FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bellflower Symphony To Present Annual Free Summer Concert
LOS ANGELES, CA - August 15, 2005 - The Bellflower Symphony Association will present its annual free summer concert on Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 7:00 p.m., with Joseph R. Taylor, Conductor. The concert will be held at Ruth
Caruthers Park Patio, 10500 Flora Vista, Bellflower, California.
This Year's Theme is "For the Children." The program will include selections from Disney Magic, E.T., The Music Man, Harry Potter, Hook, Miss Saigon, and Return of the Jedi.
Also on the program will be "Concerto for Theremin and Orchestra" composed by Benjamin Harris and featuring Charlie Lester, Thereminist.
The symphony's annual baton auction will be held during intermission. Concertgoers please bring beach or park chairs to supplement the limited seating. Refreshments will be available, including a Bake Sale sponsored by the Women's
Club of Bellflower.
Thank You to Supervisor Don Knabe, Fourth District, for Funding this concert.
THE BELLFLOWER SYMPHONY was founded in 1968 by Geza Szabo, a European-trained Hungarian musician who immigrated to the United States from Hungary during World War II. He served as Conductor of the Symphony until his death in 1991. Joseph R.
Taylor, who had been the Assistant Conductor under Szabo, took over as Conductor and has served ever since. In the early years, the Symphony performed in the Cerritos College Auditorium and then later in the auditorium at Simms Park.
In 1983 they moved into a new auditorium built as part of Bellflower's new City Hall. The annual free outdoor summer concerts have been part of the Orchestra's concert series from the very beginning.
JOSEPH R. TAYLOR, a native of Compton, California, has been Music Director and Conductor of the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra since 1992. His specialty is strings and he plays
the violin, viola and cello. He has also conducted the Palos Verdes Peninsula Symphony, played with the Los Angeles String Quartet, and is active with the Wildwood Music Camps.
Formerly a teacher in the Los Angeles School District for many years, he is now teaching privately in the Los Angeles area.
BENJAMIN HARRIS, a native of Los Angeles, California, is 16 years old and has already shown great promise as a composer. He is currently attending High School at the Hamilton Music
Academy and studying composition under Mark Carlson at UCLA and Santa Monica College. Benjamin has been composing for various instruments and ensembles since he was 10 years old. In addition to composing, he is studying the oboe and piano. This particular piece for the theremin was produced at the request of Vance Miller, Music Department Director for the
Hamilton Symphony Orchestra.
CHARLIE LESTER, a native of Durham, North Carolina, has performed on the theremin across the country and in Germany for concerts and recitals, film and television scores, recordings, live television appearances, musical theatre,
lecture-demonstrations and workshops. In Los Angeles, he has played at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Disney Concert Hall; the Grand Performances series at California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles; University of California San Diego; Los Angeles City College; and in recitals with renowned organist Fred Swann at the Crystal Cathedral and First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.
THE THEREMIN, invented in 1917 by Russian scientist Leon Theremin, is an amazing and unique electronic musical instrument that the performer plays without actually touching, but instead by moving his hands in the air -around- the instrument.
For more information:
Bellflower Symphony Association
Dorothy Westrup, President
P.O. Box 256
Bellflower, CA 90707
562-867-5980
Charlie Lester, Thereminist
http://www.137.com/theremins
Bellflower Symphony To Present Annual Free Summer Concert
LOS ANGELES, CA - August 15, 2005 - The Bellflower Symphony Association will present its annual free summer concert on Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 7:00 p.m., with Joseph R. Taylor, Conductor. The concert will be held at Ruth
Caruthers Park Patio, 10500 Flora Vista, Bellflower, California.
This Year's Theme is "For the Children." The program will include selections from Disney Magic, E.T., The Music Man, Harry Potter, Hook, Miss Saigon, and Return of the Jedi.
Also on the program will be "Concerto for Theremin and Orchestra" composed by Benjamin Harris and featuring Charlie Lester, Thereminist.
The symphony's annual baton auction will be held during intermission. Concertgoers please bring beach or park chairs to supplement the limited seating. Refreshments will be available, including a Bake Sale sponsored by the Women's
Club of Bellflower.
Thank You to Supervisor Don Knabe, Fourth District, for Funding this concert.
THE BELLFLOWER SYMPHONY was founded in 1968 by Geza Szabo, a European-trained Hungarian musician who immigrated to the United States from Hungary during World War II. He served as Conductor of the Symphony until his death in 1991. Joseph R.
Taylor, who had been the Assistant Conductor under Szabo, took over as Conductor and has served ever since. In the early years, the Symphony performed in the Cerritos College Auditorium and then later in the auditorium at Simms Park.
In 1983 they moved into a new auditorium built as part of Bellflower's new City Hall. The annual free outdoor summer concerts have been part of the Orchestra's concert series from the very beginning.
JOSEPH R. TAYLOR, a native of Compton, California, has been Music Director and Conductor of the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra since 1992. His specialty is strings and he plays
the violin, viola and cello. He has also conducted the Palos Verdes Peninsula Symphony, played with the Los Angeles String Quartet, and is active with the Wildwood Music Camps.
Formerly a teacher in the Los Angeles School District for many years, he is now teaching privately in the Los Angeles area.
BENJAMIN HARRIS, a native of Los Angeles, California, is 16 years old and has already shown great promise as a composer. He is currently attending High School at the Hamilton Music
Academy and studying composition under Mark Carlson at UCLA and Santa Monica College. Benjamin has been composing for various instruments and ensembles since he was 10 years old. In addition to composing, he is studying the oboe and piano. This particular piece for the theremin was produced at the request of Vance Miller, Music Department Director for the
Hamilton Symphony Orchestra.
CHARLIE LESTER, a native of Durham, North Carolina, has performed on the theremin across the country and in Germany for concerts and recitals, film and television scores, recordings, live television appearances, musical theatre,
lecture-demonstrations and workshops. In Los Angeles, he has played at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Disney Concert Hall; the Grand Performances series at California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles; University of California San Diego; Los Angeles City College; and in recitals with renowned organist Fred Swann at the Crystal Cathedral and First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.
THE THEREMIN, invented in 1917 by Russian scientist Leon Theremin, is an amazing and unique electronic musical instrument that the performer plays without actually touching, but instead by moving his hands in the air -around- the instrument.
For more information:
Bellflower Symphony Association
Dorothy Westrup, President
P.O. Box 256
Bellflower, CA 90707
562-867-5980
Charlie Lester, Thereminist
http://www.137.com/theremins