W E I L L H A L L AT SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

WORLD REVIEWS OF OUR GRAND OPENING

G REEN MUSIC CENTER

GREEN MUSIC CENTER

BIG-LEAGUE MUSIC HALL IN WINE COUNTRY

Lang Lang performing on Saturday night at Weill Hall, where he played three Mozart sonatas and the four Chopin ballades.

By Anthony Tommasini October 2, 2012

Rohnert Park, Calif. Most of the important music centers at American universities resulted from an academic imperative. A schools thriving music program could no longer be served by its buildings, so new and expanded facilities simply had to be created to foster further growth.

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Not so with the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall here at Sonoma State University, an inviting new 1,400-seat concert hall that was inaugurated on Saturday night with a recital by the pianist Lang Lang. Sonoma State, one of the smaller universities in the California system with just over 8,000 full-time students, is acknowledged for its programs in the liberal arts and sciences. But music has not been a focal point of its offerings; there are only about 150 music majors. The department oversees a wind ensemble, chamber music groups and choruses. Yet Sonoma State, a university that does not even maintain a student symphony orchestra, now boasts a $145 million complex, the Donald & Maureen Green Music Center, dominated by the impressive new Weill Hall and including music classrooms, rehearsal rooms, studios and a nearly completed 250-seat recital hall. Still to come is a large outdoor pavilion suitable for dance and popular music performances. How did this happen? In the mid-1990s, the universitys president, Ruben Armiana, visited Tanglewood and was deeply impressed by Seiji Ozawa Hall, which opened in 1994. Such a place belonged in Californias wine country, he believed. He had a vision of making Sonoma State a center for music and a public resource. At the time the university had modest plans for expanding its music facilities to include a new hall for choral performances. But Dr. Armiana had bigger plans. To design the hall, he hired the architect William Rawn, of William Rawn Associates in Boston, and the acoustician R. Lawrence Kirkegaard, who had collaborated on Ozawa Hall. He brought in Jeff Langley to be the centers artistic director.

It took Dr. Armiana 15 years to carry out his vision. Along the way, he faced intense opposition from faculty members, especially during the last decade of budget cuts at Californias state universities, and survived a vote of no confidence. Why, many asked, did Sonoma State need this center? As recently as a couple of years ago, completing the project as envisioned looked iffy. Then Mr. Weill, the former chairman and chief executive of Citigroup, who has a home in the area, got involved. He galvanized the centers board and helped secure corporate backing, notably from MasterCard, now a major partner in this public and private project. He brought in Carnegie Hall, and beginning next year alumni from the Academy (the development program run by the Juilliard School, Carnegie Hall and the Weill Music Institute) will have yearlong residencies at Sonoma State to coach and perform. Mr. Weill brought the board around to the idea that if the Green Music Center was to play in the big leagues, then big-name performers had to appear there. Hence Lang Lang. Oh, and Mr. Weill and his wife donated $12 million to the project. If the splendid new Weill Hall were going to be just another tour stop for celebrity artists, then it would be a curious venture for a state university. But area institutions are now involved. The Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra, an adventurous regional ensemble, which had been performing in an inadequate multipurpose hall in Santa Rosa (about a 20-minute drive away), has made Weill Hall its new home and began its 85th season there on Sunday afternoon with an ambitious program. The San Francisco Symphony will have a presence as well, playing four concerts in Weill Hall this season. Whatever its future turns out to be, Weill Hall is a beautiful space. Not surprisingly, it resembles Ozawa Hall. Its rectangular auditorium (160 feet by 68 feet) has two balconies that surround the stage. The walls, railings and stage and orchestra floors are all built of warm woods. Unlike Ozawa Hall, with large windows only above the stage, Weill Hall has them on all sides but the west

(adjoining the lobby), so you can see vistas of the Sonoma hills from all seats. As with Ozawa Hall, the rear wall opens to a grassy outdoor area. But this one is terraced. People can buy seats at tables, to wine and dine during performances. At the back of the terraced area is ample lawn space for picnicking. On Saturday, speaking to the audience before he played two encores, Mr. Lang said that it was an honor to inaugurate this beautiful hall, and revealed that for the occasion he chose works new to his repertory: three Mozart sonatas (Nos. 4, 5 and 8; K. 282, 283, 310) and the four Chopin ballades. Each one a first-time performance, he said. Mr. Lang, a pianist with astounding technique, can be a self-indulgent interpreter. But his Mozart was delightful, especially the two early sonatas (No. 5 in G and No. 4 in E flat). He orchestrated these piano works in a sense, bringing different colors and textures to various themes, inner voices and harmonies. But I lost patience with the Chopin ballades. There were passages of melting lyricism and rhapsodic sweep, but too many moments of contorted expressivity. Mr. Langs playing of the tempestuous coda of the Ballade in F was so fast and loud as to be incoherent. In his final encore, Chopins Minute Waltz, he had the audience giggling at coy little things he did to the music. I found it tasteless. The Santa Rosa Symphony opened Sundays program with a spirited account of Beethovens Consecration of the House Overture, conducted by a former music director, Corrick Brown. Then Bruno Ferrandis, the current music director, conducted Beethovens Fourth Piano Concerto with the pianist Jeffrey Kahane (the orchestras music director from 1995 to 2005) as soloist. Mr. Kahane played beautifully, balancing spontaneity and crystalline sound with rhythmic brio and refinement. After intermission came the premiere of Sonoma Overture by Nolan Gasser, a Sonoma-area composer: a 10-minute easygoing and energetic piece in a

Coplandesque vein. For Coplands Canticle of Freedom the orchestra was joined by the Santa Rosa Symphony Honor Choir. And to show off the acoustics of the hall, the program ended with Ravels Bolro. How are the acoustics? For Mr. Langs recital the sound was rich, clear and true. For the first half of the Santa Rosa Symphony program I sat in the middle of the orchestra section. During the overture the sound was warm and fullbodied but a little indistinct. Mr. Ferrandis drew greater clarity from the players during the concerto. Still, the orchestra seemed a little muffled compared with Mr. Kahanes bright, lovely piano sound. For the second half I sat in the top balcony. Though more detail came through, the orchestra sounded a little distant. Often new halls need adjustments. With some tweaking Weill Hall should be acoustically first-rate. Sonoma State now has a music center that many conservatories would envy. For me, the proof of the ventures success will not be whether Mr. Lang and other superstars perform there regularly but whether the Green Music Center will spur enough growth in the universitys music program so that Sonoma State will one day have a student orchestra to play in its expensive new hall. A version of this article appeared in print on October 3, 2012, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Big-League Music Hall in Wine Country. This article can be found online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/arts/music/weill-hall-at-sonomastate-university.html?pagewanted=all

NORTH BAY'S GREEN CENTER HAILS NEW MUSIC ERA

Music Director Bruno Ferrandis conducts the Santa Rosa Symphony with pianist Jeffrey Kahane at Weill Hall's opening fete.

By Joshua Kosman Monday, October 1, 2012 It was the best kind of housewarming party - long, full of music, and centered around a beautiful, elegant building that promises plenty of delights in the years to come.

At Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, the weekend was devoted to an extended opening celebration for Weill Hall, the versatile concert venue at the heart of the Green Music Center. And the evidence so far suggests that this welcoming and acoustically responsive space has the ability to be a focus for musical activity throughout the North Bay and beyond. The weekend's offerings were calculated to show off the flexibility of the hall, which was designed by architect William L. Rawn III and acoustician Larry Kirkegaard. Things got under way on Saturday night with a recital by pianist Lang Lang, playing a program of music by Mozart and Chopin chosen to highlight the hall's clarity and sensitivity. Early risers on Sunday morning could catch a choral concert led by conductor Jenny Bent, and the afternoon brought a vivid orchestral concert by the Santa Rosa Symphony, which will make its home there. In the evening, bluegrass star Alison Krauss and Union Station, with Jerry Douglas, brought the weekend to a close. If Weill Hall is amenable to a wide stylistic range of music, it is just as flexible in its physical configuration. Like Seiji Ozawa Hall, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home at Tanglewood on which it is modeled, the new 1,400-seat hall opens completely at the back, giving on to outdoor seating for as many as 5,000 more listeners. The effect, during Sunday afternoon's orchestra concert (the only weekend event my schedule allowed me to hear), was to create a sense of openness and

lightness - an atmosphere underscored by the slatted design of the hall's seats and railings. A HARMONIOUS SETTING On a sunny afternoon, the interior of Weill Hall feels as open and unfettered as an intimate performance space can be. And the acoustics - which are both warm enough to fill the hall with resonant sound and sufficiently crisp not to muddy that sound as it reverberates - don't seem to be affected by the open plan. That came through most clearly in a performance of Copland's "Canticle of Freedom," conducted by Music Director Bruno Ferrandis and featuring an agglomeration of four local choirs. The piece isn't necessarily one of Copland's more inspired creations - a setting of a 14th century English poem extolling freedom, it's as blandly high-minded as the title suggests - but it's full of the composer's signature textures, from big, all-embracing orchestral blasts to crisply sharp-edged attacks. And all of them registered tellingly in the new space. A COUPLE SOUR NOTES Not everything fared as well. A performance of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto featured Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane as an oddly careless and lackadaisical soloist, and the hall exposed the weaknesses of his playing all too pitilessly. Ravel's "Bolro" suffered both from some lapses in rhythmic coordination and the sounds of airplanes flying over (one pitfall of an open hall). But the rest of the program sounded dynamic and vivid, from Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brown's dashing account of Beethoven's

"Consecration of the House" Overture - a perfectly suitable opening selection to the premiere of Nolan Gasser's bustling, atmospheric "Sonoma Overture," commissioned for the occasion. Naturally, all these details will be ironed out over time, as the hall adapts itself to its various musical inhabitants. (The Santa Rosa Symphony begins its first full season in the hall this week, with the premiere of a commissioned work by composer-in-residence Edmund Campion, featuring the Kronos String Quartet.) But for now, there's no question that this is a wondrous addition to the Bay Area's musical landscape.

