Poway Community Symphony Orchestra returns Feb. 18

By Jose A. Lopez
February 6, 2008

Members of the Poway Community Symphony Orchestra are looking forward to their upcoming performance.

The concert which will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts continues the orchestras commitment to bringing music to the community.

Though the upcoming concert is the second of the ongoing three-performance season, it is actually the first that will be performed.

The first was scheduled for Oct. 21, 2007 the night the Witch Creek fire began to spread over San Diego County.

"It was a heartbreaking experience," said Ulli Reiner, who founded the orchestra in 2004. "As we were standing outside with all of the ashes flying down on us, we knew that canceling was the right decision."

The program scheduled for that evening, which focused on the music of Johannes Brahms, has been slated for next fall said Reiner, an orchestra teacher at Bernardo Heights and Twin Peaks middle schools.

Under the direction of conductor Branden Muresan, the upcoming program is titled "España" and consists of music with a Spanish flair.

The program includes Rimski-Korsakovs "Capriccio Espagnol" and Bizet Suites nos. 1 and 2 from "Carmen."

A highlight of the evening includes a Concierto di Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra by Joaquin Rodrigo that will feature local musician Fred Benedetti on guitar as a soloist.

The orchestra currently has more than 60 members, their ages range from 18 to 75, who come together to practice once a week in the eight to 12 weeks that lead up to the performances.

"That really allows some of the players who don't have a chance to practice every day and those who are picking up the instrument enough time to master the music," Reiner said.

Ann Clevenger, a Carmel Mountain Ranch resident who has been in the orchestra for the last three years, said she looks forward to the rehearsals.

"I always think of it as two hours of peace during my very hectic week," Clevenger said.

She said she played the piano and flute all through elementary, high school and college and looked forward to playing again.

Clevenger, who plays the flute and piccolo with the orchestra, said it only took her two rehearsal sessions to get acclimated to performing.

"It's nice to have something that I do exclusively for myself," said Clevenger, who teaches French at Westview. "I'm always doing things for my 100 students or my husband or my two daughters or my house, that it's nice to do something just for me."

Reiner said that the orchestra is always looking for more members to sign up for the program.

"We don't take beginners, but we do take musicians with different levels of ability," she said.

For more information about joining the symphony, including registration fees and contact numbers, go to http://www.powaysymphony.org