The San Francisco Concerto Orchestra becomes
The Mortuary Orchestra of Guerneville
An orchestra that exists to spotlight each of its own members is a pretty basic, obvious idea for an orchestra. But we have not been able to find another example in history of any similar organization. Certainly none that have survived for so long! Musicians, just like politicians, must have a support system in order to gain experience. Once they have gained that experience they must have a means to gain voting blocks to adequately promote their work. Otherwise they most certainly will be “sentenced” to obscurity or worse. Plenty of child scholarships are available to help children to become artists. But then what? And it only makes sense that the finest musicians are probably even more likely to be overlooked if there is less and less demand for them, less and less music education in the schools and thus more and more audiences content to listen to 2 or 3 chords played over and over by people who went to rehab or relapsed and got publicity for it. Besides, everyone knows that historically even the most brilliant musicians were not likely to just automatically gain the experience necessary to build their careers and certainly with or without that experience they rarely just magically received acclaim merely because they "deserved to." San Francisco chased Gottschalk out of town to his early demise, put Cowell in prison and refused Maria Callas into its Merola program for young opera singers. It took 50 years for Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess to be produced by a major Opera Company. Charles Ives never got to hear most of his works performed. Had he played in the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra or its competitions for musicians he could have. This orchestra is living proof that musicians can come together to make a difference in each others lives merely by taking the time to become advocates for both themselves and one another. A nonprofit charitable corporation, it was founded in 1989 by Seth Montfort to showcase the individual talents of its members, and every single contestant entered in its competitions for musicians.
The orchestra has gained a rock solid reputation for producing well received and favorably reviewed performances on only one rehearsal! The musicians in the orchestra take turns being spotlighted as concerto soloists, conductors, and composers. The Orchestra has been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “solidly impressive,” and by the San Jose Mercury News as “stellar.” The Sun Times described the orchestra as having an “intangible magic” and said “to hear them is to hear music straight from the heart.” Perhaps that is why hundreds of professional musicians regularly choose to volunteer their time playing in the orchestra whenever their busy schedules permit them to. The Orchestra has ranged in size from 15 to 75 players, most of whom are members of Bay Area orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Ballet, and Opera Orchestras, as well as the San Jose, Oakland, and Marin Symphonies. Since its beginning in 1989 it has given well over 400 concerts providing over 500 musicians experience and exposure performing concerti, arias, conducting, and premiering their own compositions. As “Artistic Director,” Montfort does not choose most of the repertoire performed in the concerts. The professional musicians in the orchestra “pay their dues” and support each other’s projects by playing in the orchestra. In turn they are each able to use the orchestra to perform music of their choice that features them.
Contributions to the Orchestra (a 501(c)(3) charity, tax id 94-3227721) are tax-deductible and may be made out to San Francisco Concerto Orchestra and mailed to one full time volunteer. No paid staff. Seth Montfort, P. O. Box 868, Guerneville, CA 95446-0868
Reporting on the finals of the orchestra’s 1998 International Piano Competition, the Contra Costa Times commented, “The real winners were the audience members, who witnessed such distinctive interpretations.” In our 1998 and 1999 competitions, each contestant was given the opportunity to perform as soloist with orchestra, record their own CD, and perform on a videotaped concert in which they were interviewed in front of a live audience by Al Covaia after they performed. Previously Montfort was always so busy struggling to gain public support and awareness for these events that he didn’t think to look outside the Bay Area. Thus his 2008 Jungle, Temple and Archeological Tour of Mexico and Central America was designed to springboard Montfort, The Orchestra, its Competitions Across Borders and his new but long in the making, self funded, musicians take-charge approach to music making into many wider, cross-cultural concert circuits.
For additional background on the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra, visit www.sfclassicalmusic.com.