This article can be found online at: http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/North-Bay-s-Green-Center-hailsnew-music-era-3909184.php

A FRIENDSHIP FOUNDED ON LOVE OF MUSIC

By Zhang Qidong Friday, September 28, 2012 Philanthropy and classical music will unite with a concert this weekend by acclaimed pianist Lang Lang to open the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall at California's Sonoma State University.

For five years, construction of the $110 million concert venue had been stalled for lack of financing. Then Weill, former CEO of Citigroup Inc, and his wife bought a 362-acre estate down the road from the university. The Weills had already donated more than $1 billion of their personal fortune to civic institutions and nonprofit enterprises, and they were ready to give $12 million to Sonoma State to complete its music space. Weill Hall is modeled on Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in Massachusetts, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The California venue can seat 1,400 concertgoers inside and, when open to the lawn outside, provide views to an additional 3,000 people. Before donating, however, the Weills wanted an expert opinion about the acoustics and suitability of the concert hall's design. They sought out a world-class musician, and soon found one in Lang Lang. The Shenyang, China, native, now 30, had been winning international piano competitions since the age of 12. "Sandy" Weill first met Lang Lang - his name means "brilliance of the sky" in Chinese - 11 years ago, before his globe-trotting concert career took off. Weill recognized the young man's immense talent and his potential to become classical music's answer to golf superstar Tiger Woods. "The first impression I had of Lang Lang was that he was such a fantastic piano player," Weill told China Daily. "(He has) a lot of talent, a great personality, and it

was 16 days before he would play for the first time in front of the public at (New York's) Carnegie Hall. "But most of all, I was very impressed by his understanding of the importance of giving back to society at such a young age," Weill recalled. "Our friendship was instant when I called him 'the Tiger Woods of the classic music world'. We have the same passion for youth education, music and art, and I respect Lang Lang's value in helping bring music education to public schools." In the decade since their introduction, Lang and Weill have worked closely on education initiatives, particularly through the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. The retired banker serves on the foundation's board of directors. In addition, Weill is chairman and Lang a member of the board that oversees Carnegie Hall. As soon as Joan and Sandy Weill became aware of the construction delays at Sonoma State's Green Music Center, inside which Weill Hall is located, they paid a visit. The multifaceted complex on the campus, about an hour's drive north of San Francisco, consists of an acoustically superb concert hall, a recital space, a restaurant and reception hall, and a music-education wing; there are also plans for a large-scale outdoor amphitheater. A project with great local interest, the Green center was to be the home of the Santa Rosa Symphony. "I was blown away by its beauty and sound, although there was no lobby, no chairs. The funding was dead; it was a project that was put on hold for over five years," Weill said. "Lang Lang happened to be in the area in January 2011, playing with the San Francisco Symphony. I called him up and asked him to check it out for me and he managed a time for it."

Weill said he then phoned Sonoma State's president, Ruben Armiana, to tell him of Lang's impromptu inspection of the center including the then-unnamed concert hall. Lang planned to visit around midnight. "I was nervous about it since I wasn't sure if the university would open the Green Music Center for Lang Lang at such a late hour," Weill said. But the university administration was amenable to the request. A group of Sonoma State employees waited at the concert hall that night for Lang. He arrived close to midnight and "spent about an hour and a half playing and putting the hall through its paces", recalled Jeff Langley, artistic director of the Green Music Center, who was there. The next day, Weill got a call from Lang, who was en route to Washington to perform at a White House state dinner hosted by President Barack Obama for his visiting counterpart, President Hu Jintao. "Lang Lang said the hall was 'fantastic', the sound extraordinary and he was impressed with its acoustics and overall beautiful look," Weill said. The pianist also promised to make it a regular stop on his future West Coast tours. With the expert's vote of confidence, the Weills went through with their $12 million commitment, ensuring completion of the Green complex and its outdoor facilities. "We are looking forward to this exciting moment," Weill said of Sunday's concert by Lang. "It's an honor to be named for the hall. In no time, the public will see this world-class performance venue with incredible sounds, located in beautiful wine country. He said the finished project will enhance the cultural experience of Sonoma State students and the entire San Francisco Bay Area while providing a boost to the local economy.

This summer, Weill was in Berlin, where Lang celebrated his 30th birthday with 50 German children, ages 10 to 12. "It was a very touching moment seeing those kids playing on 25 pianos with Lang Lang," he said. Music and age both transcend any barriers that might exist between 79-year-old American and his young friend from China. "We meet several times a year everywhere - in New York, Europe and even China," the Brooklynborn banker said. "We developed a very close friendship. Lang Lang is young, exciting and enthusiastic. He played at my home a couple of times in Sonoma and New York; most of the time we brought young kids to hear him play or play together with him, which is a great experience for those kids." Sandy and Joan Weill are also planning to establish a summer camp to bring children from low-income families to Sonoma. "I would like to have them experience the music and the culture at the facility, feeling better about Retired banker Sandy Weill (left) and renowned pianist Lang Lang have been friends since 2001. Craig Chesek

themselves after they return home. And Lang Lang will be part of it; we will coordinate his traveling schedule with our program." As head of Citigroup, Weill built the New York bank into the world's biggest financial services empire before the global crisis of 2008. Weill, who retired as CEO of Citigroup in 2003 and stepped down as chairman in 2006, said his success is due to two things: the previous economic boom and his wife. "I was lucky to live in the good time of 1982 to 2000, when our country was a great leader, and I am lucky to have my wife, Joan, to whom I have been married for 57 years, as my life partner," he said. Weill cites among his secrets of success "having realistic goals, listening to people, not being afraid of people who are smarter, always thinking of a goal [and] driving myself to do better." He also says that one should recognize that great things don't come easily. Learning from mistakes is crucial, he believes. As classical-music lovers, Joan and Sandy Weill have helped raise money for the Lang Lang Music Foundation. "Lang Lang has a whole world ahead of him," Weill said. "He has a desire to help, is willing to work hard at it, and he has the ability to relate to people. "I believe his work will have an incredible impact on the music world and a lot of people's lives. The effort anyone can make to involve in Lang Lang's Music Foundation will help make the world a better place." Lang, who has been selling out concert halls around the world since his mid20s, co-wrote a book about his life (Journey of a Thousand Miles: My Story) that has been published in several languages and was described by the New York Times as classical music's "hottest artist", said he is "very close" to Weill and "has a lot of respect" for his friend.

"If [German conductor] Christoph Eschenbach made Lang Lang an overnight star by giving him an opportunity to perform at Chicago's Ravinia Festival (in 1999), Sandy Weill is a great supporter of Lang Lang's pursuing his dream in youth education," said Emma Ge Yu, of Lang Lang's global management firm, CAMI Music. The friendship between Weill and Lang, as well as their love of music and hopes to improve the world through it, will continue. As Lang says in the text introducing his foundation: "Music makes life better. It heals, unites and inspires. And it makes us better people."

This article can be found online at: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2012-09/28/content_15790343.htm

WEILL WOOS CARNEGIE HALL FRIENDS TO SUPPORT SONOMA HALL

By Dan Levy Wednesday, September 26, 2012 When Sanford Sandy I. Weill learned that a university concert hall near his home in Californias wine country was short on cash he toured the unfinished building and then asked his friend Lang Lang to check out the acoustics. The Chinese pianist squeezed in a midnight visit to the empty hall at Sonoma State University about two weeks later, filling the space with music by Beethoven and Chopin. Lang Lang blessed the acoustics, and two months after that, Weill, ex-chairman of Citigroup Inc. (C) and longtime board chairman of Carnegie Hall, gave $12 million to complete the 1,400-seat venue. Thats the way Sandy works, said Ruben Arminana, Sonoma States president. The guy has incredible contacts and a sense of urgency to get things done. Lang Lang returns Saturday night to open the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall in a debut season that has already far exceeded expectations, spokeswoman Jessica Anderson said. The Santa Rosa Symphony and country singer Alison Krauss perform on Sunday afternoon and evening, with cellist Yo-Yo Ma,

soprano Barbara Cook and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis slated in coming months. Weill emphasizes that it has taken a team effort to bring the project to fruition, 17 years after Arminana first conceived of a campus facility modeled on the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. Weill Hall itself is part of the universitys Donald and Maureen Green Music Center, for which the technology entrepreneur and his wife, members of a local Sonoma choir, contributed $10 million in seed money. SWEAT, TEARS Sonoma State is a great liberal-arts college that you wont find in a lot of other places, Weill said in a telephone interview from New York, where he and Joan, board chairman of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, maintain a primary residence. A lot of people had ideas that helped build this vision. Things dont just happen. It takes blood, sweat, tears, as well as money. Sonoma State is located in Rohnert Park, California, 50 miles north of San Francisco and within driving distance of wine regions such as Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley. Student housing villages are named after grape varietals: Beaujolais, Cabernet, Zinfandel, Verdot and Sauvignon. MasterCard Inc. (MA)s sponsorship of a 10,000-seat pavilion to be built next to Weill Hall was accelerated by Weill reaching out to the company, according to Arminana. Weill said he contacted Ajay Banga, chief executive officer of the Purchase, New York-based global payments network, among other executives.

