By Lyn Bronson

On Saturday evening, March 11, the UCSC Orchestra and Chamber Singers under the direction of conductor Nicole Paiement presented a program consisting of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture, Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with Maria Ezerova as piano soloist. To say that this concert was well attended would be an understatement, for it was not only sold out, but after bringing in extra chairs at the rear of the hall, the box office was still turning people away. The same program had been presented the preceding evening and that event was also “standing room only.”

As a resident of the Monterey Peninsula schlepping a 100-mile round trip to hear this event, the most powerful first impression we received was how young the audience was. Our audiences for classical music events in Monterey and Carmel are mostly affluent and well over 60. Even though we have in our midst Monterey Peninsula College, Hartnell College and our new university, California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), college age students rarely attend. Perhaps this is an indication that classical music has little significance for them, but it is more likely that the hefty ticket prices averaging from $18-$40 on the Monterey Peninsula discourage attendance by students and young families. By comparison, the ticket prices for this event at UCSC were $4, $6, and $8 (you can hardly get into a movie theater for those prices), and, not surprisingly, there were a lot of happy young campers in attendance.

Another powerful impression is how excellent are the facilities in UCSC’s two-and-a-half-year-old Music Center and what a magnificent accomplishment it is that the student body has produced such a good orchestra and chorus. Those of us with long memories can remember 25 years ago when music was the stepchild of the UCSC curriculum and its music faculty and students were not making that much of a splash in the community. The theater and small recital hall were shared between the drama and music faculties, both of whom have very different needs and requirements.

Music Department Chair David Cope kicked off the evening by addressing the audience briefly and commenting that after 2½ years in its new Music Center everybody is still ecstatically happy with the facility, and that at last they have a new Steinway concert piano thanks to the generosity of its donors, Dick and Mary Solari.

Music Director Nicole Paiement, who doesn’t look that much older than the students she was conducting, brings a distinguished background and considerable experience to her role as conductor of the UCSC Orchestra. Her youth and glamour seem to go hand in glove with the vibrant young spirit that prevails in the performing arts at UCSC.

The newest work on the program was Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna for chorus and chamber orchestra written in 1997. While there is nothing startlingly avant-garde or provocative about Lauridsen’s score, it is solidly crafted and well written, although it could be said that the scoring was more impressive for chorus than for orchestra. The lovely long pianissimo ending of O Nata Lux and the satisfying conclusion of the Agnes Dei were very impressive. Ms. Paiement brought out a lot of beautiful colors and contrasts in her direction of the work, and it was obvious that she had a nice rapport with the musicians.

Two standard works of the Russian repertoire loomed large on the evening’s program, which began with a spirited performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Festival Overture.” Always we have to marvel at the magnificent orchestration and the influence of Russian Orthodox Church music that pervades this score. Ms. Paiement directed the students with a sure hand and achieved some satisfying results.

The evening’s concert ended with a performance of the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto with pianist Maria Ezerova, a UCSC faculty member as soloist. Although a quick glance at the Schwann Record Catalog will reveal close to 70 recordings, it is a rare event when we hear the work in a live performance. Ms. Ezerova is equal to any demand of the score, and she played it with a ferocious intensity. Although the first movement was a trifle bangy and the ensemble was not always precise, in the second and third movements her exuberance carried the day. The terrific windup in the concerto’s final pages brought the audience to its feet for a rousing standing ovation.

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