Under the leadership of music director and conductor Jerome Kessler, the Topanga Symphony gave a special concert on Sunday evening, June 8, supported by a generous grant from the Backhus Foundation of San Rafael, California.
The guest artist was dramatic soprano Mani Mekler, who has appeared in most of the opera houses in Europe. She sang arias by Puccini and Alfredo Catalani, captivating the audience with her strong voice and emotionally stirring performance. After a standing ovation she performed an encore—”Summertime" by George Gershwin.
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PHOTOS BY BRAD MERVILLE 
Soprano Mani Mekler captivated the audience of the Topanga Symphony on June 8. |
A masterful performance of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture was followed by Haydn’s delightful Sinfonia Concertante for violin, cello, oboe and bassoon. Jerome Kessler played the cello part in this work, passing the conductor’s baton to guest conductor Barry Brisk. The program also included “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,?by Claude Debussy and the playful “Toy Symphony?by Leopold Mozart, the father of Wolfgang Amadeus. For this piece the regular musicians were joined by Rikki Green, playing the triangle, and Michele Acker, playing the nightingale whistle.
The Backhus Foundation was established in 1998 with the purpose of supporting the arts, education, history and preservation. This grant makes it possible for the Topanga Symphony to present four free concerts this year instead of the usual three. Six officers of the Backhus Foundation came to Topanga to be present on this occasion, including the Foundation’s president Stephen E. Backhus, who received a hearty round of applause from the audience.
Barry Brisk was guest conductor while conductor and cellist Kessler joined the orchestra for Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante. |
Symphony president Jack Smith announced that the Symphony’s sister orchestra, the Topanga Philharmonic, had planned a concert for May 3, but that this had to be cancelled due to rain and could not be rescheduled. He said copies of the TPO program for the May 3 concert were available in the hall for those who would like to know what had been planned for that event.