Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by Lynn Benson

Wayne Cheshire (left) and Paul J. Tyner set up for Music in the Plaza in this file photograph.

Music in the Plaza celebrates 10 years

By Shari Kaplan

When June 21 arrives, Los Gatans will have two holidays to celebrate.

Not only it is a day for children to remember their fathers or fathers to be honored by their children, it is also the start of a summer-long celebration of the 10th anniversary season of Music in the Plaza.

MIP--as it is popularly known--consists of 10 to 12 free concerts each summer, held on Sunday afternoons in the Los Gatos Town Plaza Park, which is often covered by picnickers and people in lawn chairs. The season of eclectic music usually runs from mid-June through late August or early September.

Originally called Music in the Park, MIP was proposed to the Los Gatos Town Council by then arts commissioner Emerald Hathaway-Bush in the spring of 1988. Her purpose was to create an entertaining event suitable for the whole family and a way for friends and neighbors to meet, mingle and enjoy a cultural event.

"The reason I joined the Arts Commission was to bring more art, music and culture to the town of Los Gatos. I always wanted to have music in that little plaza," recalls Hathaway-Bush, a longtime Los Gatos resident. "This is a small community where we all know each other and the plaza is centrally located. When the community comes out to listen, they deserve to have fine music."

To obtain that music, commissioners listen to dozens of demo tapes each year and select the cream of the crop. They also choose a variety of musical styles and genres to assure something for everyone.

Funding comes from donations by citizens, small merchants and larger businesses; the nonprofit Arts Commission uses this money to pay for booking performers and for printing up programs and advertising posters. This year, as she did last year, Los Gatos artist Bruni donated one of her Jazz Masters paintings to grace the cover of publicity materials. Among the individuals donating time to MIP organizing and fundraising were commissioners Werner Baracker, David Breidenthal, Elke Groves and Mary Tomasi-DuBois, community services coordinator Barbara Coy-Bulicz and citizen John Tice.

This year's series runs every Sunday from June 21 through Aug. 30; all concerts take place at 5 p.m., except for the July 4 San Jose Wind Symphony performance, which takes place at 1:30 p.m. on the Los Gatos High School front lawn. In order, the 1998 lineup features:

* Original songs based on California history by Doug McArthur and Jeffra;

* Rock, pop, Motown, funk, swing and country by the Joe Sharino Band;

* Patriotic orchestral favorites by the San Jose Wind Symphony;

* Contemporary blues, funk and R&B by the John Morris Band;

* Mainstream jazz and fusion by Marshall Art Shapiro and Friends;

* Light opera by the San Jose Opera Guild;

* A tribute to Fleetwood Mac and a rock & roll revue by Rumours;

* Dixieland jazz, banjo tunes, ragtime piano and double-bell euphoniums by the Cell Block Seven Jazz Band;

* R&B, reggae and Motown by Pacific Standard Time;

* Big Band and Broadway show tunes by the Terry Summa Orchestra;

* Music, singing and dancing of Mexico performed by Mariachi Tapatio, Grupo Folklorico "Alika del Nayar" and Patricia Rodriguez.

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