name, many embraced the Festival's new moniker for opening up the festival experience to more and younger people this year. |
New Members Bring Muscle and Spice to Board of Directors
 Larry Bittner and his wife Karla started coming to Festival events when they became residents of Avila Beach eight years ago. A retired oil industry executive from the LA area, Larry remains busy with his 'muscle car' racing hobby, revving up his beloved Corvette for racing meets across the state. When not speeding around a track, Larry is tearing up the ivories - he has taken on the piano, takes lesson every week and practices daily. Scott Yoo has invited Larry to play a house party rendition of Debussy's Clair de Lune with him this season.
 Lucia Cleveland, a SLO-County entrepreneurial superstar, founded The Spice Hunter in her garage and built the company into a household word in kitchens across America. She has been featured in People Magazine, Cooking Light, and Food and Wine and on the Food Network. A biology major with a taste for adventure, this 33-year SLO County resident has been attending and supporting the Festival for many, many years. To burn off all the calories from their shared love of fine food and wine, Lucia and her husband, Dr. Paul Vanderheyden, are avid cyclists, and have conquered the Classic Climbs of the Tour de France. Lucia's lives the SLO Bike Club's motto: "Bike to eat and eat to bike." |
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Save the Dates!
Festival Mozaic's
WinterMezzo
January 30 & 31, 2009
Summer Festival
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 Gift the Gift of Music this Holiday Season!
Call Festival Mozaic at 805.781.3009 or e-mail office@FestivalMozaic.com for more information on giving your friends, family members, clients and/or associates Festival Mozaic gift certificates for the holidays!
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