Vallejo Symphony Mini-Concerts


Every year, the Vallejo Symphony presents a series of Mini-Concerts for young children in Benicia and Vallejo Schools. Presented by a trio of professional musicians who are also experienced educators, these Mini-Concerts expose children to classical music in a fun and engaging way. Using an appealing curriculum that changes each year, our musicians, led by flautist Susan Sigge, incorporate school curriculum and life lessons into their musical presentations. Our trio will demonstrate their own instruments (flute, violin, cello), as well as a selection of various musical instruments, including a mandolin, a child-sized violin, and other musical wonders geared to open a child’s imagination.
 

Our Educational Goals

Our theme this year is about self-esteem and thinking outside the box. We want kids to feel good about themselves for who they are. Each person is unique and doesn't have to have the latest fashion, the cool shoes, or the hip haircut to be successful. We want to encourage the kids to think on their own and not have their lives dictated by what their friends say and do. In music, daring composers wrote outside of what was considered the norm, and so musical forms developed and progressed to what we have today. As individuals, we all have the opportunity to challenge ourselves, think outside the box and continually make our lives, and the lives of those around us, richer and more rewarding. In this program, we use music as a representation of the human need to tap our creativity and strive for something better.

We want to give our students access to “classical” music, encouraging them to listen to it beyond our concerts, perhaps even going to the Vallejo Symphony or another musical performance. In order to keep the tradition of classical music alive, classical musicians and classical music organizations need to reach out to the younger generation and let them see that this music can be fun, adventurous, exciting, and beautiful, not boring, dusty, and old.

On this musical journey, we will start with Renaissance music, and continue through the romantic period to the modern musical, ending with a rap composed by instructor Susan Sigge. Selections for this year include works by Bach, Vivaldi, Wagner, and Saint-Saens, as well as an excerpt from Beauty and the Beast. While exposing the students to these different styles of music, we will show them how being different from the rest can be a wonderful thing.


 

Our Musicians

Susan Sigge, flute and Program Director

Susan began her musical career on the organ at the age of five, and picked up the flute five years later. She has performed as a soloist and with many orchestras throughout California, including Monterey, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Vallejo, Fremont, Redding and Napa Symphonies, as well as Festival Opera and San Francisco Masterworks Chorale. She is also an active freelance musician, performing for weddings, parties and other social events. Susan received her Master of Arts Degree in Music from San Jose State University, where she studied with French flutist Isabelle Chapuis. Her teachers include James B. Walker, Angela Koregelos, Lloyd Gowen and Susan Waller, and she has taken Master classes with Jean-Pierre Rampal, Michel Dubost, Julius Baker, Ransom Wilson and Frances Blaisdell, among others.

Susan performed the West Coast Premiere of Praescio V for flute and computer by Bruce Pennycook, and the U.S. Premiere of Yong for solo flute by Paul Douglas. She is the founder and conductor emeritus of "Flock of Flutes", and teaches private lessons in Martinez.

Check out her website at  http://www.susansigge.com

Kerry Borgen, violin

Co-Director of “Applause,” a Martinez-based, all-strings performing group for kids, Kerry has been teaching violin since the age of 12. She graduated from California State University, Long Beach, where she received a scholarship to perform with the honors string quartet and chamber ensemble. She has performed with many chamber and orchestral groups throughout the United States and abroad, with scholarships from the Congress of Strings, Interlochen Arts Academy and the National Orchestral Academy in London. Kerry has performed as a soloist with the Nova Vista Symphony, the Mission Chamber Orchestra, and the Danville Community Band. She has played with the San Jose Symphony, California Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, and as Concertmaster for the Nova Vista Symphony. Learn more about her at http://applausekids.net/directors.html

Elizabeth Vandervennet, cello

Elizabeth received a Bachelor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan where she studied with Jeff Solow, Nina DeVeritch, and Jerome Jelinek. Upon graduation she received high honors in Music Theory as well as a Minor in Arts Administration. Her Master of Music in Cello Performance from Carnegie Mellon University was obtained under the guidance of Anne Martindale-Williams, the Principal Cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Elizabeth has performed extensively with a variety of chamber music ensembles. During the years 1993-1999 she was a member of the Sartory and Lake String Quartets. The Lake Quartet performed over 60 concerts in Yellowstone National Park during each summer of 1997 and 1998 for visitors from all over the world. Elizabeth was a founding member of the Sequoia Trio, a Bay-area piano trio specializing in women’s music (1996-1999). She was a founding member of the wonderfully original group Luna Nova Quartet, a member 2000-2008.

In addition to her post as Principal Cellist of Vallejo Symphony, Elizabeth is currently a member of the Oakland East Bay Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Marin Symphony. She was a former Principal Cellist of Stockton Symphony, Assistant Principal Cellist of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Napa Valley Symphony, as well as a member of Fresno Philharmonic.

Learn more about Beth at http://www.cellobeth.com/.


 

Our Funding

In previous years, we have partially funded our concerts through grants, but we have also been forced to ask the schools for a contribution. This year, we are thrilled to announce that, through the generosity of Valero Refinery, Benicia, we are able to offer every public elementary school in both Benicia and Vallejo a two-concert package free of charge. That’s a total of twenty elementary schools! Thanks also to Umpqua Bank for contributing to the program.