FELLOWSHIP PLAN Weill also helped facilitate a program with Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School that will send three postgraduate arts professionals to Sonoma State for yearlong fellowships, starting in June 2013, said Arminana, president of the university since 1992. Its a novel proposition that a small liberal-arts public college for Californias middle-rank high-school students now has an association with Carnegie Hall, said Jeff Langley, a Juilliard graduate and professor of music and performingarts director at Sonoma State. Theyll be exposed to the finest performers, have workshops and master classes, and be shown all that the arts have to offer. Lang Lang, one of the worlds top classical recording stars, brought his mother and girlfriend for the acoustics test. He was wide awake and ready to go to work, said Langley, who attended the sound test. For about 90 minutes, he put that hall through its paces, like a kid stomping around with a new toy. He was very intent on measuring ring and resonance. TANGLEWOOD ROOTS Weill Hall was designed by William Rawn Associates, the Boston-based architect of Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, which fired Arminanas imagination during a visit in the summer of 1995. The Sonoma venue has a larger capacity and stage, and features steamed beech-wood paneling and seats, said Larry Kirkegaard, the acoustician for the auditorium and for Seiji Ozawa Hall. A 50-

foot-wide, 20-foot-high rear door can be opened for lawn spectators behind the hall, he said. It will take about a year for wood, plaster and other new materials to open up and add warmth, said Kirkegaard, who is based in Chicago. Three microphones over the stage and three along each side of the hall will carry sound delayed by a tenth of a second to speakers on the lawn so the audience feels they are inside, he said. Weill, who retired as Citigroups CEO in 2003 and as nonexecutive chairman in 2006, said that even though he and Joan were unaware of the hall project when they bought their Sonoma property, the couple knew theyd be involved in the community. We werent tired, and we didnt want to stop being creative or stop building, Weill said in the interview. This was an area we loved, with incredible stimulation from entrepreneurs and social media and a lot of wonderful people we met. It turned out to be a great decision.

This article can be found online at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-27/weill-woos-carnegie-hallfriends-to-support-sonoma-hall.html

BIG NAMES TURN OUT TO CHRISTEN WEILL HALL

Gov. Jerry Brown, left, and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, walk through the Green Music Center before the opening night Saturday with benefactors Joan and Sandy Weill.

By Chris Smith Saturday, September 29, 2012

Guests at Saturday night's public christening of the Green Music Center easily the largest and most widely noticed social-cultural event ever in Sonoma County seemed powerfully struck by two things: The splendor of the new music complex on the Sonoma State University campus and the gift, after an interminable string of delays and battles, of being alive to witness its debut. What I lack in intelligence I make up for in persistence, mused Don Green, the musical philanthropist whose initial donations made SSU President Ruben Armiana's vision of a supreme-quality music center seem possible. The premiere drew familiar names from the worlds of music, academia, technology, business and politics in Sonoma County. Nothing can beat what's happening tonight, Green said during a champagne reception that preceded the performance by renowned pianist Lang Lang, followed by fireworks and dinner beneath a flowing tent. It's a world-class facility. Now we have to prove it to the music world. About 3,400 people attended the Lang Lang performance, about 600 the reception and dinner. The opening-weekend festivities continue today with a morning free-admission chorale concert, afternoon performance by the Santa Rosa Symphony and evening show by bluegrass star Alison Krauss. Gov. Jerry Brown and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, strolled into the party with the center's largest donors, former banker Sanford Sandy Weill and his wife, Joan. The governor said he was impressed with what he'd seen so far of the place.

I like to see Sonoma County on the cultural map, Brown said, adding, I spend most of my time in Sonoma County on the Russian River. His wife said that as they arrived at the Green Center, with its all-wooden, Tanglewood-inspired Weill Hall, I didn't even realize what a jewel it is. To stand in the $145 million music facility was a triumph for Jim Meyer, Sonoma State's first vice president of development. He recalled the moment the ambitious project was born in August 1996 in the living room of his home. He said Armiana and SSU administrators were meeting there chiefly to discuss the loss of $1 million of funding. In the middle of that, Meyer said, Ruben breaks out a brochure and says, I want one of these.' The brochure, which Armiana had picked up while at a conference on the East Coast, highlighted the artistic and innovative features of Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in western Massachusetts. Armiana asked him who he thought might help SSU build such a world-class performance hall. Meyer suggested Don and Maureen Green. Armiana's response, Meyer recalled, was, Let's have them to our home for dinner. The Greens pledged several million dollars to the project, and planning began. But building the center turned out to be more complicated, costly and controversial than anyone could have predicted. Armiana was a man in his element Saturday night. It's here! he said before the crowd filed into Weill Hall for the Lang Lang performance. You can kick the doors and the walls and they don't crumble. He added that, as with a fine Sonoma County wine, creating the Green Center has taken time.

The long, often painful gestation period was on the minds of many of the project's donors on Saturday. Everybody kind of got tired for a while, said tech entrepreneur John Webley. But we're back, said Webley, the owner and restorer of the Santa Rosa landmark home known best as the McDonald Mansion. You need an event like this to re-energize you. The beauty of the center and the potential it holds for elevating the Sonoma County music scene left Bruno Ferrandis, music director of the Santa Rosa Symphony, struggling for words. The truth of the matter is that I'm so far up I really don't know how I feel. I'm elevated by the importance of this event, said Ferrandis, who will share the baton at this afternoon's premiere symphony performances with his predecessors, symphony conductor laureate Corrick Brown and conductor emeritus Jeffrey Kahane. He said the significance of the symphony's move to the Green Music Center is also difficult to put to words. You can use the word metamorphosis. It's a metamorphosis, Ferrandis said. Rep. Lynn Woolsey said the symphony's move from its longtime home at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, north of Santa Rosa, comes at a good time for her. Now that I'm retiring, I've already bought my season tickets, said the 10-term congresswoman. Woolsey said the new center will be an important asset to students at SSU and for all of Sonoma County. It is important, she said, and it will be important for a long time.

Prominent Sonoma County philanthropist Connie Codding said she enjoyed the observation by a friend that local people hadn't gathered for a more emotional event since the farewell to the county courthouse demolished by wreckers following the 1969 earthquake. This is so exciting, said the widow of Sonoma County's most prolific builder, Hugh Codding. We waited a long time. She added, Thank goodness for the Weills moving to the area. The project was languishing when Sandy and Joan Weill bought an estate in Sonoma Valley and agreed to donate millions to bring it near to completion. It's incredible, Sandy Weill said as he and his wife were entering the reception with the governor and his wife. It's really, really exciting to see all the people here. Now that the center is open and nearly finished, Weill said, the task is to fulfill its potential. It's just starting, he said. We've got a lot to do.

This article can be found online at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120929/ARTICLES/120929423/1/topics10?p=all&tc=pgall

DESIGN COLLABORATION REALISES FIRST PHASE OF PERFORMANCE VENUE EXPANSION PROJECT

Friday, October 5, 2012

The new Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall at the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center, Sonoma State University has been officially opened. Designed by Auerbach Pollock Friedlander, William Rawn Associates, AC Martin Partners and Kirkegaard Associates, the hall is a stunning new addition to the University in California. With capacity for a 1,400-seated audience, the concert hall is soon to be joined by a recital hall which is currently under construction and has been designed with reference to the Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, also by William Rawn. Mike McMackin, Project Principal at Auerbach Pollock Friedlander explains: Auerbach Pollock Friedlander equipped Weill Hall with automated reconfigurable orchestra risers, variable acoustics elements and state of the art theatrical and concert lighting. The technology is sympathetic to the architecture of the hall, being seamlessly integrated with the fine finishes. The wood-rich interior offers a range of seating options, from rows of slatted chairs to two levels of balconies which give a more elevated viewing platform. Opened on 29 September, the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall will be used for a

variety of university performances as well as public events hosted by the Santa Rosa Symphony and Bach Choral Society. Len Auerbach, Founding Principal of Auerbach Pollock Friedlander detailed: Among the many unique features of this hall is the custom design of the 1,400 seats which are representative of the garden setting and the architectural finishes of the hall. The design was carefully coordinated for comfort, optimal acoustic response, ADA accessibility and aesthetics. The design of the seats provides a unifying visual experience within the hall. The rear wall of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall can be opened to enable a further 5,000 people to watch large-scale performances from external seating and the under-construction 250-seat Schroeders Recital Hall will also provide a additional performance venue. Also in planning, an outdoor amphitheater with 10,000 seats is due to complete in 2015.

