The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society is ringing with excitement for two reasons this month. The first is because it will soon perform its first-ever Christmas concert; the second is because the concert likely wouldn’t have been possible save for a $250,000 bequest.
The Philharmonic, in addition to its subscription concert series, also provides the local music van and Peter and the Wolf student outreach programs. This year, however, the organization found itself facing $43,000 in debt.
“We decided if worse came to worse, we’d cancel the subscription series, refund subscribers’ money, and hang on to the children’s outreach programs,” said George Majoue, the society’s executive director.
The Philharmonic didn’t want to go down without a fight, though. The group focused on raising money through an appeal to supporters and through a monthly mixer fundraiser series. The donations that came in helped, but barely made a dent. Then, just weeks ago, Majoue opened an envelope and found a quarter-million-dollar unrestricted bequest.
The money easily paid for the organization’s debt and provided it with enough money to continue with its programs, although Majoue said there wouldn’t be any additional spending.
“This is rebuilding money,” he explained. “We’re going to go forward raising money and acting like it’s not there. This is a good opportunity for the Philharmonic to rebuild and get ahead.”
That surprise makes the upcoming Christmas concert all the sweeter. Majoue said ever since he became executive director of the Philharmonic five years ago, he’s wanted to present a Christmas concert. So in what will become an annual performance, the Philharmonic and Maestro John Farrer will present a “Holiday Fantasy Concert.” During preparations, Majoue was developing a big vision.
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to add choral voices?’” he said.
So, after some organizing, the concert became a blend of the Philharmonic and a 46-piece orchestra, combining choir members from the Righetti High School Madrigals, Coastal Voices, and the Hancock College Choir.
In all, the concert will include 106 performers.
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“My stage manager said, ‘How am I going to get them all on the stage?’ and I said, ‘I’m sure you’ll think of a way, that’s why you’re the stage manager,’ so it’s going to be really something,” Majoue said.
The first half of the program will include the “Overture to Hansel and Gretel,” “Fantasia on Greensleeves,” “Sleigh Ride,” “White Christmas,” “The Night Before Christmas,” and “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker. The second half will highlight the individual choral groups, culminating in the combined chorus with the Philharmonic Orchestra presenting Shaw/Bennett’s “The Many Moods of Christmas, Suite 1.”
“We are all just so excited about the opportunity to present this beautiful Christmas concert,” Majoue said.
The Philharmonic will also be able to provide an extra Christmas bonus thanks to the generosity of a Woods Family Foundation Grant. A working matinee rehearsal of the “Holiday Fantasy Concert” is scheduled the afternoon of the performance and is free to the public. Majoue said because it’s a working rehearsal, the order in which the music is presented may not be the same as during the evening’s performance, and there may be stopping and starting of music midstream to perfect the show. Opening it up to the public, however, allows more access to people who might not be able to make it to the evening performance.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone thinks it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 1-8, 2011.
