Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra Newsletter




MAY 2003

IN MEMORIAM

FRED KAMPHOEFNER

1923-2003

FRED, ALONG WITH ESTHER LEDERBERG AND SID SIMON, WAS AMOUNG THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF MPRO. HE DIED PEACEFULLY ON SATURDAY, MARCH 29, AFTER A LONG TIME STRUGGLE AGAINST HEART DISEASE.

THERE WILL BE AN OPEN HOUSE IN HIS HONOR FOR HIS MUSIC, SRI AND OTHER FRIENDS AT HIS HOME IN ATHERTON ON OR ABOUT APRIL 26.


Fred Kamphoefner will be remembered by most of us as the gentleman who graciously gave MPRO members the run of his home twice a year, for our Christmas and post June concert parties.

Fred was born in San Francisco, was graduated from Berkeley, worked at Harvard's Radio Research Lab. on radar countermeasures during WW II, attended Stanford for graduate work, then worked at the Stanford Research Institute for the next forty years. He became Director of the Engineering Sciences Laboratory which over the years had groups of people involved in control systems, digital electronics, thin-film devices, mechanical engineering, bioengineering and transportation. The strangely shaped characters on the bottom of our bank checks, and the ink-jet printing of bar codes on our mail were born in his lab. His own specialty was in automated data entry for computers, of which the preceding are examples.

Fred's interest in recorders began in Heidelberg during a 1 year project for John Hopkins University. He was self taught, (a big mistake, he said), but soon joined Bill Barnhart's new MPRO in 1962 and "got on-the-job-training". Jean, Fred K's wife, was a harpsichordist, and after her death he began harpsichord lessons with Margaret Fabrizio, and later recorder lessons with Judy Linsenberg, at Stanford. When these teachers left the University Fred's home became the venue for instruction for a number of their students.

Fred will be missed by all.

(From Stevie White’s column in October, 2001 issue of UpBeat.)


CONDUCTOR'S CORNER

Dear members of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra,

The orchestra's annual spring concert will take place at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, May 31, at the Portola Valley Town Center, 765 Portola Road in Portola Valley. Please pass this information along to any of your family and friends who might be interested in attending the performance. A sign up sheet for those who plan to perform with the orchestra on May 31 will be available at the upcoming meetings. All those who sign up to take part in the concert will be expected to attend the dress rehearsal at 7:30 P.M. on Wednesday, May 28, at the Portola Valley Town Center. Small ensembles are invited to appear in this concert, and those groups which intend to perform on May 31 are asked to give me the following information by May 14: the title(s) of the music to be performed, the name(s) of the composer(s), the name of the ensemble (if any) and the names of the ensemble's members.

Listed below is the music for the orchestra's next three meetings. At the meeting on April 16, the orchestra will be rehearsing the asso, O la, o che bon eccho and the Bonelli, Athalanta with the early brass ensemble, Gabrieli West, directed by Joyce Johnson. At the same meeting, the orchestra will also rehearse all three movements of the Baldassare, Sonata in F with Joyce Johnson, the cornetto soloist. Since this will be the only opportunity to go over the two antiphonal selections for the May 31 concert with the early brass ensemble prior to the dress rehearsal, it is extremely important that everyone who plans on taking part in the concert come to the meeting on April 16. Also, please note that krummhorn players will be needed at the meeting on April 16 and that two great bass recorders will be needed at the meetings on April 16 and May 7.

April 16 MPRO Rehearsal
Lasso: O la, o che bon eccho
Bonelli: Athalanta
Baldassare: Sonata in F
Machaut: Gais et jolis
The Kyng's Pavyn
April 30 MPRO Rehearsal
McDaniel: Quick Rain
Baldassare: Sonata in F
Oy camamos y bebamos
Reicha: Menuetto
Boldstein: Hot a HYid a Weibele
May 7 MPRO Rehearsal
Lasso: O la, o che bon eccho
Machaut: Gais et jolis
Reicha: Menuetto
McDaniel: Quick Rain

I look forward to seeing you at these upcoming meetings.

Sincerely,
Fred Palmer


KEN ANDRESEN TO PRESENT A WORKSHOP FOR MPRO
ON OCTOBER 18

On Saturday, October 18, 2003, The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra will present a workshop featuring music for recorder orchestra at Hope Lutheran Church, 600 W. 42nd Avenue in San Mateo from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. The workshop will explore the recorder orchestra repertoire from the Renaissance through the present day, and will include works by Morley, Praetorius, Mozart and MacDowell as well as an arrangement of the popular melody, Tea for Two. Those who play recorders, soft early double reeds as well as renaissance bowed and plucked strings are invited to attend. The workshop will be directed by Ken Andresen, who has a B.S. in music from Hofstra University. He is the founder and former director of The Recorder Orchestra of New York and has served as music director of the Recorder Society of Long Island and Director of Education for the American Recorder Society. He has taught at workshops throughout the United States and was a career educator in instrumental music for the Half Hollow Hills school system in New York. He has performed at Tanglewood and Carnegie Hall and is the creator and publisher of Polyphonic Publications. This will be a unique opportunity to work on a wide variety of excellent literature for recorder orchestra under the direction of one of the world's leading recorder orchestra conductors and promises to be a musically rewarding experience for players at any level of proficiency. All MPRO members are strongly encouraged to register for this workshop, particularly those who play great bass and contrabass recorders. For further information or to register please contact Mary Carrigan, 420 Crestlake Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132, telephone 415-664-9050.


DONATIONS GRATEFULLY RECEIVED

MPRO has received a total of $740 in donations so far this fiscal year. The donors were Mary Ashley, Sonja Wilcomer and Mary Carrigan. Of that total, $440 was for the Great Bass fund and $300 went into the general fund. (The Bass fund now totals $2,135.00) The Board and the Orchestra thanks these members for their generosity.


THE THREE AGES OF RECORDER PLAYERS AND HOW TO RECOGNIZE THEM

Part 2 - the Intermediate Player

The Intermediate Player has practiced enough to trust his reflexes. His eyes and fingers work well together. High and low notes seldom bother him; when they do, it can be blamed on the instrument. Some soprano players will become tenors. And the alto, because he has to, will be growing adept at reading his part an octave higher than it is written. The Intermediate may even bravely begin to learn a new recorder. He has become ensemble-conscious and tries, as he listens to music as a whole, to keep in tune with his neighbor. He begins, with the help of his leader, to be aware of phrasing. He is often able to patter through a presto at the proper speed. As he discovers that just any old way of tootling is not as satisfying as it used to be, he is likely to seek out a teacher and begin to improve his tone, with an eye to advancement.

NEXT MONTH: The Advanced Recorder Player