A live orchestra and a lively audience combined for a triumphant return of the Downey Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 23. On Saturday evening, under clear cool skies, the line for the box office extended out onto the Plaza in front of the Downey Theatre.

Symphony concerts were back, and an audience for hardcore classical music was there to hear it.     

A remarkable number of six past presidents of the Downey Symphonic Society were there to mark the occasion of the concert: Nick Frankhart and his wife Mary, a Downey native, came up from Long Beach, and Ryan Keene and Larry Lewis both from Downey, arrived; Don Marshal, now in Fullerton, under whose lead the audience had grown considerably and the Symphonic was able to realize significant new grants and contributions. Beginning in the 1980’s, when I was president, the line stretched for nearly 40 years ago to the present.

Bill Hare, president in the ‘90s, made a surprise appearance, having recovered from an unexpected and severe attack of COVID 19, in spite of being fully vaccinated. Bill’s wife, Katie, used a slick tri-wheeled scooter to   enable her to be mobile after foot surgery.  

“It came all of a sudden,” said Bill, speaking of the Covid. “One minute you’re ok, and then pouf, and you’re really sick.” 

“We tested negative twice before we came tonight,” said Katie.

“I’ll hold my breath and I take my mask off while you take the picture,” said Bill. The Hares’ daughter, Janet Molinaro, was there, with buddy Christine De la Torre to represent South Gate.

Hard-working board members of the Downey Symphonic society were in full force, led by Joyce Sherwin managing the events in the lobby and sporting a white moustache imprinted on her black mask.  Mary Stevens and JoAnne Gronley handed out programs at their table center lobby, and Bob Goldstein held the fort in one corner of the lobby. 

Former Board member Carol and Frank Kearns never miss a performance, and daughter Amy and her beau attended too, as did Dorothy Pemberton, Jeff Parks, and many friends of classical orchestral music, many more whose names I don’t yet know.

Ruth Hillecke, longtime member and donor of the Hillecke Matching Grant for the Music in the Schools program, mentioned that she had not received her renewal form for tickets until mid-October. “I came right down to the box office and got my tickets for my regular seats, Ruth said.  

Ruth understood that putting on the season was in doubt until the latest possible moment, as the Downey Theatre could not be sure that audiences would be allowed, or under what terms until the County Health Department made their announcement.  Everyone cheerfully abided by the masking request, and wore them during the musical program as well as in the lobby, when there was close contact with other patrons in the lobby.                      

I took the new glass elevator for a fast ride up to the balcony level, where the Downey Arts Coalition staged a show, “Key,” curated by Pat Gil, that Downey artists came to see. Director of the Stay Gallery on Downey Avenue, Gabriel Enamerado and Juliana Canty, stopped to talk with Alistair Hunter, DAC president. Monique Pucciarelli stood beside her entry, Monique’s russet hair matching the trailing plumes and feathers in the painting.

Among the many entries, featured artist Carolina Estrada-Del Toro and husband Jorge also gathered a group of admirers,  Caroline wore black with a bright red satin scarf:  “I always put a touch of red in my paintings,” Carolina said.

Before the concert began, DSS President Anthony Crespo greeted the audience from the stage, and announced the dates of the next two concerts, January 22 and April 9, 2022.  Tickets are available now at the Theatre’s box office. Lars Clutterham read the name of each artist in the DAC show and recognized them by asking them to stand.

The concert was about to start, and conductor Sharon Lavery gave the downbeat for a rousing National Anthem, heavy on the percussion. Then as we settled down again, Oscar Navarro’s Downey Overture began, with a thrilling brass summons that sounded like an alarm clock starting the day.  Then sounds of freeway traffic as Oscar commuted from Downey to the USC School of Music. But wait, the traffic music was dancing, and the violins sounded like mariachis.  The syncopated beat carried the piece right to the ending.

The Bruch Violin Concerto Number 1 began with Strauss Shi performing its virtuoso cadenzas. The orchestral sonority was punctuated time and again by the rich song of the violin. The piece was scored for only one percussion, the timpani, but timpanist Danielle Squyres played all four of the kettle drums, each tuned to a different sound, to rousing effect.