This article can be found online at: http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.p rojectview&upload_id=20957

TANGLEWOOD-STYLE CONCERT HALL OPENS SATURDAY AT SONOMA STATE

By Paul Liberatore Thursday, September 27, 2012 On Saturday night, the North Bay will be able to boast of a spectacular new concert hall, thanks largely to former Marin residents Donald and Maureen Green. That's when the crown jewel of their Green Music Center, the 1,400-seat Sanford I. Weill Hall, opens on the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park with a gala, sold-out concert by the flamboyant Chinese pianist Lang Lang. Modeled after Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, home of the famed Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts, the hall features a modular rear wall that opens onto an outdoor lawn with seating for up to 3,000. The opening night festivities will be followed on Sunday by a sold-out concert by bluegrass star Alison Krauss and Union Station. A complex of performance halls, educational and other facilities, the Green Music Center broke ground some 15 years ago with an original gift of $5 million from the Greens.

Considered the father of Sonoma County's Telecom Valley, the British-born entrepreneur founded Digital Telephone Systems in San Rafael in 1969, the first company in what would become Telecom Valley. A former Tiburon resident now living in Sonoma County, Green and his wife are the lead investors in this ambitious musical venture 26 miles north of San Rafael. The Greens also donated $10 million in seed money for Weill Hall, named after Sanford I. Weill, a banking executive and philanthropist who gave $12 million in 2011 to revive the project after it stalled during the economic recession. Other fall events at the center include: an Oct. 27 program with John Adams, conducting his own music, along with works by Stravinsky, Glass and Gershwin, with pianist Jeffrey Kahane and the International Contemporary Ensemble; a Nov. 20 concert by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato with Il Compleso Barocco orchestra; and a Dec. 9 performance of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, performing Handel's "Messiah." Single tickets are $18-$81, depending on the event: for tickets, visit http://gmc.sonoma.edu. Next year's schedule includes Yo-Yo Ma on Jan. 26 and Ann-Sophie Mutter on March 2. Additional note: On Dec. 6, the San Francisco Symphony performs the first of its four 2012-13 concerts at Weill ($15-$145, www.sfsymphony.org).

This article can be found online at: http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_21646891/tanglewood-styleconcert-hall-opens-saturday-at-sonoma

NEW CONCERT HALL OPENS IN SONOMA COUNTY

By Don Sanchez Friday, September 28, 2012 Rohnert Park, Calif. (KGO) -- A spectacular new concert hall opens Saturday night in the heart of the Sonoma Wine Country and one newly-arrived Sonoma County resident helped make it happen. Sanford Weill is a legendary banking executive and philanthropist. He and his wife donated $12 million to make Weill Hall a reality. "We care a lot about the arts, we love communities that we live in, and we care about this university," said Weill. This architectural gem is on the campus of Sonoma State University. The man many consider the world's greatest pianist is the opening night performer. Lang Lang played a role in getting the building finished. He's a friend of Weill's who asked the pianist to assess the acoustics. "Five people were here waiting for him. He was here from about 12:15 to about 2 in the morning, playing, moving the shades up and down and called me up to tell me he loved it," said Weill. "That's when we decided to make our gift."

It is the centerpiece of the Green Center which began 15 years ago with a donation from Donald Green. The auditorium seats 1,400, but the back wall opens up and 5,000 more people can sit outside to listen -- a new reason to visit Sonoma County. Renowned for some of the best food and wine in the country, you can now add culture to this inventive performance venue. It will be a versatile place. The university choir will perform. Alison Krauss will perform on Sunday. It is the new home of the Santa Rosa Symphony. And Weill hopes to help create summer camps for at-risk kids to learn about music and dance. He believes success is more than profits. It's about giving. "How can the company do things to make their country and our whole society a better place?" said Weill.

This article, and the accompanying video, can be found online at: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/entertainment&id=8829279

WEILL HALL WEST OPENS

By Georgia Rowe Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Rohnert Park, CA -- San Francisco music lovers have a new concert hall, albeit one with an address some distance from the city limits. Weill Hall, which had its longawaited opening last weekend, is located about an hours drive north of the Golden Gate, on the campus of Sonoma State University amid the bucolic rolling hills of the regions wine country. And if its inaugural events are any indication, the hall is destined to be a significant draw for audiences throughout the Bay Area and beyond. The 1,400-seat space is the jewel in the universitys $110 million Green Music Center, a sprawling complex of performance and teaching spaces. Launched on a $5 million gift from telecom magnate (and amateur choral singer) Donald Green, the Center has been 15 years in the making, and is still in the finishing stages. But Weill Hall, named for its principal donors, banker Sanford I. Weill and his wife, Joan- whose $12 million contribution brought it to completion -- is open for business, and its a remarkable creation. [The Weills are based in Manhattan and are among New York Citys greatest philanthropists. He has been chairman of Carnegie Hall since 1991; the Joan Weill School of Dance at Alvin Ailey, completed in 2005, is the nations largest facility dedicated to dance. - Ed.]

The opening weekend events, which featured performances by Lang Lang, the Santa Rosa Symphony, and bluegrass superstars Alison Krauss and Union Station, unveiled an acoustical marvel. Modeled after Tanglewoods Seiji Ozawa Hall, the 38,500 square foot Weill Hall was designed by architect William L. Rawn III and acoustician Larry Kirkegaard. Conductor and former Cal Performances Director Robert Cole and San Francisco-based theater designer Len Auerbach served as primary consultants. The Sept. 30 lineup -- which included a sunrise choral concert, an afternoon program by the Santa Rosa Symphony, and an evening concert by Krauss -- introduced a venue both shapely and well-tuned. The hall is an elegant construction of blond wood, glass walls, slatted balconies and Shaker-style seating; its South wall is a modular door that opens onto an expanse of lawn accommodating up to 5,000 additional concertgoers in lawn and table seating. If the look is sleek and elegant, the feel of the hall is at once open and intimate. Most importantly, the acoustic is outstanding - a clear, unfettered sound that blooms impressively. The results were on gleaming display in the afternoon performance before a full house by the Santa Rosa Symphony, now the designated resident orchestra of Weill Hall. Under Music Director Bruno Ferrandis, the program began with Beethovens Consecration of the House Overture, led by Santa Rosas Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brown. Aptly vibrant and celebratory, the score revealed the halls warmth, resonance, and pinpoint responsiveness. Beethovens Fourth Piano Concerto, led by Ferrandis with the orchestras Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane as soloist, highlighted the venues promise for piano performance. Ferrandis also achieved splendid results in California composer Nolan Gassers brief Sonoma Overture, composed for the occasion, and Ravels Bolero. Most intriguing was Coplands Cantile of Freedom, featuring four local choruses and suggesting that Weill Hall may emerge supreme as a Bay Area choral music venue.

Unlike most halls with ideal acoustics for classical music, this one accommodates amplified sound as well, as witnessed at Sunday evenings concert by Krauss, one of popular musics finest vocalists. Her voice - blending with those of her five-man group - registered with pristine clarity. One seemed to hear everything, no matter the level or intensity of the playing, with none of the harshness often associated with amplification. Construction continues on the Green Center. An outdoor amphitheater is in the works. So is the 250-seat Schroeder Recital Hall (think Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz, who lived nearby until his death in 2000 and was one of the universitys major donors). But Weill Hall is fully, dazzlingly complete, and operating on a full schedule. In the coming months, John Adams will conduct New Yorks International Contemporary Ensemble here. Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony will make their first appearance in the hall. Top artists such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, mezzo-sopranos Joyce DiDonato and Stephanie Blythe, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and pianist MarcAndre Hamelin are also on the schedule. Some of these artists will doubtless make stops in San Francisco as well. But its worth the drive north to hear them here.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING
By Jennifer Melick Friday, September 28, 2012 For classical-music lovers, one of the best parts of fall is not the colorful foliage and cooler temperatures welcome though these may bebut the return of The Orchestra Season. There is an extra layer of excitement when the season brings with it the chance to experience a brand-new concert hall, especially one with a fine pedigree. This season, one of the most highly anticipated new concert halls opens on September 29 and 30 in northern California, when Music Director Bruno Ferrandis leads the Santa Rosa Symphonys first concert at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, at the Donald & Maureen Green Music Center. The orchestra has commissioned a world premiere, Sonoma Overture, by Nolan Gasser, for the occasion, and has invited Ferrandisplus Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane and Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brownto participate in the festivities. All in all, not a bad way for an orchestra to start its 85th season.

