DOWNEY — A love of music, movies, and theater will culminate in the fulfillment of a dream and a promise that Downey resident Pat Gil made to the late Joyce Sherwin, longtime board member of the Downey Symphonic Society.

Next Saturday, April 12, at the Downey Civic Theatre, Gil will mount the podium as guest conductor when the Downey Symphony Orchestra performs Theme from the Game of Thrones, by Ramin Djawadi, as its opening number.

“I’m really excited,” says Gil, “and this was a promise I made to Joyce. She told me she did it [conducted] twice.”

Gil, who is very active in the arts community in Downey, is President of the Downey Arts Coalition and also a long-time board member for the Symphony Orchestra.

“Of course I considered the classics,” explains Gil as she describes how she made her selection of what to conduct. “But I wanted to do something more contemporary, something that would interest a wider group of people in attending the concerts.”

Gil says she loves the music from the popular TV series so much that she watches the entire introduction for each episode.

“You know, I’m ready for the show and I just love it,” she affirms. “It has a buildup, it’s so powerful, and it has a grand ending. So I thought, this is going to be so much fun to conduct.”

Gil’s turn at leading Downey’s professional orchestra in its opening number comes from a tradition started years ago under the late Music Director Tom Osborne.

The Baton Auction

For decades, members of the audience at the final concert of each season have had an opportunity to bid on being a guest conductor for the coming year. The Baton Auction, as it’s called, is a featured fundraiser for the 69-year-old professional orchestra.

The auction is an open bidding process held after intermission with the lights turned up on the audience. Concertmaster Carolyn Osborn puts down her violin and picks up the microphone to coax, tease, sweet-talk, and inspire people to donate to a good cause while also having the experience of a lifetime. The audience, voicing oohs and aahs, erupts into applause at the winning bid.

April concerts open with a 3–4 minute piece selected by the guest conductor with assistance from Music Director Sharon Lavery. It is a formidable proposition to stand in front of 50-60 musicians and Lavery gives ample support to baton winners, many of whom may not have ever played a musical instrument.

Lavery finds an appropriate recording that a guest conductor can become familiar with and practice at home, and she gives them an opportunity to rehearse one evening with the orchestra.

Some music selections have been well-known European classics such as the Radetsky March by Johann Strauss and the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. Other baton winners have conducted well-known pieces by American composers, such as Simple Gifts by Aaron Copeland and Stars and Stripes Forever by John Phillip Sousa.

Aaron Saldana (Warren 2023) was only 14 and still in middle school when he took the podium with aplomb to conduct the Sousa march as a last-minute substitute for the grandson of Bernice Stumps.

Now a sophomore at Cal State University Fullerton, Saldana has continued with his musical interests and performs and travels as a member of CSUF’s Cello Choir. Last year the Cello Choir went to Korea, and later this year they will be playing in Germany.

Gil explains that Music Director Lavery wasn’t familiar with the Game of Thrones music, but was onboard after seeing performances on YouTube.

“She said, ‘I love it, Pat! It’s going to be amazing,’” Gil recounts. Lavery told her it was a “fun piece” and the “musicians will have fun playing it and you’ll have fun conducting it.”

Gil’s first encounter with the Downey Symphony Orchestra came as a complete surprise.

“I moved to Downey in 1999,” Gil recounts, “and I never knew about this orchestra for 10 years. I learned about it when I got involved with the Downey Arts Coalition and Don Lamkin asked me one day if I was going to the symphony concert.” (Lamkin is the creator of the mural “Doodlelicious” which is featured on Porto’s parking structure on Downey Avenue.)

Gil recalls that she was “blown away” when she heard the orchestra for the first time, and, “I couldn’t believe that the whole of Downey was not as excited as I was.”

Gil has been a staunch supporter ever since, joining the symphony board in 2012, promoting audience attendance, arranging for the unique art exhibits that accompany each concert, and chairing the annual Symphony Garden Party fundraiser.

Asked if she was nervous about being on stage, Gil replied no, that she is more focused on the possibility of projecting images to accompany the performance of Theme from the Game of Thrones. While her day job is accounting with Swinerton Construction, Gil relishes the details of event planning.

Downey Overture

Next week’s program will include a repeat performance of the Downey Overture, written by Spanish composer Oscan Navarro and dedicated to Lavery and the orchestra in 2011. This dynamic piece evoking the rhythm of urban life has international recognition and is an audience favorite. World-wide performances include the summer Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts, Carnegie Hall, and the Disney Concert Hall.

Erik Jovel is featured soloist for the evening, performing Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. Jovel is the principal trumpet for the Downey Orchestra and performs regularly with other orchestras, such as the Long Beach Symphony and Pasadena Symphony. As with so many professional musicians, Jovel’s credits include TV and motion picture soundtracks, such as Disney’s “Encanto” and Disney Pixar’s “Lightyear.” Jovel is a versatile musician whose talents range from orchestral music, to jazz, and commercial fare.

The program will conclude with an audience favorite, Sheherazade, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which was inspired by tales from Arabian Nights.

Following a tradition set over a decade ago, the Downey Arts Coalition will present a themed exhibit of original art work on the mezzanine. The theme for this concert is “Live, Love, Art.” Featured artists are Monique Puciarelli and Pinchi Michi.

Downey Unified School District instructors Vanessa Hernandez (Sussman Middle Schol) and Lily Seelig (Maude Price Middle School) will also be working with DAC to showcase student art work for this exhibit.

The concert is free and music begins at 7 pm. Doors will open at 5:30 and the audience will have time to view the unique exhibit of original art work by local artists. At 6:15 a pre-concert talk about the program music is given to enhance the listener’s experience.

Downey Symphony to perform theme from Game of Thrones