On Jan. 12, parent Evette Tsang, Kungfu Master Xena Wu and East Sacramento Acupuncturist Tian Li Wu from Tiao Chao Herbs came to Sutter Middle School’s Mrs Hendrikson’s class to share Chinese New Year traditions with 7th grade students. Students were delighted to participate in an abacus addition contest, first class kungfu and Chinese Medicine origins and an acupunture demonstration. Chinese New Year of the Snake started on Feb 10 and lasts until to Feb. 24.

More than 20 years ago, Pocket resident Voress Franklin began working on her passion for acting with Celebration Arts – a multicultural performing arts organization located in East Sacramento that includes theater, dance and music.

Having major in business marketing and theater arts at Sacramento City College, Franklin says she joined Celebration Arts after meeting James Wheatley who founded the organization. “We roamed around Sacramento finding places to perform,” she recalls.

Franklin worked on her craft while working as a state civil service employee for the legislature. “I retired two years ago, so now it is what I’m doing, it is what I’m seeking,” she says.

Franklin says she decided to become involved with Celebration Arts due to the teaching skills of Wheatley and its family atmosphere. “They’re really loving people and open-armed, and I learned a lot from the people involved,” she adds.

In fact, Franklin credits what she learned through Celebration Arts for her three Elly Awards, which are given annually by the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance (SARTA) to honor outstanding achievements of community theaters and artists in the Sacramento area. “I believe because I was taught by not just James (Wheatley) but other directors that have come through (Celebration Arts) on how to develop my talent, I now have three Ellys,” she explains. “What they taught me about going inside and learning how to develop a character as really helped me.”

A Learning Experience

According to Wheatley, who is president of the Board of Directors and artistic director for Celebration Arts, the idea for the group began in 1976 when he formed a dance company. Growing from there, Celebration Arts was incorporated in 1986 when the theater component was added.

Wheatley says the mission of Celebration Arts is to provide training and performance opportunities for community residents in the areas of dance, music and theater, so those with little or no experience could have a place to go to get some training and “explore what talent they thought they might have.”

For example, rather than teaching theater classes, everyone at Celebration Arts learn through experience. “We actually train them on the job, and we found it was more effective to be trained while they’re involved in the production then to have classes,” Wheatley says. He says everyone involved in Celebration Arts are volunteers – including himself – and everyone learns all the different facets of running a theatrical production, including lights, sound, costumes, stage management and set building.

Franklin herself has learned about all the different parts of the theater production, and says its a way to learn and appreciate the art and what it’s all about. “All of those things are all important and what makes a good rounded actor is not just coming in and learning your lines, but learning about the whole,” she says.

Celebration Arts Board Member Bonnie Bane, who has been involved with the organization since 2000, has also done time learning about what it takes to run a theater production, from the box office to housekeeping to publicity. “Whatever needed to be done, there’s plenty of work for everybody, so we all pitch in,” she says. “All the board members pitch in wherever things are needed, so it’s a community activity.”

Bane says the fact people can come to Celebration Arts with absolutely no experience is what makes them unique. “They audition, they are groomed, they grow, and I think they can realize some of their aspirations,” she explains. “Sometimes people have this little dream – oh, I wish I could do that – and here is an opportunity for them to try it out and experience that joy that they get when they perform and the people are applauding. It’s just a wonderful thing.”

Theater, Music & Dance

According to Wheatley, Celebration Arts produces six to seven plays a year, which are performed at their 50-seat theater on the corner of 45th and D Streets.

Currently playing is “A Life,” which runs through March 3. Wheatley says the play is a dramatic comedy that tells the story of a 74-year-old Jamaican woman who is recovering from a heart attack in a nursing home. “The day the play takes place, the daughter is supposed to come and get her and take her to Connecticut with her,” Wheatley explains. “The mom does not want to go – she does not want to go to Connecticut and lose her independence.”

Then opening March 22 and running through April 28 is “Agnes of God,” which Wheatley says tells the story a young nun that gives birth and the older nun and psychiatrist that try to figure out what happened.

Franklin will play the role of the psychiatrist in “Agnes of God,” and is looking forward to working with her cast mates. “The parts are all really heavy, really deep, and we’re going to have to really explore the characters,” she says. “I’m looking forward to that new journey.”

Additionally, the Celebration Chorale will be performing on February 24 at St. Andrews AME Church on 8th Street between U and V Streets, and on March 10 at Celebration Arts’ theater in East Sacramento.