Weill Hall is part of the $110 million Green Music Center, which encompasses several buildings, of which this is the largest and the first to open. Situated on the campus of Sonoma State University, a public institution that is part of the California State University system, the Green Music Center is 50 miles north of San Francisco in the heart of the Sonoma wine region. Eventually the center will include the 250-seat Schroeder Hall, complete with a tracker organ, and an outdoor Hollywood Bowl-style space suitable for pops and other larger concerts. Weill Hall is modeled after Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, summer home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, right down to the barn door at the back that can be opened to a lawn accommodating an extra 3,000 people. The 1,400seat hall even has the same architect and acoustician as Ozawa Hall: it is designed by architect William Rawn, theater consultant Len Auerbach, and acoustician Larry Kirkegaard. Its acoustics are meant to resemble the warmth and intimacy of Viennas Musikverein and Symphony Hall in Boston. The hall will host not just the Santa Rosa Symphony, which serves as its resident orchestra, but also act as a presenter, with visiting ensembles this season to include the San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, and Tallis Scholars. There will be a slew of top-notch mezzo-sopranosJoyce DiDonato, Elina Garanca, Stephanie Blythe, Tara Erraughtand an all-American program with composer John Adams leading the International Contemporary Ensemble in his own works as well as music by Stravinsky and Philip Glass. Among the instrumental soloists will be Yo-Yo Ma, Vadim Repin, Wynton Marsalis, and Ann-Sophie Mutter, as well as jazz artists Chucho Valds and Buika. The hall has taken more than a decade to complete from the time it first was conceived in 1997, ultimately involving many local people and organizations. Its story begins with lead donors Donald and Maureen Green, both amateur singers and lovers of choral music, who wanted to build a hall suitable for vocal music; Ruben Armiana, Sonoma State Universitys president, who desperately wanted

to bring a world-class hall to his campus; and a regional orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony, which wanted to upgrade its primary concert space. At the end came a late financing push by Sanford Weill and his wife, Joan, who own a home nearby, to get the thing completed. In the first installment of SymphonyNOWs coverage of this weekends opening events, we spoke to seven people connected with Weill Hall, just before the hall was about to open. Jennifer Melick: How did you become involved in building this new hall? Ruben Armiana, president, Sonoma State University: In about the summer of 1994, my wife and I were invited to a seminar in upstate New York about the role of the liberal arts in higher education. In the evenings there was always some sort of theater, art exhibition, etc. One of these was a visit to Tanglewood. I knew a little bit about Tanglewood, because my wife, who is a conductor, had gone there to attend a seminar in 1990 of the League of American Orchestras the last public performance of Leonard Bernstein, as it turned out. She had come back from that seminar and said, I want to buy a house in the Berkshires, because of this place called Tanglewood. We went backby this time Ozawa Hall had been built, and we were really really impressed with the inside and outside characteristics of the hall. We were saying to each other, This belongs in California, not Massachusetts, because summers in northern California are much cooler, drier, and there are no flying insects! We were really even more than that impressed with the whole issue around Tanglewood of what I call this coming together of education, music, and performanceno matter where you were, you saw students, younger and older, talking about their craft in classes, practicing, and performance. It fit so well with the course we were taking, about the role of the liberal arts in higher education. I went back to Sonoma State, and

at a meeting of my cabinet, I said, I think this fits what our role should be, and I want one of those. My vice president said, He is crazy. Jeff Langley, director, Sonoma State University School of Performing Arts, and artistic director, Green Music Center: I first became involved with the project while visiting Tanglewood in the summer of 97, just before I flew out here to start my job as joint chair of the performing arts at Sonoma State University. Even before I took the job I had heard rumors about building a small choral hall, so I met all the major players of this project at Tanglewood: Don Green, the original founding donor, Ruben Armiana, president of the university, and his wife, Marne; the architect, William Rawn; and the acousticianLarry Kirkegaard. At the end of those four days, I think we all knew that somehow this wild new idea was going to happen. William L. Rawn, III, architect, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall: Heres how the whole project started for me. Ruben Armiana called me out of the clear blue. Ruben was a little nervous that most architects wouldnt take the call very seriously, but little did he know that a big chunk of my family lives, or lived, in Napa. So I knew Sonoma, and it caught my attention. I went to California and spent some time with him, and we walked the campus, to look at various sites for a concert hall. At lunchtime I went hiking around the periphery of the campus, and found this open field outside the lines of the campus, across the creek. It had a really beautiful view of the Sonoma sheep hills beyond the campusnot vineyards, but grazing lands. It must have been in the fall, because it was dry, this kind of golden brown color of California hills. I came back to Ruben and said, I know you dont own this piece of land, but this site would be the best. Ruben said, We can do anything we put our heads to. I thought this would take him three years to do. He calls me back four weeks later and says, Weve done it, were closing on the property next week. Thats where well put the concert hall. Ruben wanted to give his faculty, civic leaders, and

donors a sense of the magic of Tanglewoodthe magic of Tanglewood is not so much about architecture so much as a place to be surrounded by classical music and everything it represents. Alan Silow, executive director, Santa Rosa Symphony: We were once a very good community orchestra, then Jeffrey Kahane came, and he raised the profile and the level of musicianship, and we became a pretty darn good regional symphony orchestra. The organization as a whole got to a place where we felt that if we really want to fulfill our vision, we need a better hall. The Wells Fargo Center [our old hall] was originally a church. The vision of our board meshed with President Armiana at Sonoma State, who had been inspired about the sort of educational music interplay that he saw at Tanglewood. And then Don Green and his wife were members of the Sonoma County Bach Choir, real lovers of classical musicthey were asking themselves, how can we create a new hall for the choir? All those things came together serendipitously, and I think it took all three to move this ahead. Melick: Can you describe what the hall sounds and looks like? Alan Silow: Acoustically and visually, its an extraordinary space. And for a regional orchestra like the Santa Rosa Symphony, its nothing less than a transformational opportunity that we can call this concert hall our home. Everyone who walks into the hall for the first timeeven before the music beginshas pretty much the same one-syllable response: Wow. Everything just seems like suddenly someone turned the stereo on. The seats wrap aroundits a shoebox shape, which makes for a very intimate space. Bruno Ferrandis, music director and conductor, Santa Rosa Symphony: Its beautiful! Not only the place, but all around these beautiful hills, the scenery here. Im convinced this is a great hall that we have in our handsa pearl. The sound is extremely clean, precise. And what a pleasure to distinguish between a

piano and a mezzo-piano, or a forte and a mezzo-forte. We have these nuances finally. The musicians were in awe when they reacted to it: a big relief, Ooooh. And I see the audienceits a tri-dimensional hall, with the audience not just behind me but in front of me. In my programming I am trying to choose a wide variety of pieces to try out all the possibilities of the space as fast as possible from Edmund Campions The Last Internal Combustion Engine, with electronics, to BerliozsSymphonie Fantastique. Len Auerbach, theater consultant, Green Music Center: Ive heard it during acoustical testing without an audience, and with a small audienceabout 500 people for a San Francisco Symphony concertand it sounded fantastic! The connection to the surrounding area and getting some vista is important. You can see outside through the glass, and in the evening look out at the sun going down. This is patterned after Viennas Musikvereinwhen the sun sets there at certain times of the year it comes in the high back windows and glitters off the chandeliers. Theres a moment of magic there. Ive been in Vienna several times, and the new hall has that warmth. Weill is going to have its own reputation, Im sure of it. All halls have their own characteristic. Melick: What do you think the hall will do for the Sonoma region of California? Silow: Northern California has a wine country kind of status. I think ten years from now, well be as well-known as a cultural destination as we are now as a wine destination. It will have that big of a transformative effect, and not just for the Santa Rosa Symphony. Ticket prices for our concerts went up this season in the new hall, but demand is theretotal revenue has broken every record for our classical series that weve seen in the orchestras 85 years. Were bringing all our music education programming to this hallwe have four youth orchestras. This year we are hosting the Bay of Hope Youth Orchestra Festival in January. And were going to be initiating a three-concert Family Concert

Series. We think the hall will attract not only people from the greater Bay Area but also artists and orchestras from around the world who will want to perform in this hall. Armiana: I look to increase our student participation in the performing arts that will be a growth area for us. And it will serve as a gathering place for our communities: it will give a lot of reason for somebody for Healdsburg, or the town of Sonoma, or somebody from Mendocino, to come to the university and feel that the university is very much a part of the greater community. Robert Cole, artistic consultant, Green Music Center; former director of Cal Performances in Berkeley, California (1986-2009): The world will know about it as soon as artists have played there. Because its actually a small world, and we all talk to each other! Its not in the middle of a major citybut then neither is Tanglewood. Im trying to create a destination hall. You have to think big. This is not just our hall in Sonoma County. This is a place that could be an international center, because its so unique. To me, its a success only if that happens. Why do people go to Salzburg? Not because its a little town in Austria. Mozart happened to be born there, but that doesnt cut it. Its because they have really great stuff happening there which you cant hear anyplace else.

