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Saratoga Sampler
Conducting orchestra a dream come true for McCleve
By Mary Ann Cook
FANTASY FULFILLED: Here's a man who fulfilled a deep-seated dream: He's Don McCleve, a retired doctor who co-founded the Eye, Ear Nose and Throat Clinic on Winchester Drive in Los Gatos. Besides doctoring, McCleve had always yearned to conduct a symphony orchestra.
He played the tuba in his youth and had considered a music career. As a student at Stanford he was a choir member, and later on was a leader in a student forum that exposed college-age students in the Bay Area to classical concerts. However, he ended up in med school, married and is the father of six children. And the musical mission was put on hold.
When one of their daughters was married, the McCleves hired a section of the San Jose Symphony to play. "Why couldn't I hire the whole symphony and conduct them?" he thought to himself. Thus was the germ planted.
Last fall the Monte Serenan wrote to the symphony, now the Silicon Valley Symphony, to see if such an idea was feasible. There was some precedence for the idea. The symphony was amenable: They operated with guest conductors exclusively, after all. Of course, not amateurs. And so it was arranged.
McCleve would conduct after the last performance of the year because the hall and the musicians would already be in place. The performance had to be free, with an audience of invited guests only, and the McCleve family had to come up with $15,000. This was all done.
McCleve trained with several different experts, including a Stanford professor who teaches conducting, first violinist Robin Mayford, who does the pre-performance lectures, and Craig Jessup, retired leader of the Tabernacle Choir. Both McCleves have sung with that choir.
Cellist Roger Immanuel gave the novice conductor some tips, and sessions on conducting church music helped him considerably. Still, he felt, "I was winging it a lot." After all, he had bitten off one of the most challenging of pieces to conduct--Beethoven's Fifth.
If he had known how other amateurs had fared with this mighty and powerful piece, he might have reconsidered. Conducting can be very humiliating for amateurs, but fortunately he heard most of the horror tales later--after his own debut.
"I didn't miss any of the cues," he says in modest appraisal of his performance. And others noted his success: He's been invited to conduct the Carolina Pops Orchestra but hasn't answered yet. This foray into conducting may be strictly one-shot.
Here's what he intended to say to the symphony--but in all the excitement, didn't. "Since you're the Silicon Valley Symphony, I thought you might not mind working with a semi-conductor." Maybe his next gig should be as a stand-up.
TREASURE HUNT WINNERS: Winners of the recent "Treasure Hunt" held earlier this month in downtown Saratoga were Christina Knowles and Tyler Torrens. Knowles won the adult prize, a $50 certificate to the Plumed Horse; Tyler won a T-shirt with an historic Saratoga logo and a teddy bear wearing a matching T.
Some 14 costumed people roamed the Village that rainy afternoon, including an Ohlone Indian and Marilyn Marchetti impersonating Joan Fontaine. Others were Laurel Perusa as Olivia de Havilland, Gene Zambetti as Paul Masson and Willys Peck--as himself. 'Twas a full-fledged living history display.
It also served as a local history test for shoppers and strollers. The idea was to identify the historical figures, and those with the most correct answers emerged the victors. Marchetti is the designer of the historic tees, and she also designed the banners flying in the downtown Village.
The T-shirts are available at Skin Prophecy and Saratoga Chocolates, both on Big Basin Way.
SUMMONING THE MUSE: Judith Sutton's poetry class at Saratoga High presented its seventh annual Readings in the Redwoods from dusk to dark to wrap up the semester. The area was bright with lights and multi-colored streamers. Clock faces surrounded the seating area, in keeping with the theme of "Time: Beginnings and Endings."
Candles were lit to invoke the muse of poetry. Theatrical blocking and choral reiterations of key lines from the poems produced many moving moments. Readers were Richard Chiang, Justin Chien, Christine Chou, Kristy Chu, Jennifer Coe, Patty Fang, Elie Fuchs-Gosse, Stephanie Hata and Emily Hur.
Others were Rachel Kim, Angela Lee, Laura Lin, Niamh McGinley, Christina Mette, Atticus Mulholland, Rohan Nagesh, Sarah Rainville, Arjun Shenoy, Azim Shivji, Aileen Shon and Marley Teter.
The students prepared booklets of poems for their families, and audience members received a poetry bookmark bearing Shakespeare's likeness and one of the quotes from the evening's program. A distinctive feature of these classes is that each student gets one-on-one feedback.
Funding for the program comes from Community Friends of Poetry, Pen Women and the Saratoga Educational Foundation. Readings in the Redwoods is a unique final exam. One woman, no relation to any of the participants, attended both rehearsal and performance, so impressed and affected was she by the student works.
Got a tip for Saratoga Sampler? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.