Wheatley says the Chorale has 12 members and they sing a variety of music which he writes and arranges for them. “They’re learning about singing, they’re learning about music and getting experience singing chorale music,” he says.

And Wheatley says the Celebration Dance Company, which performs modern/contemporary dance, will also be performing during the Chorale concert. Wheatley recruits members for the dance company from the weekly dance class he holds on Saturday mornings from 10:45am-12:45pm at the Oak Park United Methodist Church.

Get Involved

In addition to the dance class, Celebration Arts also offers a Kid’s Time program for ages six to 12. The program is a 10-week session on Monday evenings and culminates with the kids performing an original play that Wheatley has written for them.

Community playwrights can even submit their plays to Wheatley for feedback. “Every month I read plays and meet with writers personally, talk with them and give them feedback and work with them during the drafts,” he adds.

And for community members who maybe don’t want to get on stage, but still want to help out, Bane says there are lots of opportunities to get involved from working the box office to even just helping to distribute flyers. She adds they are currently in need of volunteers to build sets, keep the theater clean, and work with fundraising and grant writing. “Not everyone wants to be on the stage, but all the other pieces are necessary in order for us to make the kind of impression that we want to make in the community,” Bane says.

Celebration Arts is located at 4469 D Street in East Sacramento. For more information, call 916-455-2787 or visit www.celebrationarts.net.

While the drenching rains of early December left many in our area perturbed, the problem was more pronounced for members of East Sacramento who saw storm drains overflow or in some cases not drain at all, causing spontaneous lakes to sprout in residential areas.

The flooding of several areas on Dec. 2 brought to the forefront the problem of unsatisfactory storm drains and sewer lines in East Sacramento, according to the McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association (MENA).

According to Deane Dana, President of MENA, the storm caused not only the overflow of excess rainwater, but also a backflow of sewers into people’s water.

“East Sacramento used to have a combined sewer/drain system (and may still in some areas),” Dana said in an email. “This resulted in overflow and backflow issues and also left neighborhoods with combined systems with contaminated water in homes and yards.”

In order to fix the problem faced by numerous East Sacramento residents, MENA hopes to meet soon with city officials, including councilman Steve Cohn, city engineers and the city manager to begin discussing a massive re-engineering process for the area’s drains. The meeting has been requested with the city officials, but a date had not been set as of press time.

The replacing of storm drains across the entire affected area would be a very expensive process, according to Dana, and the project is expected to take place over a “10 or 20-year period” if approved, according to MENA.

Dana said that the drainage system is just too old to function properly anymore.

“I am aware of active flooding for over 30 years from 39th Street to McKinley Park,” said Dana.

This area runs adjacent to Burns Slough, which according to Dana collects large amounts of excess water and leaves during particularly lengthy downpours. The slough is another area of concern to Dana because it “was the path that the great flood of the 1800s took in inundating downtown Sacramento. The topography hasn’t changed a bit. It is a good example of homes being built without adequate safeguards or in the wrong place.”

Dana said that many homes along the slough route experienced basement flooding, home flooding, or were “surrounded by a running stream” on Dec. 2. Compounding the problem was the failure of a water main beneath D Street on Jan. 5.

“Persons experiencing flood damage have been encouraged to contact councilman Cohn’s office concerning damage claim forms,” said Dana.

“This is clearly a problem of deferred maintenance of our aging infrastructure. A plan needs to be implemented and shared with city residents,” said Dana.

He also shared that residents feel local government has been dismissive of the problem.

“We’re trying to open the dialogue (with city officials),” said Dana. “I’ve been involved in three years of active discussion.”

Dana hopes that rather than allowing the building of new homes in active flood zones, the city will work to fix the flooding problem itself.

Every winter, starting in late November and early December, massive amounts of citrus fruit begin to show themselves on front yard and backyard trees throughout Sacramento.  Lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges and kumquats all begin turning from their “hidden” dark green color towards ripeness.  For most people in our area, even with the color change, this amazing food source is still hidden in plain sight—grocery stores and farmers markets sell massive amounts of this same fruit, while our truly “local” fruit falls to the ground to rot.

Soil Born Farms’ Harvest Sacramento has been organizing neighborhood residents for the past four years to not only help people see this fruit, but to harvest the fruit and distribute it to local food assistance agencies like Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.

In 2012 alone, over 53,000 pounds of fruit was harvested and donated with the help of 800-plus volunteers.

