March 19, 2015

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Arts Education Month in California 
Senators Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield) and Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) presented Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 14 declaring March 2015 as Arts Education Month on the Senate floor. The measure passed on a vote of 32 - 0. See more of Senator Ben Allen's comments.
  ACSO 47th Annual Conference
   Once Upon a Time there was a fabulous Conference with Sun, Sand and
  Synergy!  Join us in Long Beach on August 6 - 8 so that you are
  reeducated, reconnected and reenergized to live Happily Ever After! 

 
 Join "Ask An Expert" Webinar - April 15, 2015
  "Getting to the Core: A Basic Overview of Common Core"
  Presenters: Adrienne Valencia, director of education & community
  engagement of the San Diego Symphony and Lauren Widney, education
  & community program manager, of the San Diego Youth Symphony and
  Conservatory.
  
  Wednesday, April 15, 2015 | 11 AM - 12 PM PST

  ACSO Members: Free | Non-Members: $25
  Registration coming soon! 

CalNonprofits - CA Policy Forum Webinar March 24

Governor Jerry Brown provided highlights of the proposed budget in January. They include rebuilding state reserves through the passage of Proposition 2 last November. Of the many areas of need, nonprofits, philanthropy, and others have an opportunity to advocate that future state revenues are directed toward projects/programs that address their important issues. To learn about the budget's implications for the work of both grantmaker and nonprofit organizations register at: Interactive webinar  

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 11:00 AM-12:00 PM PST

Essentials of Orchestra Leadership in CA
ACSO is pleased to co-sponsor the League of American Orchestra's "Essentials of Orchestra Leadership"  on July 7-16, 2015. The intense 10-day orchestra leadership program will take place on the USC campus and is co-directed by Brent Assink, executive director of the San Francisco Symphony and Deborah Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Faculty will include the LA Philharmonic's Deborah Borda and members of her staff, Ken Foster of USC, and members of the San Francisco Symphony. For information and details on applying to this program, click here
CAC Grant Opportunities
California Arts Council has guidelines and applications available at: arts.ca.gov.

Otis Report Released for LA    

The 2014 Otis Report on the Creative Economy has been released:

2014 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region.  

Turbo Tax Users: How to Keep Arts in Schools Fund
Filing your taxes via Turbo Tax? Donating to the Keep Arts in Schools Fund is simple...if you know where to look. Follow these simple steps to find the Keep Arts in Schools Fund when you file your state taxes and make your donation to support arts education programs across California. 
Welcome New ACSO Board Member
Lacey Huszcza, interim managing director for the Los Angeles
Chamber
Orchestra (LACO). Lacey supervises a fundraising department and is responsible for an annual income goal of more than $3 million. Lacey co-founded Ask the Musicians, an online series that connects individuals with musicians through Twitter. She is a president of the board of directors and for MBA Women Los Angeles, a professional chapter of the National Association of Women MBAs. Welcome, Lacey!
Up and Down the Scale
Kay Dalton has been appointed associate vice president of development of Pacific Symphony

 

Scott Faulkner is stepping down as executive director of the Reno Chamber Orchestra. Faulkner, who has held his position since 2001, will continue playing in the orchestra's bass section and as the principal bassist of the Reno Philharmonic. Current associate executive director, Chris Morrison, will serve as interim executive director to ensure stability and continuity during the time of transition.  

    

The San Diego Symphony has created a new position of chief of staff and named Katy McDonald to the post.  Formerly, she was San Diego Museum of Art's deputy director of external affairs.

25 year veteran Gail Samuel has been promoted to the position of executive director of the LA Philharmonic from chief operating officer.    

 

Henry T. Segerstrom, Orange County real estate and arts philanthropist, passed away on February 20th at the age of 91. Mr. Segerstrom, was an immense figure in Orange County real estate and arts culture. As a developer, he and his family owned the chic retail shopping center, South Coast Plaza, which is located across the street from the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. It was originally called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, developed out of farmland that the Segerstrom family donated in 1979. The name was formally changed in 2011 in recognition of the family's support over the years. Despite his success as a businessman and philanthropist, Segerstrom would often introduce himself as a farmer.

      

Chad Smith, vice president of artistic planning for the LA Philharmonic, has been promoted to the position of chief operating officer.
Music Notes
Jonathan Wong, a young violinist from Carlsbad won the Guild Scholarship from Westmont College receiving up to $10,000 in annual music scholarship funds (up to $40,000 over four years) to study at Westmont College.  Jonathan studies at Carlsbad Seaside Academy and has been playing the violin for 10 years. He has served as concertmaster of the Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra, San Diego Young Artists Symphony, and Civic Youth Chamber Orchestra. He is concertmaster of the San Diego Symphony's Best and Brightest Side-By-Side Concert.
    

A documentary directed and produced by Evan Rosenberg of the Orange County Youth Orchestra's Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, preformed before a sold-out house at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall last May, is chronicled in a PBS documentary titled, "Journey to Joy." The documentary follows the musicians for a year as they prepare to preform the challenging Ninth. The culmination of this daunting task included 90 young musicians from eighth grade to the first year of college from OCYSO. This documentary will air on PBS SoCal.  

  

San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory received one of the first ever STEAMConnect Da Vinci Awards at STEAMConnect's 2nd Annual Ascend Conference Reception on March 4, 2015. The STEAM Award recognizes SDYS for making music education accessible and affordable. Specially designed music and arts programs add to the creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills required for success in 21st century Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.  

  

The Vallejo Symphony named three finalists in its conductor search: Christian Baldini is the music director of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and since 2012 has served as music director of the Camellia Symphony Orchestra in Sacramento; Thomas Heuser, music director of the Idaho Falls Symphony since 2011; Marc Taddei is music director of Orchestra Wellington. He has also done extensive conducting for film and television, and has a long discography.
ACSO Out and About


Adorable Redheads: Consultant Robin Koltenuk and Adrienne Valencia, director of education and community engagement for San Diego Symphony at an ACSO Board meeting in San Diego on
March 9, 2015



Youth Orchestra Confab on March 13 in San Luis Obispo.

Micah Tischler, Conejo Valley Youth Orchestras; Cheryl Marvin, Conejo Valley Youth Orchestras; Brett Malta, San Luis Obispo Symphony; Kathryn Whitehouse, Youth Orchestras of Fresno; Frederick Umar, Elk Grove Youth Orchestra; Julia Copland, Youth Orchestras of Fresno; Jim Hogan, California Youth Symphony; Andrea Castillo, San Luis Obispo Symphony; and Isabel Thiroux, American Youth Symphony

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Sent twice-monthly, Semiquavers is an e-newsletter designed to inform the classical music community about the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO), its member organizations and other important news in the field.
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