By Shari Kaplan
In celebration of its five decades of existence, the Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Concert Association has lined up five concerts for its upcoming 1997-98 season. While looking forward, the group is also celebrating its past.
The association was born 50 years ago, recalls publicity chairwoman Jean Nelson, when a group of ambitious Los Gatans banded together to ensure that their town would have a cultural as well as a social life. Attending cultural events out of town was a rare treat rather than an easy trip back then, as freeway access to cities such as San Francisco and Oakland was limited at best.
In the mid-1940s, a visiting representative of Columbia Artists Bureau of New York City pitched to Los Gatos-Saratoga business people and socialites the idea of introducing well-known or up-and-coming entertainers in a community concert-type venue. In 1947, under the auspices of the Columbia group, the fledgling Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Concert Association recruited 725 subscribers for its premiere 1948-49 season.
"People were fairly sophisticated, and they welcomed this opportunity to bring more culture to the town. It had a real place in the social life of the community," says Nelson, who has been involved with the association since the 1970s.
The first program, which took place Nov. 18, 1948, featured dancers Mia Slavenska and Nona Gollner, accompanied by a piano duo and the Ballet Variante. The other three acts that season were pianist Yara Bernette, mezzo-soprano Jane Hobson and violist William Primrose.
The passing years brought diverse acts to town, most of them singers and musicians, with a few dancers mixed in. Among the entertainers were ballad singers, pianists, instrumentalists and vocalists.
Some of the most notable names Nelson dug out from the association's archives were the Trapp Family Singers in 1951, the Jaroff Male Chorus and Dancers in 1952, the Joffrey Theatre Ballet in 1958, Leontyne Price in 1959, Irene Dalis in 1962, Andre Watts in 1966, Kathleen Battle in 1978, Chanticleer in 1981 and Thomas Hampson in 1981 and 1984.
The original concert venue was Los Gatos-Saratoga High School's old auditorium, which was condemned in 1964. After a stint in the auditorium at West Valley College's former location in Campbell, the concerts moved to the renovated and renamed LGHS Prentiss Brown Auditorium in 1968.
"The community concerts are exposure to the arts and quality entertainment. It's an opportunity to broaden [one's] sphere of enjoyment. People really enjoy getting out and meeting their friends. It's a social and cultural event," Nelson says.
"I'd like to see more families come too, because getting kids to appreciate music or play a musical instrument isn't as easy as it used to be," she adds.
Subscriptions for the golden anniversary season are now on sale. The season begins Sept. 28 with "An Enchanted Evening: The Music of Broadway," featuring old and new favorites sung by Joanne O'Brien and Lee Lessack. Both have performed leading roles in many musical theater productions.
Next is classical pianist Frank Wiens on Nov. 8. Wiens is a professor of piano at the University of the Pacific, a noted Prokofiev recitalist who has recorded with the Slovakia National Orchestra.
The first show of 1998 takes place Jan. 18 and features the Vancouver Wind Trio, which performs with bassoon, contrabassoon, oboe, English horn, saxophone, clarinet and bass horn. Along with playing music, the trio offers educational commentaries and humorous anecdotes about studying and playing music, particularly wind instruments.
Scottish balladeer Carl Peterson performs folk, patriotic and other songs of his bonnie homeland on March 29. The baritone also plays guitar, banjo, harmonica and whistle. Finally, Opera San José introduces four of its young singers, performing arias, duets and ensemble pieces on May 3.
All concerts are held at 2:30 p.m. in the LGHS Prentiss Brown Auditorium, with the exception of March 29, which takes place at the First United Methodist Church of Los Gatos- Saratoga, located at 19 High School Ct. For information call Ray Strong at 377-1106 or Ruth Capps at 356-7268.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 26, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.