Mary McGrath, one of the East Sacramento home owners who initially started the project idea mentions,  “When I went to the gym, I got some exercise, but when I went out to pick, I got some exercise, and a huge pile of oranges to share, plus the good smell of oranges on my hands.”
One of the goals for this coming citrus season is to have neighborhood-based teams help coordinate the harvesting activities in the areas where they live.  Harvest Sacramento received a large donation of harvesting tools, so teams can have access to their own set.  In addition to tools, Harvest Sacramento will provide training, outreach materials and staffing support to help get teams started.  “This can start with one motivated individual, a student community service project, a family or a neighborhood association and at any scale.  There is no one right way to do it.  It is easy, fun and has tangible results” said Randy Stannard, Harvest Sacramento Project Coordinator.

Volunteers of all ages and abilities can provide meaningful contributions.  Harvest Sacramento is as interested in bringing people together and building community relationships as they are in harvesting fruit.

Randy Stannard added, “We don’t just need people to get up on ladders and pick fruit.   We can always use volunteers who like to enter data, organize and help with the coordination efforts via computer and phone.  We need people to walk neighborhoods and find trees to harvest, photographers, videographers, bloggers, and cooks to make food for post-event meals.  Young kids can help move buckets and sort fruit…we need people to drive vehicles.  Everybody can help—that is the beauty of it!”

In addition to volunteers, the project is still looking for more fruit trees to harvest.  Harvests take place year-round, so while they are looking for citrus to harvest this winter, they are also looking for stone fruit, apples, pears, figs, pomegranates, and persimmons.  They are willing to pick up pre-harvested fruit and vegetables as well.  It is easy to offer fruit from your tree or garden—they have an online form on their website or give a phone call or email to Harvest Sacramento.

For more information visit www.soilborn.org/harvestsacramento or contact Randy Stannard, stannard@soilborn.org or (530) 204-8082.

Jan Wilson, a local homeless advocate who is known by many people as “the extra layer of clothing lady,” has recently received the support of several East Sacramento businesses.
Last week, Wilson, who is a fifth generation Sacramentan, approached these businesses with her hope that they would assist her in a new project.
Wilson, who has dedicated herself to collecting and distributing cast-off clothing and blankets for the homeless for nearly 12 years, has launched a drive to collect different sizes of unwanted, viable men’s, women’s and children’s shoes and all sizes of gently used socks.
The East Sacramento businesses, which have agreed to assist with this new project include: Allstate Insurance at 4765 J St., Socal’s Tavern at 5200 Folsom Blvd., Club Raven at 3246 J St., Guitar Workshop at 3248 J St. and Kerrie Kellie Design Lab at 3252 J St.
Also assisting with this project is St. Philomene Catholic Church at 2428 Bell St., the XO Lounge at 1400 Broadway, Brownie’s Lounge at 5858 South Land Park Drive and the Pocket Club at 5043 Freeport Blvd.
With the exception of Guitar Workshop and Kerrie Kellie Design Lab, which are promoting Wilson’s project, all of these aforementioned businesses, as well as St. Philomene Catholic Church, are serving as shoe collection drop-off points.
The shoe collection project will assist the homeless through the homeless survival private charity Loaves & Fishes at 1321 North C St., Union Gospel Mission at 400 Bannon St. and St. John’s Shelter for women and children at 4410 Power Inn Road.
Collections for this project will be received through Dec. 31.
In a meeting with the East Sacramento News last week, Wilson explained how she became involved in assisting Sacramento’s homeless.
“After being approached by so many panhandlers and not having enough money to help them all, I decided to use my God-given talents as a promoter and organizer to glean donations from the public,” Wilson said. “I know a lot of homeless people, some of them I went to school with. We all need to assist one another in this world. I am very blessed in life and I want to give back and this is the way that I can.”
Although Wilson receives no monetary compensations for assisting the homeless, she said that she is rewarded for her efforts in other ways.
“The rewards for me doing this are two-fold,” Wilson said. “First is the knowledge that someone has some relief from the cold and now they know that people out there care. And the other is the raising of the social conscious among the people that have supported my efforts throughout the years. I love it when they tell me that they literally gave the coat off of their back to someone in need or when a bartender lets me know that the ‘person in need’ came by to pick up a pair of tennies and the bartender says it gave them the ‘warm fuzzies.’ Bartenders never say ‘warm fuzzies.’”
Bill Farrell, owner of Socal’s Tavern, said that he decided to become involved with Wilson’s project after he was approached by one of his friends.
“There’s a mutual friend (Deb McGee, daytime bartender of the XO Lounge) that we know that mentioned that Jan was willing to step up and try to do some good work and she wanted to know if we could use my location as a drop-off point,” Farrell said.
Farrell, who was quick to allow a shoe collection drop-off point to be located at his business, said, “There’s definitely a need (to collect shoes for the homeless). It’s great when people step up to do that work. (Wilson is) willing to step up and do the good work, and it’s always great to help out the people who are willing to do the yeamon’s work. It helps all of us.”
Farrell is no newcomer to helping others in need, as his business is already a drop-off point for used sporting goods for St. John’s Shelter.
Amanda Malmstrom, agency manager at Allstate Insurance, said that Allstate Insurance is also proud to be serving as a drop-off location for Wilson’s project.
“We’re lucky to be a part of (the project), because we, as well, are interested in helping people who are less fortunate than we are, and I think it’s a great thing to do,” Malmstrom said.
Dave Lynch, owner of the Guitar Workshop, said that he enjoys assisting projects to give people a “hand up” in life.
“Everyone at some point in their life is going to need a hand up and it could be any one of us,” Lynch said. “I would only hope that someone would offer that to me the way that I would offer it to them. If I could give someone a hand up, not a hand out, then we want to do that. In order for us to survive, we need to survive as a team, not as just individuals doing our thing. It’s really a group effort.”
Although Wilson has taken on her shoe collection project, she has no plan to relinquish her role as “the extra layer of clothing lady.”
“After nearly 12 years of assisting the homeless by providing them with extra layers of clothing and blankets, I have no choice, but to keep collecting these items due to the fact that people are always asking me if I’m still collecting clothes and I can’t say, ‘No.’” It’s the equivalent of a runaway train and I am the conductor,” Wilson said.
For additional information about Wilson’s shoe collection project, call (916) 30-GIVER (304-4837).