This article can be found online at: http://www.symphonynow.org/2012/09/california-dreaming/

CALIFORNIA DREAMING II
By Jennifer Melick Tuesday, October 2, 2012 Up in Californias Sonoma County this past weekend, there was a lot to see and hear during the Green Music Centers festive opening weekend. Concerts on September 29 and 30 on the campus of Sonoma State Universityby the Santa Rosa Symphony, an assortment of choral groups, pianist Lang Lang, and the country/bluegrass band Alison Krauss and Union Stationwere preceded by a flurry of behind-the-scenes preparations. Final Friday-night rehearsals by the Santa Rosa Symphony reportedly lasted until 11 p.m., as acoustics were fine-tuned. Technical tweaks to the concert Steinway by pianist Lang Lang continued throughout Saturday afternoon, just a few hours before curtain time. Lang Langs Saturday-night concert at the 1,400seat Joan and Sanford I. Weill Concert Hall was attended by California Governor Jerry Brown. Sold-out events created long lines of cars snaking down Rohnert Park Expressway, the centers main entrance road, and some concertgoers even walked down the expressway on foot. Crowds with free lawn tickets came prepared with coats and blankets for 50-degree temperatures on Saturday evening, and parasols and hats for 94-degree daytime heat on Sunday. In preconcert remarks on Saturday night, an effusive Ruben Armiana, president of Sonoma State University, proclaimed the weekend to be the most momentous for this part of California since 1937, the year the Golden Gate Bridge was

completed, and Sanford Weillfor whom the concert hall is named, along with his wife, Joanpointed out the auspicious harvest moon. As previewed at SymphonyNOW last week, this weekend was one long awaited by many, not least of whom is the Santa Rosa Symphony, now Weill Halls resident orchestra. The hall itself is all blond and burgundy, with lots of windows, giving it somewhat the look, as one concertgoer commented, of winery. It also has a bit of a church-like feeling, with its row after row of wooden seats. Unlike church pews, however, these specially designed seats are cushioned and comfortable, with one surprising feature: they make a thunderous noise when 1,400 people sit down in unison, as after a standing ovation. The sound of music from the stage seems clear and warm, neither dry nor too mushy, and fairly equal from different parts of the hall. The back barn door of the hall is opened for some concerts, including all of those this weekend, and the lawn is quite a nice spot to listen from, with two large video screens on the left and right sides of the stage. As will sometimes happen here, though, in early fall, it can be very hot in the day or quite cool at night. As for the concerts themselves, for an Easterner there was something special about hearing the open fifths in Coplands Canticle of Freedomperformed on the Santa Rosa Symphonys debut program on Sundaywhile gazing out windows facing the stark hillside off to the right. One musical moment that sticks in memory is the rhythmically disciplined, intense Beethovens Fourth Piano Concerto, with the orchestras former music director, Jeffrey Kahane, at the piano, and current music director, Bruno Ferrandis, on the podium. The wide-ranging program also included a world premiere, Sonoma Overture, by Nolan Gasser, a local resident. Gassers work used different instruments to pay homage to the regionlow brass and winds to evoke dairy pastures and

wildlife, for example, or soprano sax, violins, and French horns for vineyards. For his solo recital Saturday night, Lang Lang opened the hall with three Mozart sonatas and all four Chopin balladesa program he announced he had not played before. The pianist is known for fingers that can do anything and an occasional habit of conducting himself via left-hand curlicues in the air. The crowd ate it up, especially in the Chopin. As he exited the stage, he gave highfives and bear hugs to Sanford Weill, who has known the performer since his teenage days. On Sunday night, there were whoops and whistles from the large crowd attending the Alison Krauss & Union Station concert. The evening featured the bands virtuosic style of bluegrass/country, with tight vocal harmonies and impressive solos on guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin, violin, and double bass. Their one long set was in fact the bands final performance of a tour that has lasted two years, and the onstage banter was a bit like an extended family preparing to say farewell after a holiday visit. At the end, instead of a single encore or perhaps two, the band performed a handful of short songs, standing in a semicircle around a single microphone, in hushed, reverential tones that seemed just right for a crowd of people clearly very happy to have the band and the new hallin its midst.

This article can be found online at: http://www.symphonynow.org/2012/10/california-dreaming-ii/

TANGLEWOOD-STYLE CONCERT HALL OPENS SATURDAY AT SONOMA STATE

By Paul Liberatore Thursday, September 27, 2012

On Saturday night, the North Bay will be able to boast of a spectacular new concert hall, thanks largely to former Marin residents Donald and Maureen Green. That's when the crown jewel of their Green Music Center, the 1,400-seat Sanford I. Weill Hall, opens on the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park with a gala, sold-out concert by the flamboyant Chinese pianist Lang Lang. Modeled after Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, home of the famed Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts, the hall features a modular rear wall that opens onto an outdoor lawn with seating for up to 3,000.

The opening night festivities will be followed on Sunday by a sold-out concert by bluegrass star Alison Krauss and Union Station. A complex of performance halls, educational and other facilities, the Green Music Center broke ground some 15 years ago with an original gift of $5 million from the Greens. Considered the father of Sonoma County's Telecom Valley, the British-born entrepreneur founded Digital Telephone Systems in San Rafael in 1969, the first company in what would become Telecom Valley.

A former Tiburon resident now living in Sonoma County, Green and his wife are the lead investors in this ambitious musical venture 26 miles north of San Rafael. The Greens also donated $10 million in seed money for Weill Hall, named after Sanford I. Weill, a banking executive and philanthropist who gave $12 million in 2011 to revive the project after it stalled during the economic recession. Other fall events at the center include: an Oct. 27 program with John Adams, conducting his own music, along with works by Stravinsky, Glass and Gershwin, with pianist Jeffrey Kahane and the International Contemporary Ensemble; a Nov. 20 concert by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato with Il Compleso Barocco orchestra; and a Dec. 9 performance of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, performing Handel's "Messiah." Single tickets are $18-$81, depending on the event: for tickets, visit http://gmc.sonoma.edu. Next year's schedule includes Yo-Yo Ma on Jan. 26 and Ann-Sophie Mutter on March 2. Additional note: On Dec. 6, the San Francisco Symphony performs the first of its four 2012-13 concerts at Weill ($15-$145, www.sfsymphony.org). This article can be found online at: http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_21646891/tanglewood-styleconcert-hall-opens-saturday-at-sonoma

GREEN GROWS THE SUPERB WEILL HALL IN SONOMA

By Robert P. Commanday Monday, October 1, 2012 Sonomas dream came true last weekend with the opening of the Green Music Center, 14 years in the planning, financing, designing, and building, capped with a two-year breath-holder until a new area resident, the financier Sanford Weill, came in with a $13 million rescue. The all-out gala began with the Inaugural Concert Saturday night, Lang Langs piano recital, continuing Sunday with a Sunrise Choral Concert, the Santa Rosa Symphonys opening concert as matinee, and, in the evening, a popular concert by Alison Krauss and Union Station. The answer is that Weill Hall is not simply the most physically and acoustically beautiful concert/symphony hall in Northern California, it is also a musical instrument singing forth the finest pianissimos on the piano and fullest sounds an orchestra makes, with a bass response that this orchestra and its audience have never heard before. The sound glows in the ear. The hall, designed by William Rawn and Associates of Boston, architects of Tanglewoods Ozawa Hall (which it resembles), embraces the homely wisdom of the shoebox shape and a commitment to wood. Weill Hall is totally clad in blond wood, with much birch, pine, and fir floors, delicate railings, and trimming of windows, the surround balconies and clerestories, even the

chairs, with slatted backs for acoustic transparency. The theater consultants were (Leonard) Auerbach, Pollock and Friedlander and, importantly, the acousticians were Lawrence Kirkegaard of Kirkegaard Associates. Their work is so fine that if you put your hand on the floor when the orchestra is producing significant sonority, you can feel the vibrant response in the wood. I heard Lang Langs piano from a row near the rear and the Symphony from midhall, to equal effect. One other thing: On Saturday night, the audiences numbered 1,400 in Weill Hall and, with its back wall open, 2,000 more seated on the lawn at tables and beyond; that was later reported as 3,040 total. On Saturday afternoon, the attendance was the 1,400 plus 2,800 under a blazing sun with temperatures in the high 90s (800 people at tables and 2,000 on the lawn), later reported as 4,200; and for the evening pop concert, 4,533. A colleague reported that those outsiders could really hear the music. Weill Hall is not simply the most physically and acoustically beautiful concert/symphony hall in Northern California, it is also a musical instrument Lang Lang, chosen and supported by Sanford Weill to inaugurate the hall named for the philanthropist, produced a program clearly chosen to illustrate dramatically the halls capacities. (He had tested the hall in January.) The first half was Mozart, the piano sonatas Nos. 5, 4, and, the best-known and most expansive, No. 8, in A minor, KV 310. Deliberately and perhaps untypically, Lang Lang played them down, in Romantic fashion to be sure, with sensuous phrasing and tapering, expressivissimo. Playing at the intimate level, dynamics were reduced to the minimum, as soft as the piano can be brought to speak and, of course, reflecting his command. And, wondrously, the sound bloomed as if we were in a small chamber. Performed with minute care, these were still devised interpretations, the best being the A minor, its robust quality asserted and retaining its unfazed self. PANACHE TO THE MAX In the second half, Lang Lang demonstrated his celebrated virtuosity and displayed how the Chopin Ballades, Nos. 1 through 4, could be exploited to the maximum in tempo and dynamic contrasts, in retards, accelerandos, and rubatos, all showing how much a piano could work the room. And, of course, proving that he could play the cascades, roulades, and ripping scales faster and with more panache than anyone else. Whatever Chopin traditions had been set by Artur Rubinstein and the other greats went out the window. Ah, well the audience went for it, hands up, and Lang Lang responded with a more genteel performance of Chopins Nocturne in E Flat, and the Minute Waltz (in perhaps 40 seconds?). Lang Lang announced that this was the first time he had performed any of this program.

