Santa Rosa Symphony raises $112,000 for fire relief

The Santa Rosa Symphony presented, with support from Sonoma State University, a free, fire relief benefit concert on November 20, 2017 at the Green Music Center, drawing 1,300 attendees and raising $112,000 to benefit those affected by the recent firestorm.

This event brought together all of the Symphony’s living Music Directors, likely for the last time. These conductors represent the last sixty years of the 90-year-old Symphony, since its formative years with founding Music Director George Trombley. Current Santa Rosa Symphony Music Director Bruno Ferrandis led the orchestra, joined by Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane on piano for Beethoven’s Concerto No. 1 in C major, Opus 15. Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brown conducted the opening Star Spangled Banner and “Nimrod” from Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

The program also included Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Opus 55, Eroica.

President and CEO Alan Silow said, “Such an outpouring of support and extraordinary performance by our orchestra and three music directors produced an evening we will all remember.”

The atmosphere was electric with community spirit as people enjoyed the concert and, in fact, cheered the arrival on stage of each of the conductors, eliciting an encore performance from Jeffrey Kahane of America the Beautiful.

The conductors, musicians, stage and production crews, staff and ushers all donated their time and talents for this tremendously well-received event, ensuring that all the donations would go to fire relief. The donations received are being distributed to the following funds:

Redwood Credit Union’s North Bay Fire Relief Fund

Community Foundation Sonoma County’s Sonoma County Resilience Fund

Sonoma State University’s Noma Gives