On Monday, December 10, Sutter Medical Plaza/Sacramento in East Sacramento will be the location for a breastmilk donation drive to educate mothers about breastmilk donating and help get interested mothers registered as donors.

“The main intent of the drive is to get moms to come up and be able to register on the spot,” adds Heather Conway, president of the Breastfeeding Coalition of Greater Sacramento, who is running the donation drive.

The drive benefits the Mothers’ Milk Bank in San Jose, which according to the Bank’s Outreach Specialist Emily Katz, is one of only 13 nonprofit, public-serving milk banks in the country and has been providing milk banking services to infants and children in 73 hospitals across 13 states for the past 38 years.

However, Katz says Mothers’ Milk Bank is currently experiencing a shortage in donated breastmilk due to more people – including the medical system – learning about breastmilk and its benefits for infants, and the donor pool not keeping pace with an increase in demand.

“Over the past year, the number of families seeking milk has greatly accelerated, and the number of generous moms coming into the pipeline of donors has not kept pace,” she says. “A milk drive like this is the perfect way to get the word out to lots of moms who could be potential donors of milk all at the same time.”

Close to Home
According to Katz, in 2011 alone, Mothers’ Milk Bank provided over 350,000 ounces of donor milk to infants and children who mothers could not do so on their own. “For some, this is the only source of nutrition that allows them to grow and develop without allergic symptoms that they may otherwise get with formula,” she adds.

One of those hospitals is Sutter Medical Center in East Sacramento. According to Kate Risingsun, RN, IBCLC, Regional Lactation Services & parent education manager at Sutter Medical Center, the Center spends a few thousands of dollars on purchasing donated milk from the Bank each year for their NICU. “It’s now considered to be an important clinical need for NICU babies to have mother’s milk, and if that is not available from their own mother for all kinds of reasons, we purchase banked milk for them because it’s the most important food and protection that they can have,” she explains.

When Andrea Sandoval of Yuba City was having her baby at Sutter Medical Center in August, she ended up depending on banked breastmilk for her baby for six weeks when her own supply was not enough to support her baby’s needs.

Sandoval says she was thankful there was an option to get her baby the breastmilk he needed. “It makes it so that they’re used to the breastmilk and not get used to formula,” she explains. “The breastmilk is much healthier, so it’s definitely beneficial for the baby.”

Risingsun says Sutter is happy to support Mothers’ Milk Bank as they know many times they struggle to meet the demands for donor milk. And they also encourage mothers at Sutter to donate if they can, even if its only a few ounces as she says 3 ounces of donated milk will feed a premature baby nine times. “So even a few ounces of donated milk goes a really long way to help a NICU baby,” Risingsun adds.

How It Works
So how does donating breastmilk work?