After his fireworks came a 25-minute experience of the real thing: The Sonoma skies, frighteningly close to the venue, lit up with the most inventive and dazzling display in my experience. Sundays Santa Rosa Symphony matinee program was the classic one featuring the orchestras two previous conductors and the current one. Corrick Brown, the conductor for 38 years, led Beethovens Consecration of the House, Op. 124, a piece elegantly balanced, not showy, eliciting the warm sound that has come to typify symphonic music, thus initiating the house appropriately. Brown conducted a clear, generously paced, and attractive performance. Already, the sonority of the six string basses affirmed the difference this hall will make to an orchestra that has spent its 84 years in the acoustic doldrums. In spite of that, it has become a leading regional orchestra in Northern California, annually performing seven programs of three performances each, plus single special concerts, to a substantial and loyal audience. The Santa Rosa Symphony has become a leading regional orchestra, annually performing to a substantial and loyal audience. Jeffrey Kahane, Santa Rosas conductor from 1995 to 2006, was the soloist in Beethovens Concerto No. 4, in G with Bruno Ferrandis, Kahanes successor in 2006, at the podium. This had different qualities than Kahanes performance of the Fourth Concerto, which he conducted from the keyboard, a number of years ago. The meditative, reflective qualities in the piano introduction and the slowmovement piano/orchestral confrontation may have been as thoughtful and intimate, but in the outcome of that dialog and the Rondo, Kahane was unusually assertive, playing deep and strong into the keyboard, and pushing tempo insistently in the faster elements of the finale. Ferrandis was a good partner, shaping the orchestra in its role very sympathetically. Next came the Sonoma Overture, commissioned for this event of Nolan Gasser, a composer with a major role in Internet music and a Sonoma resident. Of its first five minutes much motion and no movement I could only think of Maurice Ravels bemused description of his own Bolero, the famed applause machine that concluded this concert: Fifteen minutes of music and no music. But perhaps it was that Gasser had written his way into the piece, because after five minutes of string scrippying and some chimes, the tuba and then the rest of the brass section produced interesting musical ideas and Sonoma Overture finally developed a line with some strength and profile to the end. It might well be a musical description of the history of the Green Center project. Aaron Coplands Canticle of Freedom (1954) then came on, a seldom-performed 14-minute piece of outward public music, wholly in the Copland manner. After a long, eloquent orchestral statement, a chorus composed of the Symphonys

Honor Choir, the Montgomery and Santa Rosa High School Chamber Choirs, and the Sonoma Bach Choir, arrayed in the balcony above and behind the orchestra, sang firmly and confidently. The text was a few phrases repeated manifold times, the first being Freedom is a noble thing, and the others obviously in the same spirit but not intelligible. Forward to a big close. Ferrandis conducted this magisterial inaugural musical rhetoric well. Finally, the Bolero, a big virtual dance and a musical hug for the audience. But hold on to cap it, Ferrandis added Johann Strauss Sr.s Radetzky March, and now all the clapping was in unison. As well it should have been for this Sonoma success. This article can be found online at: http://www.sfcv.org/reviews/green-grows-the-superb-weill-hall-in-sonoma

SONOMA STATE WELCOMES THE MUSIC

By Leah Garchik Monday, October 1, 2012 Lang Lang sat down at the Steinway and played Mozart Sonata No. 5 in G Major, a quiet piece with serene elegance and little bombast. The sound floated forth, over the concert crowd seated in the gleaming auditorium and then beyond, to the picnic crowd seated at tables on the lawn beyond its retractable back wall. And so, the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall at the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center at Sonoma State University opened on Saturday night. The first half of the program was Mozart, the second half (which came with the more dramatic gestures familiar to the pianist's legion of fans), Chopin. Fittingly, Lang Lang said every piece was "for me the first-time performance." He called the Weills "my favorite people in the world." Welcoming the crowd, Sandy Weill noted the lucky harvest moon and recalled meeting the pianist at Carnegie Hall "when he was 17 years old, and he played a pro bono concert for big donors. I introduced him ... and told him, 'I think you're the Tiger Woods of the piano.' " That was 13 years ago. "I spoke to him recently," said Weill. "We have to come up with a new name." Weill said there are 50 million young Chinese students taking piano lessons, and Lang Lang has created a foundation to help young musicians. Cuban-born Sonoma State President Ruben Armiana praised the arts for their "integral part in education," called the new facility his students' "laboratory" and "classroom," and fondly recalled eight violin lessons, after which his teacher informed his father, " I know he has some talent but this is not it." Long ago, when his bride asked him about music for their wedding, said Armiana, he'd suggested "Battle Hymn of the Republic." She didn't go for it. He gave her credit for insisting that he get the hall built.

Music lovers there included many San Franciscans with second homes - and second lives - in the Wine Country. "I'm a farmer in the Napa Valley," said one familiar black-tie wearer, "and I'm seeing a lot of farmers in tuxedos." "Our Sonoma friends are more agricultural," said Kimberly Blattner, "so it's fun to see them dressed up." This joint public/private project of the country mice and the city mice - more like country lions and city lions - was acknowledged with affection. One philanthropist noted there are only a few more than 100 major givers in the Wine Country, where cultural causes are in competition with plans for a new hospital in the southern part of the county. Gov. Jerry Brown and Anne Gust Brown were there, and Nancy and Paul Pelosi, as well as Lynn Woolsey, the Dolbys, Oshers, Owsleys, JaMel Perkins, Maria and Jan Schrem, Cissie Swig and Marjorie Swig, the San Francisco Symphony's Brent Assink, Cal Performances' Matias Tarnopolsky, KQED's John Boland. And Mary and Bob Commanday, parents of the late Ambassador Chris Stevens. Many guests offered sympathies, but words seemed puny. Perhaps the music said more. In the picnic area at intermission, I asked a listener about the sound, which came from speakers all around its perimeter (10 or so camera angles showed the performance on large screens). There was no delay, and "I'm incredibly impressed with the acoustics," said Stu Clark, a sound engineer from Healdsburg. Dinner was designed by Michael Chiarello, chef at Bottega; the table settings were by Thierry Chantrel. And as to unexpected treats for the senses, there were fireworks after the concert and before dinner; there were two rings (a major scale, ascending) of a cell phone during the Chopin, and all night, undeniably, with the back of the auditorium open to the zephyrs, the faintest aroma of that which makes the crops grow. This article can be found online at: http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/garchik/article/Sonoma-Statewelcomes-the-music-3910416.php#ixzz28H0NsWZD

LANG LANG, JERRY BROWN, NANCY PELOSI AT GREEN MUSIC CENTER OPENING
By Gabe Meline Monday, October 1, 2012

When we remember the grand opening of the Green Music Center years from now, well talk about the hall. Well talk about the pianist that was on stage, Lang Lang. But well also talk about the see-and-be-seen atmosphere, and the fact that dignitaries like Jerry Brown and Nancy Pelosi visited the otherwise uneventful suburb of Rohnert Park. Its a marvel, said Governor Brown of the hall, casually sipping a glass of wine near a stage side box seat and chatting amiably with the public during intermission. Im glad to be here. This article can be found online at: http://www.bohemian.com/northbay/hall-of-fame/Content?oid=2315399

LANG LANG CHRISTENS WEILL HALL WITH MUSICAL SPLENDOR

By Terry McNeill Saturday, September 29, 2012

Lang Lang Announcing Chopin Encore in Weill Hall

The show isnt over until the shouting fades away. With the brand-new Weill Halls rear wall raised and the evening breezes flowing, the applause from the second and last encore of pianist Lang Langs Sept. 29 opening recital might have been heard all the way to Petaluma. It was that kind of concert, unique and memorable.

After more than a decade of construction delays and massive cost overruns, the centerpiece hall of the Green Music Center finally opened with the Chinese superstar kicking off a gala weekend of symphony, choral and pops events. Before 1,400 inside and an estimated 1,000 outside, the pianist delivered sonic and musical goods that were at all times exceptionally exciting but at others equally perplexing. The artists recordings of Haydn sonatas are familiar, but the three Mozart sonatas comprising the entire first half represented Lang Langs first traversal of these works in public performance. Nonetheless, the characteristics of Lang Langs Haydn were everywhere in evidence--crisp articulation, scintillating scale passages and sharp rhythmic contrasts. Graceful indeed was the Andante of the Sonata in G, K. 283, and the Presto finale with swift arpeggios and snappy accents was a delight. More reflective Mozart appeared in the dreamy first movement of the E Flat Sonata, K. 282. Here the pianists repose and tranquil tempos were captivating, demonstrating that spiritual excitement doesnt have to be strident. The finale was a feast of rapid crystalline scales, generating loud applause from the audience. It was a performance similar to that of Mitsuko Uchida, but with an added layer of Lang Langs signature romantic mannerisms and subtle teasing of phrase endings. Mozarts A Minor Sonata, K. 310, dramatically closed the first half. Long rumored to be associated with the death of the composers mother, the A Minor is tragic throughout. Lang Lang brought out the sad majesty in the opening Allegro Maestoso, beginning at a furious clip that never subsided until the final three chords. The single-note repetitions in the Andante Cantabile were played slower than usual, with perfectly weighed trills and a singing line in the right hand.

