The Peninsula Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in the San Francisco Peninsula

San Francisco Peninsula

The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is in Santa Clara County, including the cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Mountain...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The orchestra consists of over 90 community musicians. In 1995, the Peninsula Symphony was featured in a PBS broadcast.

Since its beginning, the symphony has performed had a season with four pairs of concerts in October, January, March, and May. It also performs a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 series and a free outdoor summer concert.

The symphony also hosts competitions, presents awards for young artists, and organizes outreach programs in local schools.

Mitchell Sardou Klein has been Music Director

Music director

A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

 and Conductor of the Peninsula Symphony since 1985, and also directs the Peninsula Youth Orchestra. Geoffrey Gallegos is Assistant Conductor.

History

The Peninsula Symphony was founded by Russian-born violinist/conductor Aaron Sten. In 1949, Aaron Sten became conductor of a small Redwood City group of musicians that he met while buying a house. Shortly after, a group of about 32 San Mateo

San Mateo, California

San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...

 musicians under the name The Peninsula Symphony disbanded and joined Aaron Sten's group. The resulting group of about 60 musicians formed an orchestra under the name Sequoia Symphony Orchestra and performed their first season. By the end of the second season, the name had changed to the Peninsula Symphony and in 1951, the non-profit Peninsula Symphony Association was incorporated. Aaron Sten founded the California Youth Symphony

California Youth Symphony

California Youth Symphony is a San Francisco Bay Area symphony orchestra for young musicians of high school age and younger. It was founded in 1952 by Aaron Sten and in 1963 became the first United States youth orchestra to tour abroad, performing twelve concerts in Japan. Since then, the...

 in 1952. The symphony grew in 1956 with the creation of the Women's Auxiliary, which supported the symphony through volunteer efforts. In 1985, the symphony opened an office with executive director to manage its growth
. The business office moved to Los Altos

Los Altos, California

Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....

 in 2001.

Guests

The Peninsula Symphony has a tradition of bringing in a guest artist for its concerts. Some notable examples are Larry Adler

Larry Adler

Lawrence "Larry" Cecil Adler was an American musician, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players. Composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin composed works for him...

, Chris Brubeck

Chris Brubeck

Christopher Brubeck , better known as Chris Brubeck, is a U.S. musician and composer, both in jazz and classical music. As a musician, he mainly plays electric bass, bass trombone, and piano. The son of noted jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, he toured and recorded for ten years with The Dave...

, Jiebing Chen

Jiebing Chen

Jiebing Chen is a Chinese musician based in the United States specializing in the erhu .Born in Shanghai, China, Chen went to the United States in 1989 to study at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she received an M.A...

, Eroica Trio

Eroica Trio

The Eroica Trio is an American piano trio consisting of Erika Nickrenz, piano; Susie Park, violin; and Sara Sant'Ambrogio, cello. Park joined the trio in September 2006 . The trio take their name from Beethoven's Eroica Symphony...

, Grant Johannesen

Grant Johannesen

Grant Johannesen was an American concert pianist.He was born in Salt Lake City and discovered at the age of five by an irate teacher who lived across the street. He imitated whatever he heard her play, and she did not appreciate it.He studied with Robert Casadesus, Roger Sessions, and Nadia...

, Jerome Lowenthal

Jerome Lowenthal

Jerome Lowenthal is an American classical pianist. He is a professor of piano at the Juilliard School in New York, where he was also chair of the piano department. Additionally, Lowenthal is on the faculty at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.He made his debut at 13 with the...

, Jon Nakamatsu

Jon Nakamatsu

Jon Yasuhiro Nakamatsu is a Japanese American classical pianist who still resides in San Jose but mostly performs away from home. He is the son of David Y. Nakamatsu and Karen F. Maeda Nakamatsu .In June 1997 Nakamatsu won the Gold Medal at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition...

, Marni Nixon

Marni Nixon

Marni Nixon is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She has also spent much of her career performing in concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world and in operas and musicals throughout the United States.-Biography:Born Margaret Nixon...

, Christopher O'Riley

Christopher O'Riley

Christopher O'Riley is an American classical pianist and public radio show host. He is the host of the weekly National Public Radio program From the Top. O'Riley is also known for his piano arrangements of songs by alternative artists....

, Richard Woodhams

Richard Woodhams

Richard Woodhams is an American oboist and recording artist. He is currently Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Professor of Oboe at the Curtis Institute of Music....

, and Nicanor Zabaleta

Nicanor Zabaleta

Nicanor Zabaleta was a Spanish virtuoso and populariser of the harp.Zabaleta was born in San Sebastián, Spain, on January 7, 1907. In 1914 his father, an amateur musician, bought him a harp in an antique shop. He soon began taking lessons from Vincenta Tormo de Calvo and Luisa Menarguez...

.

The symphony also has a tradition of incorporating outstanding young musicians, such as the winners of the Irving M. Klein International String Competition

Klein Competition

The Irving M. Klein International String Competition is recognized as the world’s leading competition for young string musicians and one of the most prestigious international events . It is open to young musicians, ages fifteen to twenty-three and takes place every June in San Francisco, California...

, into its performances. Some notable examples are Cathy Basrak

Cathy Basrak

Cathy Basrak is one of the most prominent young violists today. She was a winner of several important viola competitions such as the 1995 Primrose International Viola Competition, Irving M. Klein Competition, and others. Basrak studied with Michael Tree, Joseph de Pasquale, and Roland and Almita...

, Frank Huang

Frank Huang

Frank Xin Huang is a Chinese-born American violinist and teacher. He has won several international music competitions, most notably the 2003 Naumburg Competition. Huang has concertized widely as a soloist, and his debut recording has been critically acclaimed...

, Jennifer Koh

Jennifer Koh

Jennifer Koh is an American violinist, born to Korean parents in Glen Ellyn, IL.Jennifer Koh earned a B.A. in English Literature from Oberlin College, as well as a Performance Diploma from the attached Oberlin Conservatory. She is also a graduate of the Curtis Institute and was silver medalist in...

, and Robert deMaine

Robert deMaine

Robert deMaine is an American virtuoso cellist.-Biography:Robert deMaine was born into a musical family of French and Polish ancestry...

.

The symphony seeks out premieres and commissioned works. For its 50th season, the Peninsula Symphony commissioned notable composer Melissa Hui

Melissa Hui

Melissa Hui is a composer. Raised in Vancouver, Canada, Hui studied at the University of British Columbia, the California Institute of the Arts and Yale University...

 to create Always, a work for taiko

Taiko

means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...

, chorus, and orchestra. The symphony has also commissioned a work by the Chinese-American composer Gang Situ.