Katz says for mothers interested in donating milk, it’s a three-step process that includes a pre-screening interview, followed by an intake packet that needs to be filled out. The packet includes an extensive medical history and a call to a prospective donor’s doctor. Then if a mother passes both of those, they are then referred to a lab for a blood test.

The Sacramento donation drive helps move this process along, Katz says, as prospective donors can come in for a pre-screening interview and fill out the medical history. Plus interested mothers will have the opportunity to ask questions of staff from the Mothers’ Milk Bank.

Once a mother is cleared to become a milk donor, Katz says they are given pre-paid, pre-labeled shipping coolers to ship frozen milk directly to the Bank. Then the donated milk is tested and pasteurized, “and then get it right back out the door to a family who is urgently waiting for it,” she adds.

However, soon milk donors in Sacramento will have the option to drop off their donation at one of the depots being set up by the Breastfeeding Coalition. Conway says the first such depot is scheduled to open at the Sutter Medical Lactation Station in East Sacramento by December 10, with more planned to option in the area. She says donor mothers can bring either fresh or frozen milk donations to the depot, which is then collected by depot staff and shipped to the Bank.

“Moms can have the opportunity to bring in 2 ounces or 200 ounces – it doesn’t matter because the depots will collect it and when they get enough of it, they’ll send it to the milk bank,” Conway adds.

Spreading the Word
Conway hopes the donation drive will help spread the word about breastmilk donation,  and “get moms approved so that even if they don’t have the milk in their freezer now but some day would like to donate, they can already be approved and they can bring their milk in when they have it.”

Katz agrees, and adds it gives mothers in Sacramento an opportunity to help those infants who are most at risk in their community. “Sacramento is such a wonderfully charitable-minded and generous community for many years, … we’re very excited that Sacramento is stepping up to explore this new realm of giving and generosity,” she says.

And as a mother who depended on donated breastmilk for her own baby, Sandoval stresses the importance of letting mothers there is a need and a way they can help. “It really helps people like me who really wanted to breastfeed their baby, but couldn’t – it really helps out,” she says.

The Breastmilk Donation Drive will take place Monday, December 10 from 10am-3pm at the Sutter Medical Plaza/Sacramento, 1625 Stockton Blvd. Donors do not have to bring a milk donation with them to the drive, but they can if they wish to. For information, call 916-261-5683, or visit sacbreastfeeding.org or www.sanjosemilkbank.com.

Forty-one years ago, Mary Kennedy asked her daughters if they would like to open an antique shop. After all, back then, trinkets and collectibles started coming to her parents’ farm home in Oregon, filling up the place. Then and there, on daughter Tricia’s 19th birthday it was decided to open a business in Antique Row. After all, they had the goods and the passion for collecting to get started. Since then, Mary and Tricia have kept the dream of sharing their love of antiques alive even though they’ve had to downsize over the years.

With Tricia working for the State full time, Mary has had the duty of greeting customers inside their little shop. Always a smile on her face and a story to tell, Mary graces the little corner shop, Kennedy’s Collectibles. By “corner” they don’t mean on the corner of the street. No, the shop is inside the 57th St. Antique Mall, at 875 57th St. Tucked toward the back of the mall, you will find Mary and she will tell you how much she loves some of the items in her store.

“Sometimes I take things up to the desk and I have to tell it goodbye … It could be those two pieces back there … I like those,” she said pointing at an old vase and basket, which dates back to the late 1800s or early 1900s. “If they go up to the desk, I will probably have to give them a hug and a kiss.”

When the two started the business, they began with their own shop across the street from where they currently are, and were there for a number of years before moving to Town and Country Village on the corner of Fulton and Marconi. With all the moving, over time they specialized more in newer products, but when they moved back to Antique Row, antiques took center stage once again.

Tricia said they’ve tended to sell popular products even if they wouldn’t collect them for their own collection. “Because it is a business, you have to have what people are looking for. We had to make changes,” Tricia said, noting that even though they’ve downsized over the years, they are happy to have stayed in business this long.

The store carries a selection of items from Christmas plates and ornaments to antique vases and dolls by names like Precious Moments, Jim Shore, Lori Mitchell and Disney.

Tricia said when Thomas Kinkade first came on the market, Kennedy’s sold a lot of his plates. “Norman Rockwell’s plates were popular for a long time too, but the younger generation doesn’t relate to him anymore. That’s just how things go. Things go in cycles and his stuff hasn’t been that popular anymore.

