California Symphony to Perform BEETHOVEN'S SYMPHONY NO. 7, 3/20

WALNUT CREEK, CA (February 4, 2016) - Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, and a performance by California Symphony Principal Clarinetist Jerome Simas and Principal Bassoonist Douglas Brown in R. Strauss's rarely-heard double concerto Duett-Concertino, highlight the California Symphony's "Textbook Classics" program on Sunday, March 20. The Orchestra performs the overture from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro to open the concert, led by guest conductor Leif Bjaland. The concert is at 4 pmat the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, with a free pre-concert talk with Bjaland beginning at 3 pm.

Tickets for the California Symphony's March 20 concert are $42 to $72, and can be purchased through the California Symphony's website at www.californiasymphony.organd at 925-943-7469.

Principal Bassoonist Douglas Brown, a Juilliard alumnus, and Principal Clarinetist Jerome Simas, who also holds a chair as bass clarinetist at the San Francisco Symphony, share the spotlight as soloists in R. Strauss's rarely performed and technically demanding double concerto Duett-Concertino. The Duett-Concertino was Strauss's last finished work. The three-movement piece was written for small orchestra and premiered in 1948. According to Allmusic.com, "[Strauss] sets aside the large orchestras and big Romantic gestures that characterized most of his music in favor of a more restrained, almost neo-classical style and a more transparent orchestral sound."

"It's a goal of mine to showcase the individual talents of members of our orchestra," said Music Director Donato Cabrera. "When I approached Jerry Simas, our principal clarinet player, he suggested the Strauss double concerto, a piece that not only will showcase his wonderful sound and dexterity, but also the extraordinary abilities of the newest member of our all-star woodwind section, Douglas Brown."

Douglas Brown is currently Principal Bassoonist of the California Symphony, Monterey Symphony, West Bay Opera Company, and Acting Principal Bassoonist of the Santa Cruz Symphony. Brown is a regular substitute player with the San Francisco Symphony and recorded Alban Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 with the orchestra under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas in 2015. A native of Red Lodge, Montana, Brown completed his studies with Whitney Crockett at the Juilliard School in New York City in 2009. With members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, he recorded nonet selections from Beethoven's Fidelio in 2007. He has appeared as a member of the orchestra at Utah Festival Opera in Logan, Utah since 2010.

Jerome Simas holds the positions of Principal Clarinetist with the California Symphony and bass clarinet/utility clarinet with the San Francisco Symphony. He has performed as a guest clarinetist with other American orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Opera as acting principal, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and Naples Philharmonic. He was a fellow at the New World Symphony, with which he recorded Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue and Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto for BMG Classics. Simas has held principal positions with orchestras including the Oakland Symphony, IRIS Orchestra, Modesto Symphony, and Akron Symphony. As a chamber musician, he studied and performed at Marlboro Music in Vermont and is currently solo clarinetist with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, a San Francisco-based group that presents newly commissioned works alongside traditional masterworks. Simas's awards include Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and First Prize at the International Clarinet Association's Young Artist Competition. He is currently a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a coach with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and a mentor with the San Francisco Symphony Community of Music Makers adult music education program.

Conductor Leif Bjaland has led the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra in Waterbury, CT as Music Director for the last 20 years. For 15 years, he was the Music Director for the Florida West Coast Orchestra (which became the Sarasota Orchestra). Bjaland has traveled the world throughout his career, with guest conducting engagements across the United States, Europe, Asia and New Zealand. He has also served as a conductor for several operatic productions. In 2003, he made his conducting debut at the Ravinia Festival in an all-Bernstein concert with the Chicago Symphony. Also in 2003, he conducted the San Francisco Symphony in an all-Russian concert featuring Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. From 1989-1993, he served as Resident Conductor and Artistic Coordinator of the New World Symphony. Following his debut conducting the New World Symphony in 1989, Bjaland was called "one of the key figures in the development of the New World Symphony." In 1990, he was invited by Leonard Bernstein and Michael Tilson Thomas to participate in the premiere season of the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. He was Assistant Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and Music Director for the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 1986-1989. He is a champion of unjustly neglected works and composers. A Michigan native, Bjaland received his master's in music from the University of Michigan, and he is the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Music degree, awarded by Susquehanna University.

ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY

The California Symphony is distinguished for its concert programs that combine classics alongside American repertoire and lesser-known works, its pioneering Young American Composer in Residence program, its nationally recognized education programs, and for bringing music to people in new and unconventional settings. The orchestra is in its third season with Music Director Donato Cabrera, and recently announced the signing of new, three-year contracts with Cabrera and the California Symphony musicians. The orchestra is comprised of musicians who have performed with the orchestras of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and others. California Symphony has launched the careers of some of today's most-performed composers and soloists, including violinist Sarah Chang, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and composers such as Mason Bates, Christopher Theofanidis, and Kevin Puts. The orchestra is expanding its regional base in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, performing concerts in three new venues in 2015-16. The orchestra will perform at its home at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center's Lincoln Theater in Yountville, and did recent performances at the Concord Pavilion in Concord and with Postmodern Jukebox at the Kaiser Center Roof Garden in Oakland. For more information, please visit www.californiasymphony.org.

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