How many shades of black there can be, I mused, from the sparkly sequin jacket of concertmaster Carolyn Osborn’s jacket to the patent leather shine on the shoes of the first violin section. There was the quieter matte finish of most of the men’s suits, but the transparency of a black tulle sleeve and the richness of a black brocade on the women gave different plays of light, just as the themes taken up by the instruments combined for a tapestry of orchestral sound.

At the end of the piece, Strauss received a standing ovation, three curtain calls and two bouquets of flowers from admirers in the audience. One floral tribute he gave to Concertmaster Carolyn, and the second offering to Principal Cellist Mary Anne Steinberger. Shi was obviously delighted to be back playing in Downey, and he exchanged elbow bumps with masked Carolyn, and conductor Sharon, and then rewarded and delighted the audience with more fireworks, a solo encore.

Coming into the lobby for intermission, we greeted Mark Artusio, beloved but now retired principal bass player. Mark managed the orchestra under Dr. Tom Osborn, and then completed 12 seasons with Conductor Sharon. A heartfelt tribute to Mark was in the printed program. 

Mark asked about the DSS’s Music in the Schools outreach program, his special project for many years, where a quintet from the orchestra goes to each elementary and middle school in Downey, to perform a program that enriches their comprehension of music. Unfortunately, this year, as last, the schools don’t feel it is safe yet for an outside group to come on campus. But the Downey Symphonic Society Board is still hoping there will be a way to perform the third grade and fifth grade concerts that take place in the Downey Theatre, with the School District bussing in the children.

Old and new names were also printed in the program as individual contributors. Corporate, Foundation and Government supporters include The City of Downey, and The Los Angeles Country Department for Arts and Culture.  The Downey Symphony Guild is also a major donor, followed by the Rotary Club of Downey and the Soda Foundations. Our thanks to all.

The handsomely produced glossy program also featured an In Memoriam page, where donors remembered those who had devoted themselves to the Symphony, faces we missed on this night: Karol Morrison, Harold Tseklenis, Joseph Sapia, and Pauline Hume. There was also a pictorial tribute from the Downey City Council Members. The City of Downey is a strong supporter.

The lights in the lobby flickered and the gong sounded, calling us back for the major piece of the evening, Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony in E Minor, Coming to the New World. The richness of the opening sounds give way to the nostalgic melody known as the spiritual Goin’ Home, and that theme with variations reappeared throughout.

This orchestra had not played together in a concert hall for over 18 months.  Indeed, the members hadn’t played anywhere for 18 months. 

“At the first rehearsal,” said Conductor Lavery, “I was stunned.  The orchestra played with so much heart.  I have never felt anything like that anywhere before.”  

That heart was carried into Dvorak’s crowning work, a triumphal statement of new life and new hope in the New World.  You could sense that this hope was also for a world emerging from a pandemic and the wreckage it has caused.

At the conclusion, Maestro Sharon, as usual, did not take credit personally for the applause. After gesturing for the entire orchestra to take several bows, she then pointed one by one to each brass instrument and wind, and the percussion section, for individual applause.  

She then swept around, conducting the applause as well as she had the musicians. cuing in first the bass players, then the cellos and the violas, before finally indicating the outstanding first violins and then asking the audience to laud once again the ensemble. She stood with open arms, as if to say, “This is your symphony orchestra.”

All the while Lavery remained, not on the podium but with the musicians and   behind a music stand, so that the audience and the orchestra could face each other and bask in their mutual admiration. A professional oboist in the audience said to a Board member that it began with the warmth she felt among the musicians and the appreciation between players and Sharon.  

“The love, she said, “was palpable and the performance excellent.”

As the audience filed out into the parking lot and the night, Jorge Montero, there with wife Maru, said, “It’s the conductor. It’s her energy, that she gives to the orchestra.” 

“And they return it,” I said. “We all do.”