Ask them to tell you the back-story behind artists they carry, Mary will tell you about their lives before and after they’ve reached commercial popularity. For instance, she loves the story behind Precious Moments artist Sam Butcher. “He lived up near Redding,” she said. “He had five children and no money. But he had talent. Once he started doing his Precious Moments, believe me, they sold. And now he has a resort in Missouri … It’s just beautiful.”

She said over the years, they’ve had many repeat customers who have brought new customers with word of mouth advertising. With Christmas around the corner, they hope business will pick up soon because it’s been rather slow lately.

Asked what it’s like to work together, Mary said: “We found out that she’s boss at one time and I’m boss at the next time.” And Tricia added: “We’ve managed to stay pretty civil with each other.”

Elite runners braved the rain and wind at this year’s California International Marathon, which was held on Sunday, Dec. 2. The race started at Folsom Lake and ended at the state Capitol.  The CIM is Boston Marathon qualifier and an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. See runcim.org for results and more information.

About 28,000 people participated in the 19th annual “Run to Feed the Hungry” for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Elite runners, average joggers and walkers participated in the 5K and 10K events. Last year, 26,825 people participated on the event’s first rainy day. This year, over 28,000 participants ran on a beautiful Thanksgiving Day. The event raises funds to support six Food Bank programs.

Curtis Park resident Michael Neumann is a deep gentleman of many talents.
Neumann is the artistic director and conductor for both the Sacramento Youth Symphony and the Folsom Symphony.
For the past nine years, the latter symphony has grown in quality to the delight of audiences throughout the region. Musicians from the symphony hail from every neighborhood in Sacramento: Pocket-Greenhaven, Land Park, Arden, East Sacramento and elsewhere.
Neumann puts a great deal of time into considering each work the symphony will perform. A fine artist himself, he carefully develops concerts of depth and complexity that delight both the newcomer and the jaded audiophile.
This December’s winter concerts are a perfect case in point. The Folsom Symphony will host two holiday concerts that will gladden hearts on Dec. 15 and Dec. 16. The repertoire for “Of Fate & Joy” ranges from contemplative to festive to joyous.
According to Webster’s Common School Dictionary of 1892, “fate” is considered to be “a decree; (an) inevitable necessity…supposed by the ancients to determine the course of human life.”
Few would argue that, in its strictest definition, all mortal life is “fated” to have a beginning and an end. Not a jot can be changed about it. Somber, indeed.
Between those fixed points in time are all the things that go into life: good and evil, happiness and sadness.
And that, according to the sages, is where mere mortals have true power and freedom. Because happiness is a choice humans can make along the way.
Composers and poets throughout the ages struggled with these weighty matters. Many chose “Joy” as a personal statement of faith, and as a testimony to freely choosing the good in life. Such choices, they felt, bring out the best in the human spirit. They are heroic.
Appropriately enough, the concerts kick off with Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Fidelio Overture.” First performed in 1805 Vienna, this opera was risky, given Beethoven’s political outlook. After all, the Napoleonic Wars were scarcely two years old. “Fidelio” musically tells a tale of personal sacrifice, heroism and eventual triumph…with an underlying struggle for liberty and justice. Ludwig could have lost his head – literally.
Next on the program is George Frederic Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks.” A secular piece of music, it was commissioned by England’s King George II to celebrate a great hope for peace: the 1749 signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle. The music is Handel at his most spectacular.
The treaty? It didn’t quite pan out the way the crowned heads of Europe had hoped. Little was accomplished in the end. Fate stepped in.
The evening continues with powerful works by Rimsky-Korsakov (“Capriccio Espagnol”), Brahms (“Schicksalslied,” accompanied by the Folsom High School Chamber Singers), Johann Strauss Sr. (“Radetzky March”) and his son (“Tritsch Tratsch Polka”). Popular composer Leroy Anderson’s work “Christmas Festival” will put audiences in the holiday mood.
Handel makes another appearance with his magnificent work from “Messiah” – the “Hallelujah” chorus.
Happiness, it is said, is not a destination. It is something one encounters along the way. One can choose to be joyful, or to be otherwise. In celebration of this fact, each member of the audience is invited to sing along to traditional carols near the conclusion of each concert.
Webster’s little dictionary from 1892 defines “joy” as “gladness, delight, exultation…bliss.” Intangible delights that the Folsom Symphony and Neumann specialize in every December.
“Of Fate & Joy” will be performed two days only, on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. Performances are held at Folsom Lake College’s Three Stages Theater. Get your tickets soon…these concerts sell out every year. Call (916) 916-608-6888 or visit  www.threestages.net. Also visit  www.folsomsymphony.com.