Articles & Reviews
"Empress hosts sell-out crowd to celebrate symphony's 80th season", Benicia Herald
The Vallejo Symphony Orchestra faced difficult times last winter, forced by a lack of funds to cut short its 79th season. It was a painful setback, but already community music lovers and local businesses have made it possible for the group to open its current, 80th season with a bang. Read full story
"VSO in Search of More Diverse Volunteers", Times Herald
Vallejo Symphony Orchestra Maestro, David Ramadanoff and current board members are looking for a few good volunteers to help get the symphony running strong.
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"Eighty (Is) Something for Vallejo Symphony", San Francisco Classical Voice
David Ramadanoff's downbeat for the Vallejo Symphony's season-opening concert "Ludwig in Paradise" on Oct. 8 will mark two remarkable, contrasting events: the 80th season for the orchestra of a small city (pop. 117,000), and a comeback from last year's seemingly terminal money problems.
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"Vallejo Symphony begins 80th season after early end to 79th", Daily Republic
VALLEJO — The Vallejo Symphony will continue to celebrate its 80th season with a fall and spring concert.
The last two concerts of the 79th season were canceled because of finances. This season kicked off with a Fourth of July pops concert in Vallejo.
The fall concert is at 8 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Empress Theatre, 330 Virginia St., Vallejo.
Maestro David Ramadanoff will conduct Beethoven's "The Creatures of Prometheus," "Concierto de Aranjuez" by Rodrigo featuring Paul Psarras on guitar, and Symphony No. 8 by Beethoven.
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"Sea worthy Symphony", Times Herald
It's highly improbable that maestro David Ramadanoff would conduct his 60-piece Vallejo Symphony Orchestra in a rousing version of an animated TV show's theme song. But Beth Vandervennet? Why, the veteran cellist couldn't wait for her, violinist Kerry Borgen and flautist Susan Sigge to delight an attentive crowd to "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants! Absorbent and yellow and porous is he. SpongeBob SquarePants!"
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"Vallejo Symphony enriching, robust at 79", SFGate.com
The Bay Area is home to a profusion of orchestras both large and small, and the longevity of some of them can catch you by surprise. Take, for example, the Vallejo Symphony, which is now midway through its 79th season - a remarkable track record that places it among a handful of the oldest orchestras in California. Read full story
"Guests Wow Fans", Benicia Herald
The second concert of the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra's 79th season on Jan. 8 brought fresh and exciting new talent to the stage with two "real live" composers, a multi-talented young mezzo-soprano singer and the work of one of the 19th century's most beloved maestros. It was an evening of surprise, discovery and much "beautiful noise."
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"Vallejo's Fortune", San Francisco Classical Voice
David Ramadanoff first encountered Carl Orff's irresistible Carmina Burana as a student at Temple University in the late 1960s, singing in the massed choir that performed the lusty oratorio with players from the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. Like countless others before and since, he was hooked.
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"Undiscovered Jewel Steers Music Our Way", San Francisco Classical Voice
If you plan to drive up I-80 to the next concert of the Vallejo Symphony to hear virtuoso Meredith Brown, you must be prepared to play her second-most-important instrument. No, not the French horn, but the one in which "Freeway Philharmonic'" members are extremely practiced: the steering wheel. Read full story
"Vallejo Symphony concert a World of fun", The Benicia Herald
The Vallejo Symphony performed its fourth and final concert of the 2009-10 season on Saturday. "The World on a String" featured an eclectic mix of compositions from the turn of the century to the contemporary era, a lively array highlighted by the group's exceptional string component and a uniquely talented special guest soloist. Read full story
"Symphony's Mostly Mozart begs encore", The Benicia Herald
The most recent offering from the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, an evening of "Mostly Mozart" featuring guest conductor Pamela Martin and French horn soloist Meredith Brown, provided a taste of something spectacular Saturday night, begging an encore after an exciting trio of pieces by Mozart and R.G. Strauss. Read full story
Quotes
"...the musicians and Ramadanoff shaped a heroic and occasionally surprising sound that would have been the equal of a large metropolitan symphony with a huge annual budget."
Richard Bammer - Vacaville Reporter"
"...the Vallejo Symphony is 'an undiscovered jewel'..."
Jeff Dunn - San Francisco Classical Voice"
Our Links
Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO)
ACSO was founded in 1969 at Asilomar as a means of sharing information and resources for California orchestras. Forty years later, they have expanded those services to include skill-building workshops, management consultations, job postings, national and statewide advocacy, monthly calendars of orchestras' schedules, field statistics and data, and a web site. http://www.acso.org/
San Francisco Classical Voice
The Bay Area's website journal of classical music, criticism, and a performance calendar. Archived reviews of Vallejo Symphony concerts may be found at http://www.sfcv.org/
Solano Choral Society
The Solano Choral Society, directed by Helen Intintoli, has collaborated numerous times with the Vallejo Symphony. Previous performances include the Mozart and Brahms Requiems. For musical clips from these concerts, as well as a current concert schedule, please visit the Solano Choral Society website. http://www.solanochoralsociety.org/
Vallejo Choral Society
Established in the summer of 1917, the Vallejo Choral Society (VCS) is one of the oldest musical organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and the oldest community-based non-professional choir in California. http://www.vallejochoral.org/
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