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Labadie named president of California Presenters

By Mary Ann Cook

PRESENTER PREZ: Bruce Labadie, who brought Mountain Winery performances to prominence, has been elected president of the board of California Presenters, the statewide network for performing arts centers. Labadie is director of the Comcast San Jose Jazz Festival and is the performing arts director at Montalvo. He was the unanimous choice of his colleagues from the western U.S.

Labadie developed the popular series at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, then initiated and ran other festivals. He has operated the performing arts program at Montalvo for the past 13 years.

Labadie's career began inauspiciously enough, selling flowers on the plaza at Stanford, following a degree from Santa Clara. His vast experience, his understanding of the economics of the field and his generous spirit are just what will be needed, say his colleagues.

There could not be a better choice at this time to lead the organization, as arts groups face threats of more cuts in public funding as they continue to bring world-class performing artists to stages.

"We all learn from him and admire his ability to juggle multiple seasons, multiple venues and an extraordinary spectrum of artists," says Peter Lesnik, Los Angeles County Arts Commissioner.

California Presenters, based in Sacramento, has members in 53 cities in California, plus associate members in Oregon, Arizona, Washington and Alaska.

ELVIS ON BASSOON: David Sogg played Elvis--complete with glittering white jumpsuit, cape, sequins and rhinestones--at the opening concert of the San Jose Chamber Music Society last week at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose. Included in the program was a bassoon piece titled "Dead Elvis," in which the bassoonist is arrayed in full Elvis regalia. Hence the unusual costuming for Sogg, who is co-principal bassoon of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is part of a group known as the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Project. This group specializes in innovative programming and it was as a representative of that group that he appeared in the San Jose concert.

Sogg attended Saratoga High, '74, and studied bassoon locally for many years. He then went on to Harvard; after graduation he studied for a year in Germany with the Berlin Philharmonic. His master's degree is from USC. He is the son of lawyer Joyce Sogg and ophthalmologist/pianist Richard Sogg.

RACKING UP UNPRONOUNCEABLE AWARDS: Dr. David A. Stevens of Saratoga was awarded The Charles E. Smith Memorial Award by the Coccidioidomycosis Study Group before the 200 attendees at its annual meeting in August. The popular name for coccidioidomycosis is valley fever.

Valley fever is a fungal infection endemic to the Southwest that can be fatal. Dr. Charles Smith was a professor of public health at Stanford, the founding dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, and an immensely respected researcher and teacher.

He died in 1967. The award in his name is given every 10 years by this society, and includes a commemorative glass sculpture inscribed with an artist's rendering of the pathogen, the date, the recipient's name and an inscription. Not many of us can claim a glass sculpture, much less one with a pathogen on it. (A viral vase?)

The inscription reads, "For his contributions in basic and applied research in the field of coccidioidomycosis." Earlier this summer Stevens received the Lucille Georg Medal from the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.

The award is given "in recognition of outstanding scientific achievement in medical mycology."

Mycology, a division of botany, studies fungi and the diseases they cause. It is awarded by the society only every three years. Stevens received a medal and $1,500, plus $2,000 traveling money to attend the presentation in Paris.

CATHOLIC CUT-UP: Quo Vadis Theatre Company presents a world premiere of Viva Cristo Rey, The Father Miguel Pro story, by Cal Gallagher and Fred Martinez. The play runs Oct. 5-21 at the Hoover Theatre, San Jose. Pro worked in Los Gatos, but the play follows him in the revolutionary days of Mexico City in the '20s.

When all religions were banned, many priests held secret services, but the penalty was imprisonment or death. Pro played guitar, sang, danced, used disguises, and played practical jokes, so scandalized his superiors.

Those same talents came in handy when he disguised himself as a policeman and ministered to Catholics in the jails or dressed as an auto mechanic and blessed people under a car hood. Eventually he was caught, imprisoned and executed; his last words were "Viva Cristo Rey."

Gary Laidlaw is director; tickets at $15 and $12 are available at 408.252.3530.

CORRECT SPELLING: The correct spelling of the restoration lab at the Palace of the Legion of Honor is Achenbach, notes Helen Metcalf, whose maiden name was Achenbach. She is distantly related to the Achenbachs who funded the Achenbach Room, where delicate prints are kept under lock and key.

The restoration lab where Mary Brown's artwork was rehabilitated also bears their name.

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