Steppin’ OutFeature



 Chamber Orchestra closes its season

 and a brassy evening is in the works
  
 

 By NICOLE LIEURANCE two new works,by Vivian and Jeff, of Eastern and Western styles,



  and then decided to build a pro- long before world music became
San Jose Chamber Orchestra’s gram with at least one connection an American trend. Prayer of St.
17th season will go out with a between each piece.” Gregory was composed in 1946 as
  

 
  bang,or at least a toot,with its pro- Fung, who lives in New York an interlude from the opera Etch-

 
  gram,“And the Trumpet[s] Shall City and is on the staff at Juilliard, miadzin.

   Sound!” Music director and con- says her style comes both from her Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two
ductor Barbara Day Turner has Western conservatory training Trumpets in C will conclude the
  
 selected five works that feature performance, in what Turner says
and her Asian roots.“Some of my





  
 




  
  trumpets, the brass instrument music is also inspired by jazz and will be a grand finale.
with the highest register. Trumpeters Brewer and

  



  

 

 
 

 


The orchestra, with soloists
Eric Brewer and Steve Madancy
older repertoire of our Western
canon,” she says.
Smith lives in Atherton and is a
Madancy are co-principal trum-
pets at the Utah Festival Opera,
on trumpet, will perform Bar- Ph.D. candidate at Stanford Uni- where Turner also conducts.Brew-




 tok’s Transylvanian Dances, versity. His Evening in Transylva-
Alan Hovhaness’ Prayer of St.
Gregory and Vivaldi’s Concerto
for Two Trumpets in C. The per-
formance will also feature two
new compositions: String Sin-
fonietta by Vivian Fung and An
Evening in Transylvania by Jeff
Smith.
San Jose Chamber Orchestra
performs “And the Trumpet[s]
Shall Sound!” May 18 at 7 p.m. at
Le Petit Trianon, 72 N. Fifth St.,
San Jose.
The trumpet is one of the old-
est musical instruments, and its
high register gives it a “bright”
sound.Turner built the program
around the two new works by
Fung and Smith. “They are both
different approaches to East-
West artistic interactivity,”Turn-
er says.
Turner says,“I started with the
Second annual Dalis Competition planned
By HEATHER ZIMMERMAN
As the founder and general
director of Opera San José, Irene
Dalis is legendary for nurturing
young vocal talent. So it’s fitting
that a competition named for her
gives 10 promising singers a
chance at boosting their careers.
Opera San José, in association
with Arts Management Services,
presents the second annual Irene
Dalis Vocal Competition,May 31,
7 p.m. at the California Theatre,
345 S. First St., San Jose.
Audiences can watch 10 up-
and-coming singers compete for
$49,000 in cash prizes.
The first-prize winner will earn
$15,000; second prize is $10,000
and third is $5,000. Singers who
don’t place in the top three will
receive $2,000 apiece as encour-
agement awards. And the audi-
28 | Steppin’ Out | May 14, 2008
er teaches at Kent State, and
nia is a set of variations on Bar-
tok’s Easy Piano Piece No. 6 and
requires a solo trumpet.
The oldest trumpets date back
to around 1500 B.C. Bronze and
silver trumpets from Egypt,metal
trumpets from China and bronze
trumpets from Scandinavia are
some of the earliest artifacts that
have been found.
The performance will open
with Bartok’s Transylvanian
Dances. Written before Dracula
became a Hollywood icon, the
composition is based on folk
songs collected by Bartok in his
native Hungary from Gypsies and
peasants. It was originally written
as a piano solo and later became
an orchestral arrangement.
Fourth on the program is Hov-
haness’ Prayer of St. Gregory.
Hovhaness is known for his fusion
ence will also have its say,awarding
$5,000 to the audience favorite.
The 10 contenders will be cho-
sen from among more than 100
singers in town for the West Coast
Auditions for Singers, organized
by Arts Management Services.
The auditions bring together
opera singers and casting directors
from opera companies through-
out the western United States.
Not only do audiences at the
Dalis competition have a chance
to hear new vocal talent, but the
event offers some other treats: a
final-intermission drawing for
prizes that include a week’s stay in
a villa in Portugal.
Also, a limited number of $200
tickets will be available,with perks
such as an opportunity to meet
with judges, premium seating and
a post-event reception.
Madancy is based in New York
City, where he has played at the
Metropolitan Opera on many
occasions. He was a featured
soloist and principal trumpet of
the Malaysian Philharmonic in
Kuala Lumpur for several years.
Author Barbara Quick will give
the pre-concert lecture on her new
novel Vivaldi's Virgins, published
by HarperCollins. The lecture is
set for 6:30 p.m.
The San Jose Chamber Orches-
tra will begin its 18th season Aug.24
with Opera!, a sampling of world
opera featuring vocalists Rachelle
Perry-Ward (soprano),Layna Chi-
anakas (mezzo-soprano),Christo-
pher Bengochea (tenor) and Mal-
colm Mackenzie (baritone).
Tickets are $30-$45. For more
information, call 408.295.4416 or
visit www.sjco.org.
Tickets are $50-$75 (drawing
tickets are $20 each). For more
information, call 408.437.4450 or
visit www.operasj.org.
STEPPIN’ OUT STAFF
Editor
Dale Bryant 408.200.1021
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Heather Zimmerman
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hzimmerman@community-
newspapers.com
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