OLLI class delves into Eureka Symphony
Three musicians present class through HSU’s OLLI program
A concertmaster, a conductor and a pianist are coming together in February to offer a class called “Savor the Symphony.” The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute course — for folks 50 and older — will be held Feb. 15 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 24 Fellowship Way in Bayside. The fee is $35. To preregister, go to https://extended.humboldt.edu/olli/ course/savor-symphonyspring-preview.
During the class, Terrie Baune, Eureka Symphony concertmaster; John Chernoff, pianist in a variety of musical genres; and Carol Jacobson, music director and conductor of the Eureka Symphony, will discuss the concert programs that Eureka Symphony will present in March, April and May. The three instructors will be presenting background information about the composers featured and the guest artists performing at the concerts and will perform musical examples.
“The March concerts will feature 19th and 20th century pieces that celebrate lyricism and dance, including Gershwin’s ‘Piano Concerto in F’ with guest soloist Alexander Tutunov on piano,” said Baune. “The April concerts are presenting lush orchestral colors, including the ‘Russian Easter
Overture’ by Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov and ‘Songs from the Auvergne’ by French composer Joseph Canteloube with guest soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon. The May concerts feature our own Eureka Symphony Chorus joining the orchestra for a ‘Mozart Mass,’ followed by Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony, the ‘Scottish.’”
During the class, she said, discussion will be interspersed with music. “We’ll take a break in the middle of the class for refreshments and informal chat,” Baune said.
“We usually end the formal part of the class with our last piece of music, and will save the last 15 or 20 minutes of the class to take questions from the participants about anything they want to ask us.”
In addition to being Eureka Symphony concertmaster, Baune serves as concertmaster of the North State Symphony and co-concertmaster of the Oakland Symphony. She is a member of two professional new-music chamber ensembles: the San Francisco-based Earplay Ensemble and the New Music Works Ensemble. She also performs regularly with Wooden Fish, a group
In addition to being Eureka Symphony concertmaster, Baune serves as concertmaster of the North State Symphony and co-concert master of the Oakland Symphony.
that combines traditional Korean and Japanese instruments with violin and piano in newly composed works. Baune is the associate director of the Humboldt Chamber Music Workshop and a faculty member of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop, both summer programs at Humboldt State University.
Chernoff has performed on piano across the United States, including appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and Symphony Space in New York City. He has served as an accompanist for the Heifetz International Music Institute, a coach for the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop, Humboldt Chamber Music Workshop, and as a soloist with the Eureka Symphony. He is the accompanist for the Department of Music at Humboldt State University.
Jacobson has been the music director and conductor of the Eureka Symphony for more than a decade. She’s also been a teacher and the conductor of the Arcata/McKinleyville High School Orchestra and Madrigal Choir for 20 years. An accomplished cellist, she’s been a member of the Netherlands National Ballet Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Radio Symphony, the Oslo Opera Orchestra and the Netherlands Strijkers Ensemble.
In addition to her work with the Eureka Symphony, Jacobson is principal cellist in the North State Symphony and plays in the Temporary Resonance Trio with Baune and Chernoff.
“We have been working together as a trio for many years now and we love to make music together,” Baune said. “Our musical values and aesthetics are similar and it’s important to all three of us to enjoy what we’re doing while exploring the meaning of the music and preparing it to the best of our abilities. I sometimes say, ‘We actively enjoy the pursuit of excellence.’ We’re good friends and making music together brings us even closer together.”
Baune says she and Chernoff have been presenting pre-concert talks for many years now, just before each symphony concert. The OLLI course is an extension of these talks.
“We always have more to talk about than we can fit into a half-hour, so we started the OLLI classes as an expanded version of the preconcert talks, where we can go into more depth about the musical topics and have time to play longer examples and answer more questions, and be in a more relaxed and informal setting than the concert hall, which we think encourages people to interact with us and ask questions,” Baune said. “On concert nights, Carol is busy preparing for her conducting work and can’t join us in the talks, so the OLLI class also gives us an opportunity to include the music director in the discussion and the playing.”
Baune added: “We hope that people will come away from the class with more concrete ideas of what to look forward to hearing and experiencing at each of the three upcoming symphony concerts, an enhanced appreciation and knowledge of the composers’ lives and works and a more complete knowledge of the three of us as musicians and a sense of what it’s like to be a symphony musician and what we find so special, exciting and fun about playing and hearing symphonic music.”
For more information about the “Savor the Symphony” course, call the Humboldt State University College of Extended Education and Global Engagement at 707-826-5880.