Julio Bragado-Young & Gillian Murphy 

With Conductor Max Bragado-Darman at the helm, the Monterey Symphony launched its second concert of the 2011-2012 season last night in the Performing Arts Center at the Steinbeck Institute of Arts and Culture (most of us will forever continue to refer to it by its former name, “Sherwood Hall”). We heard on this occasion an unusual program with only two works performed. However, these two works assumed special significance since one included a ballet performance by four distinguished dancers from the American Ballet Theatre, and the other featured a new beginning of collaboration between the Monterey Symphony and Youth Music Monterey.

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By any standard it was a “Gala” occasion! It was the concluding event in the 2011 Paderewski Festival, and we had among us in the Grand Ballroom of the Paso Robles Inn the Consulate General from the Polish Republic, the Mayor of Paso Robles, the Mayor of Tarnow, Poland, the entire Paderewski Festival Board, and many other distinguished guests. Someone quipped that Barack Obama had sent his regrets, which is just as well, for otherwise we might have been knee deep in Secret Service agents and sniper teams on the rooftops. Well, anyway it was dramatic enough without Mr. Obama’s presence, and it was also an occasion where every distinguished guest seemed to be giving other distinguished guests very nice token gifts. The most impressive were the honorary gold medals presented by the Polish Consulate General Joanna Kozińska to Festival President Joel Peterson, Artistic Director Marek Zebrowski, Frank Mecham, John Hamon, Steve Cass, and a few other honorees, whose names I couldn’t quite hear.

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Joel Peterson, Sofia Talarico, Elizabeth Lee, Kevin Park, Daniel Ha & Madeline Anderson

A capacity audience gathered yesterday afternoon in the grand ballroom of the Paso Robles Inn to hear the Winners’ Recital of the 2011 Paderewski Festival Youth Piano Competition. On hand for the event was an enthusiastic audience of devoted fans of the Festival, plus a surprising number of young children. Master of ceremonies for the occasion was Festival President Joel Peterson who greeted the audience and paid tribute to the generosity of donors and supporters who make this event possible. Special thanks were given to Artistic Director Marek Zebrowski and David Dumont of Sherman Clay who helped provide a magnificent Hamburg Steinway concert grand for the Festival’s use.

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