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by Nina Beckwith FEATURED UCSF ARTIST | NINA'S ARTS NOTES 1st appeared 8 September 1998 Correction: Opera in the Park free concert starts at 1:30 not 2, in Sharon Meadow near the east end of Golden Gate Park. Famous opera stars make this a great festive afternoon not to miss. Stephen Paulson -- UCSF's New Music Man Stephen Paulson is the kind of musician who will never rest on his laurels but keeps growing and exploring and enlarging his scope. His latest steps are taking him to the stage of Cole Hall as soloist in the inaugural program of the new Chancellor's Concert Series on October 15, and to the podium as the UCSF Orchestra's new conductor. Its first concert of the season will be a month later, on November 14.
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument whose sound is deeper than those of the clarinet or the oboe; it requires a double reed or thin, precisely shaped mouth-piece through which the player blows. Whether in jolly rippling runs or mournful far-away calls, it is very difficult to play. When Paulson was in high school on Long Island, not far from New York City, the familiar band instruments and also less usual ones, such as the bassoon, were made available to the kids as a regular part of music in the school. "Public school music was the greatest thing that ever happened to me," Paulson says. "Looking back now, I see how lucky I was and how unlucky the whole country is now that these programs are missing from so many public schools." This lucky bassoonist is now the father of three sons and is working to expand music in the schools of Corte Madera, where he and his family live. "If we're going to keep audiences alive and growing for future generations," he believes, "it will take more than just hearing the instruments -- and in many places kids don't even get to that point. There's no substitute for trying them yourself, getting to feel what it's like to play in a group with others. Someone who has had that experience is much more likely in later life to attend a concert and appreciate at least the rudiments of what's happening onstage. And that is essential for our culture." About ten years ago, Paulson got interested in conducting and began with small ensembles at the Conservatory. "That felt OK, but I never thought I'd have the nerve to get in front of a symphony orchestra," he recalls. "Then I got a call from Seth Montfort, who runs the SF Concerto Orchestra, and suddenly found myself conducting Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with a whole orchestra. And from then on I've kept doing more and more. "The main part of conducting is musicianship, though you do have to learn certain techniques. Some of the conductors we see at the SF Symphony are not obvious virtuosos in terms of great stick-waving technique but the musicians recognize it when the conductor has a clear rhythmic pulse and a sense of musicality, knowing what to do, knowing what not to do, getting behind the impulse of the music. That's the kind of conductor I'm striving to be." Paulson's big break came during the Symphony strike 18 months ago when various orchestra members put on concerts elsewhere because "we wanted to play and people wanted to hear us." Paulson organized and conducted a sold-out concert in Mill Valley of music by Copland, Mozart, and Beethoven which was favorably reviewed. "It was an unfortunate time and I happened to benefit from it," he says. "Not that I would ever choose to have that happen again. A week later, the strike was settled." The Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony will be on the UCSF Orchestra's November 14 program, along with Bach's First Brandenberg Concerto and the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, to be performed in St. Gregory's Church on Potrero Hill and repeated on Sunday afternoon, November 15th, in the Millberry Gymnasium. Paulson is convinced that "you can take a piece as frequently performed as the Tchaikovsky Fourth and explore ways to freshen it and bring it to new people, even some members of our UCSF Orchestra who have never played it." The new season will see a number of former UCSF Orchestra members returning. "And quite a few new people have come with their violins and cellos," Paulson says, "and they play very well for non-professionals and have a level of musical ability which will be inspiring but not intimidating to the other players." Right now, anyone who plays a stringed instrument at the appropriate level for the Orchestra and wants to audition should call Paulson at 415/924-2458 or email PAUL458@aol.com "I'm very excited about this opportunity and about the UCSF Orchestra. I would like to see the Orchestra truly become an institution of the University," Paulson says. "Many things are still up in the air: what kind of sound we can make, whether I can push the Orchestra up to the next level without professional musicians and without making people in any way uncomfortable who come and volunteer their time to rehearse and play. That's my challenge." Who Were the Thracians? From buried objects and Greek writings -- the Thracians had no written language of their own -- we have learned that the ancient Thracians of the southern Balkan peninsula were renowned horsemen, warriors, goldsmiths, and silversmiths. From the fabulous exhibition at the Legion of Honor until October 11, Ancient Gold: The Wealth of the Thracians, Treasures from the