Saratoga Sampler

Making music is a family affair for the Lees

By Mary Ann Cook

MAKING MUSIC: The four Lee youngsters are talented and evolving musicians. They must get it from their father's side, laughs their mother Yvonne Lee. Father, Ming-Lung, is an accomplished harmonica player.

The oldest of the Lee offspring, 14-year-old Jennifer, requested music lessons practically as a toddler, and by age 5 was taking violin lessons. She also plays the clarinet. Younger daughter Stephanie, 13, plays the flute, piano and the tenor sax.

Both girls are members of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra with Jennifer on violin and Stephanie on flute. And both accompany the Sacred Heart choir. Their two younger brothers are getting into the act too.

Kevin, 11, takes violin lessons and plays the trumpet in the Redwood Middle School Band. (Stephanie plays tenor sax in that same band.) Michael, 10, plays the cello. Yvonne Lee is a real estate agent; husband Ming-Lung, is an engineer.

IN THE PIT: In other musical news, Henry Mollicone composed several of the songs in the recent San Jose Rep production of Legacy, a musical based on the Studs Terkel book of the same name.

Mollicone also played the piano for the show's run, which ended recently. When his composer/colleague Craig Bohmler of Los Gatos had to turn down the Rep request to do the composing, Bohmler recommended that they seek out Mollicone for the role. And so they did.

BEST OF SHOW: Saratoga artist Dawn L. Hart-Kocsis has won Best of Show award from an exhibit at New Mexico Highlands University Design Studios Gallery. The award carried a $500 monetary prize as well. Kocsis' acrylic on textured canvas won out over 220 entries.

The winning piece is large--68 x 72 inches--and its title is equally long--"A Joyful Heart is Good Medicine but a Broken Spirit Dries Up the Bones--It's The Heart that Matters." The juror was Terry Bumpass of the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts who curates the Governor's Gallery at the state capitol.

Hart-Kocsis sent the rolled-up canvas to the show in PVC irrigation tubing--a product she is most familiar with, having used it to solve irrigation problems at her hillside home. The show runs through April 15.

BALL CO-CHAIR: Jill Houston of Saratoga is one of three co-chairs for the 1999 Cattle Baron's Ball to be held Sept. 25 at Moffett Field Hangar. "Reel Cowboys" is the theme for the annual event, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

Houston started the Junior Auxiliary for Retarded Children in San Diego. She has a marketing and design background and is dedicating her work on the event to her husband's parents, both of whom are battling cancer. The other chairs are Vickie Cupples of San Jose and Stephanie Lane of Atherton. Tickets go on sale in April, and the number is 879-1032 for underwriting or information.

A VOW ANSWERED: Jack and Sue Mallory spent Groundhog Day at Punxsutawney, Penn., which, as you know, is the site of the definitive Groundhog Day doings. Jack vowed he would make a trip there on That Day once he retired. He had already founded a Bay Area Groundhog Day group which meets for dinner and festivities yearly and which donated California wine and money to the parent Pennsylvania group.

He reports that the Punx capers are a big draw for college kids; perhaps 60 percent of the 10,000 people who show up are college age. He and Sue were up by 3 a.m., which is when the celebration gets underway with fireworks and entertainment. You'd think all that would scare the groundhog farther into his lair, not out.

Mallory received a lifetime membership in the official group, the Spirit of Punxsutawney; was interviewed by the local media, and met the bigwigs. Now his only retirement vow left is rafting through the Grand Canyon.

SEASON CLOSE: The Joe Trio will wrap up the Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Concert Association for this season on April 11 at the Los Gatos High School Auditorium at 2:30 p.m. For tickets call Ray Strong at 377-1106.

The Joe Trio is a Canadian group made up of Cameron Wilson, violin; Laura McPheeters, cello; and Allen Stiles, piano. Their repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary, plus their own arrangements of pop, jazz and rock tunes.

GUIDEBOOK: Both the Plumed Horse and Le Mouton Noir, both in Saratoga, are listed in The 1999 Guide to Distinguished Restaurants of North America published by Kostuch Publications Limited of Toronto. The guidebook covers eateries in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and gives such information as the average price of dinner for two, days closed and dress code. Price is $12.95 and it can be ordered at (416) 447-0888.

STUDENT EXCHANGE: The Saratoga Sister City Student Exchange Program deadline is May 1. Four students will be selected for the trip to Muko Shi, which is near Kyoto, from July 29 to Aug. 9. For more information call Marlene Duffin at 867-1410.

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Saratoga Sampler: Lee family musicians; Cattle Baron's Ball; The Joe Trio

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