DOWNEY – “Bidding for the baton was a wonderful way to honor my family,” said Cathi Peterson, “and the magical life we had, growing up in Downey in the 50s and 60s. I drove down from my home in Ventura County in the pouring rain on a Friday night to rehearse, and back on Saturday for the performance. Sharon Lavery and her amazing musicians made the whole process SO MUCH FUN!”

Each year a baton auction is held at the Downey Symphony Orchestra’s spring concert, when amateur music lovers vie for the privilege of wielding the conductor’s slender stick. The April 9 concert will offer that chance again, to realize a Walter Mitty dream and conduct a full size professional orchestra on the Downey Theatre stage. 

Downey history is intertwined with the lives of the winner. 

“As a native daughter of Downey,” said Berkeley resident Priscilla Winslow, “I remember going to hear the symphony at the high school gym with my parents, who were enthusiastic supporters of the symphony from its beginning.”

Priscilla is a two-time winner of the auction for the baton of the Downey Symphony Orchestra. Her father, Paul, served as a member of the Downey Symphonic Society’s Board of Directors, and her mother, also Priscilla, taught ballet classes and was a member of the Assistance League of Downey.

A bonus that comes with winning the baton is a hands-on conducting lesson from the Symphony’s music director, Sharon Lavery.  

“When I had the chance to win the baton and actually conduct,” said Pris, “decades later, it was quite a thrill.  Especially gratifying was Sharon's coaching beforehand, showing me the 3/4 and 2/4 pattern and allowing me to conduct the piece at the dress rehearsal. This was double the fun, since I twice got to experience the beauty and intensity of the music right in front of me.’

That intensity was what nearly overwhelmed Art Morris when he guest-conducted in the early 2000’s. Well-known as a benefactor of the Downey Community Hospital and community leader, Art said he told the orchestra that he wanted a lot of volume from the percussion. 

“When I gave the downbeat for the overture,” Art said, “they almost blew me off the podium.It was great.”

Art supported the Downey Symphonic Society as a long-time Board member. His father, J. Arch Morris, donated the land where the hospital, now PIH Downey is located, and Art himself contributed more than $1 million to the hospital's Radiology Department. Both father and son were long-time Downey Rotarians, and Arch Morris served as club president back in 1941. The city of Downey celebrated Art Morris Day on his birthday, February 8, in 2011, the year before he died.At 93, Art successfully bid again for the baton in 2011. 

On the other extreme, in April 2019 Aaron Saldana, a Stauffer Middle School student, waved the baton and got the evening off to a rousing start with Souza’s The Stars and the Stripes Forever. After intermission, before the auctioning of the next year’s baton, Aaron came on stage to tell how much fun it was.  

“A wonderful experience,” Aaron said, and he thanked Bernice Mancebo Stumps for inviting him to wave the baton. When Bernice won the auction, she dedicated it in honor of her grandson, Christopher Parks.

Aaron volunteers for the Downey Foundation for Educational Opportunities with the String Ensemble.If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the DFEO was founded by his mother, Linda Saldana.

Several years ago, at the Downey Symphonic Society Guild’s Barbeque fundraiser for the Music in the Schools program, I sat next to a woman who surprised me by saying, “I won the baton two years ago, and brought 68 people. I saved for three years,” Terry Wright said. “My husband thought I was crazy. But I watched what it went for, eighteen hundred and then two thousand. So I saved $2,500. And I won.”

“I didn’t want to conduct a march,” said Terry. “I wanted something more melodious and in a thanksgiving spirit, so Sharon Lavery the Maestro let me do Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, and I had tears, it was so beautiful.” 

Would Terry do it again? “In a heartbeat, but I’ll have to wait and let the money build up.”

Carolyn Osborn, our concertmaster who enjoys playing auctioneer as well, points out to the audience all the benefits that Music in the Schools brings to Downey kids, like the yearly morning symphony concerts at the Downey Theatre, one for third graders, and a different one for fifth-graders. Both were specially created for Downey by Conductor Tom Osborn in the 1990’s.

The third grade concert introduces the youngsters to classical music, and then the fifth graders are encouraged to take up an instrument when they get to Middle School the next year. The outings are sponsored by the Kiwanis Foundation and the Downey Unified School District. A quintet also goes to perform in each K-5 school in Downey, and all this is paid for by the Society’s Music in the Schools Outreach Program.

Who will conduct in April? Dottie Nadolski, a teacher bidding from the balcony two years ago, ended up with the winning bid for leading the Orchestra, a new record of $3,500. But that concert had to be canceled because of Covid restrictions. Dottie, a bidder who bided her time, will finally get her chance.

“Several years ago,” said Dottie, “I reconnected with my junior high school friend, Carol Novak Kearns. Carol and Frank are members of the Symphony Guild, and they invited me to my first ever Downey Symphony program. I was amazed at how the guest conductors made it look so easy and fun. I was also curious about the auction held every spring for a chance to be a guest conductor.

 “I started saving my money for the auction,” Dottie said, “and won the bid to conduct. About 16 friends and family will be coming. The piece I’ll be conducting is Simple Gifts, a Shaker song that Aaron Copeland used in Appalachian Spring, a tribute to Martha Grahame, one of the founders of modern dance. I am so very excited to conduct this wonderful piece and I hope to do it justice.”

Dottie’s little black outfit has been hanging in the closet for two years, but she’ll finally get the chance to wear it when she conducts on April 9. 

“It was such a privilege,” said Cathi Peterson, “to stand in front of this talented orchestra and connect with them, bringing the printed notes to life. Who gets to do that? The committee gave me a beautifully framed photo of the event, which I've hung proudly in my home to always remember the excitement of that evening. Hooray for reopening!”

Society President Anthony Crespo invites all would-be Gustavo Dudamels to come to the concert and bid. Tickets are available at downeytheatre.org or call the Box Office at (562) 861-8211.  

The Downey Theatre is at 8435 Firestone Blvd. Concert starts at 8 pm.