Republic of Bulgaria, we learn that the Thracians produced the first gold found on earth known to be worked by human hands and that they fashioned objects of marvelous beauty and elegance. The hundreds of artifacts in this show, mostly of gold and silver, date from 4000 B.C. until 400 A.D. and many have been brought to light during the last 70 years accidentally by farmers and fishermen, and purposefully by government archaeologists. One simply stands agape at the mastery of metalworking revealed in the 13 vessels of 24K gold, weighing some 28 pounds and dating from 1500 B.C., which comprise the Vulchitrun Treasure. And at a gold-stemmed laurel wreath, undoubtedly from royal insignia, with tiny golden berries and veining in its leaves of delicate, almost diaphanous gold. Several of the gold and silver gilt rhytons, ceremonial drinking vessels, have handles in the shapes of centaurs so exquisitely made that hoof markings and even eyelashes are visible. According to the Greeks, Thrace was the birthplace of Ares, god of war, of Orpheus, who brought music into the world, and of Midas, the king whose touch turned everything to gold. This wonderful show makes it easy to believe the legends. The Legion of Honor is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and Clement. Pleasant restaurant for lunch which is served until 3:30 p.m. Admission free second Wednesday of the month. * * * * * For 18 years, San Francisco Performances has consistently earned accolades for the high artistic quality of its presentations, both of big-name performers and of less familiar and innovative artists and groups Bay Area audiences would not otherwise have the chance to see and hear. The l998-99 season carries on this tradition. It begins with a new Sunday morning series of six concerts featuring SF Performances' Quartet-in-Residence, the Alexander String Quartet, playing the complete Beethoven String Quartets. First concert is Sunday morning, September 13, at 11 a.m. at the Cowell Theater, on the Bay at Fort Mason Center. Subsequent dates are October 4 and 11, November 22, December 6, and January 10. The series will be introduced by composer Robert Greenberg on Saturday, September 12 at 2 p.m. with a lecture entitled "The Beethoven Quartets: A Musical Diary," also at the Cowell Theater. Fort Mason Center is at Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard. Plenty of free parking; MUNI bus #28 comes to the door. Lecture tickets are $15, concerts $25 each, available at City Box Office, 153 Kearny Street. To charge by phone call 392-4400. Full series, including lecture, is $120. In October, SF Performances brings the hottest French choreographer since Roland Petit and Maurice BŽjart to town when Anjelin Preljocaj and his company Ballet Preljocaj give four performances at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater. Guitar master Manuel Barrueco; violinists Midori and Joshua Bell; the Arditti Quartet with pianist Ursula Oppens; cellist Lynn Harrell; the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis, conductor; Ruth Ann Swenson and Dawn Upshaw, sopranos; Rodney Gilfry, baritone; the Paul Taylor Dance Company -- just a few more of the artists in this terrific season. Many of the concerts are in Civic Center at the Herbst Theatre or Davies Hall. SF Performances lets you make your own subscription series of six or more different events. For season brochure, subscriptions, and ticket orders, call 392-2545; fax 398-6439; email sfperf@aol.com * * * * * 100,000 BOOKS -- new and used -- go on sale at giveaway prices during the Friends of the (SF Public) Library Annual Book Sale at Fort Mason Center (see above for directions) starting Thursday, September 10, through Sunday, September 13. Weekend hours are 10 to 6 and admission is free. With City Arts & Lectures, the Friends of the Library also present the fascinating Literary Lecture series at the Herbst Theatre. The first talk, by Charles Frazier, author of the bestseller Cold Mountain, is sold out but some tickets may be turned in at the last minute on September 16. Writers in the series include Tim O'Brien, author of several fine books based on the Vietnam war, on September 23; essayist and humor writer Ian Frazier on October 14; novelist Margaret Drabble on October 21, and sportswriter Richard Ford on October 29. November brings Israeli novelist David Grossman on the 10th; Derek Walcott, poet and playwright, on the l9th; on December 1 a conversation with Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking, and Orville Schell; Tom Wolfe brings The Right Stuff on December 7, and on December 9 the speaker is Alice Munro, author of superb short stories. All events begin at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call City Box Office, 153 Kearny Street, 392-4400. Single tickets are $16, series is $140 or $130 if you're a Friends member. |
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The laurels are there for all to see: for 21 years Paulson has
occupied a highly prestigious position in the professional American music world as
principal bassoon of the San Francisco Symphony. He has also taught for two decades at the
SF Conservatory of Music. Before coming here, he was appointed by conductor William
Steinberg as principal bassoon of the Pittsburgh Symphony. And before his seven-year stint
there, he had succeeded his teacher at the Eastman School of Music in the principal
bassoonist's chair of the Rochester Philharmonic.