The artist presented a forceful case in the somber but agitated finale. The persistent rhythmic patterns and tricky leaps were accurate, and the momentum was palpable--yet the music never sounded manic. Indeed, all through the Mozart sonatas, Lang Langs control of pianissimo was superlative, and he deftly shaped trills, often with balanced crescendos. His interpretations may not have been Mozart to everyones taste, but I found them effervescent and convincing. The quartet of Chopin Ballades on the second half is a big undertaking for any pianist, each telling a story of grandeur, pathos and nobility hand in hand with formidable technical demands for the performer. Lang Lang fearlessly launched into the popular G Minor Ballade, unfolding the narrative enticingly in each of the seven phrase statements. He played the big legato octaves brilliantly and carefully slowed their downward march. The coda was tremendous, drawing a round of bravos from the audience. The pianist clearly had the well-dressed crowd in his musical pocket at this stage of the recital. A long and simple folk-like introduction begins the F Major Ballade, and Lang Lang played it with restraint, jumping into the subsequent cascades of sonorities with great passion. His strong fingers carried the day in the coda. This approach continued in the popular A Flat Ballade, arguably the least difficult of the four. Here Lang Lang was in a playful mood, underscoring an occasional bass note and stretching the rhythms in the recapitulation. His pedaling throughout produced a perfect legato. The last chords exalted. One of Chopins greatest creations finished the recital: the F Minor Ballade. Inside of 10 minutes of playing time the genius Polish composer presents a broad range of emotions--ardor, resignation, heroism, majesty. Lang Langs traversal of this amazing work was at every turn exciting, but the whole was not

quite equal to the sum of its parts, more so for what he didnt do than for what he did. Technically Lang Lang nailed everything. The double-note passages were sharply etched, and he lingered just the right amount of time in the short chorale section. Just before the coda, where the sonic tension has peaked, Lang Lang played the five pianissimo chords that quelled the fury and heightened the mystery of the stormy final bars. It was mesmerizing and drew a raucous standing ovation. What Lang Lang didnt do in the F Minor Ballade and elsewhere was to celebrate the vocal nature, albeit a dark one, in so much of Chopins music. Toward the end of the Ballade, the great tenor voice and agitated inner left-hand line were sonically lost in the pianists demonic drive to get to the five leavening chords, the hurricane of the coda and the finishing fortissimo. Nonetheless, the reading elicited a tsunami of applause and cheers extending beyond the video screens outside the hall and across the campus illuminated by a harvest moon. Lang Lang offered two encores, beginning with a languorous performance of Chopins E Flat Nocturne, which although tonally splendid needed some rhythmic flexibility. The D Flat Waltz (Minute) followed, incessantly beguiling in its droll effects. The audience roared approval at the last left-hand staccato note (he didn't play the written chord) and recalled the pianist several more times to the stage. Lang Lang is a consummate pianist who clearly revels in giving an audience an intoxicating mix of musical artistry and entertainment, a sterling combination for the Weill Hall opening concert.

This article can be found online at: http://www.classicalsonoma.org/reviews/?reviewid=325&genreid=

MUSICAL FIREWORKS AT GREEN MUSIC CENTER DEBUT

The crowd awaits Lang Lang at the debut of Weill Hall at Sonoma State University on Saturday night.

By Diane Peterson Saturday, September 29, 2012

The new Weill Hall at Sonoma State University made its formal debut on Saturday night with a sparkling recital by one of classical music's rock stars, Chinese pianist Lang Lang, followed by an explosive fireworks show under a harvest moon. The performance by Lang Lang, whose name means brilliance of the sky in Chinese, kicked off the grand opening weekend at the Green Music Center, where three more concerts are scheduled to take place from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. today. Before the concert, SSU President Ruben Armiana and the hall's namesake donor, financier Sandy Weill, welcomed a crowd of 3,400 to the concert hall that took more than 15 years of dogged fundraising and campus controversy before finally opening its doors. The bringing together of education, music and performance has been at the core of this project, Armiana said, thanking his wife, Marne Olson, and the center's more than 1,800 investors and donors. World-class spaces facilitate and inspire world-class education. This is a very exciting moment for all of us, Weill said, pointing to the harvest moon as a lucky sign. To see a music center like this ... will make the university known all over the world. Santa Rosa Symphony Music Director Bruno Ferrandis, who has been rehearsing the symphony all week in preparation for their concert at 2 p.m. today, waxed rhapsodic about the acoustics of the hall, which will serve as the symphony's new home. We are working very hard, but with thrilling sound results, he said. It's such a change.

Guests at the pre-concert reception held in the Prelude restaurant adjacent to the hall were abuzz with excitement about the look and feel of the $145 million music center. Based on the Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood in western Massachusetts, the 1,400 seat concert hall boasts a back door that opens to seating for an additional 5,000 people outdoors, including tables set up on terraces. The hall was designed by architect William Rawn Associates and acoustician Kirkegaard Associates. It's stunning, said Jennifer Webley of Santa Rosa, who donated $2.1 million to the center with her husband, telecommunications entrepreneur John Webley. It's absolutely lovely, and all the better to be full of people. The space is really unique for Sonoma County, said Richard Sweet of Santa Rosa, who donated a 6-foot Steinway to the Green Music Center's education wing. It's very organic and warm. It's calming, and it transports you to a different place. Outdoors on the South Lawn, guests at tables and on lawn chairs enjoyed picnics and bottles of wine under sunny skies and near-perfect weather in the high 70s. It's gorgeous, said Rebecca Leonard of Petaluma, while sipping some Sonoma County cabernet with a ham and roast beef sandwich from Petaluma Market. You would never know you're on the campus. At intermission, after temperatures had dipped, blankets and down parkas were popular attire outdoors. Gary McLaughlin of Healdsburg had a front-row seat at a table just outside the rear doors of the hall, where two giant video screens projected images from the stage. The amplification is subtle enough that it doesn't feel like amplification, he said. And the video is nice, because I'm seeing four or five different angles.

After Saturday night's recital, a gala fireworks show was held just north of the hall, with a pre-recorded music track. But the most brilliant colors of the evening came from the 30-year-old Lang Lang, an energetic showman with a brilliant musical mind, who was chosen to open the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. I adore Lang Lang, said Nicki Bell, a pianist from Sebastopol. His Mozart is exquisite, and he's not just a showman. Dressed in a simple, understated suit, Lang Lang performed three Mozart sonatas in the first half of the program with poetic delicacy, eyes bulging, elbows up and lips creased in an ecstatic smile. You'll notice that it's possible to play softly and yet very vibrantly, said pianist Norma Brown, wife of Santa Rosa Symphony Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brown, who helped raise money for the center. And there's a full sound in the Chopin Ballades, so it will contrast. The pianist took the hall for a test drive back in January 2011, at the behest of banking magnate Weill and his wife Joan, who donated $12 million to complete the hall in March 2011. It's a long time coming, and sometimes it's hard to believe that it's really here, said Alan Silow, executive director of the Santa Rosa Symphony. But the wait is over.

This article can be found online at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120929/ARTICLES/120929425/1/topics10?p=all&tc=pgall

GREEN MUSIC CENTER OPENS THIS WEEKEND AT SSU

By Keri Brenner September 29, 2012 As reported earlier in Patch, the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center at Sonoma State University is opening after more than 20 years of planning. The inaugural program at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall inside the Green Music Center kicks off today, Sept. 29. With the opening of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, Sonoma State University has added a new and significant cultural dimension to this already vibrant community, said Len Auerbach, founding principal of Auerbach Pollock Friedlander, which provided theatre design and consulting services to the new center. The firm also collaborated with the design architect William Rawn Associates, architect of record AC Martin Partners, acoustician Kirkegaard Associates and Sonoma State University. As the centerpiece of the facility, the 1,400-seat concert hall was designed to showcase music and the human voice as well as other performance programming. The center also includes a music education hall, hospitality center and a recital hall still in construction. The hall was modeled after the Seji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, also designed by William Rawn, and features a rear wall that can

be opened to provide viewing and listening from outdoor lawn seating for about 5,000 additional patrons. The hall will be used for the universitys performance program, as a regular venue for the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Bach Choral Society and other Bay Area orchestras. In addition to its formal acoustic environment, the hall provides unique flexibility for staging, variable acoustics, overhead rigging and support for a variety of popular performance events. According to the Sonoma Index-Tribune, the Green Music Center is estimated to cost in excess of $145 million.

This article can be found online at: http://healdsburg.patch.com/articles/green-music-center-opens-thisweekend-at-ssu

GREEN MUSIC CENTER COMES TO LIFE

By Natalie Gray, Arts & Entertainment Editor Tuesday, October 2, 2012 At a little past the promised starting time of 7:30 p.m. this past Sunday night, the blonde, soft-spoken and violin-carrying Alison Krauss strode casually onto the glowing blue stage of Weill Hall, along with her all-male-band, Union Station. The performance was the final of five to initiate opening weekend of the Green Music Center.

Even taking care to arrive a good hour before the performance time, the crowd was unavoidable. Already, the arena was teeming so much with cowboy-bootswearing pedestrians and tight clumps of cars eager to stuff into any available parking space that even a minivan backing itself the campus-owned STAR cart seemed of little surprise or alarm to anyone.

The crowd also made it hard to believe that the event and the actual location was even on Sonoma State property. Used to the almost always-vacant sidewalks (especially on the weekends at night), seeing hundreds of people shuffling their way through the campus to the golden hall was a strange sight. This buzzing and exciting place, surely, could not truly be part of our tiny, quiet school, could it? What was almost as bizarre and unusual a sight to behold as the guest was the actual hall itself. For has what seems like nearly forever, the sight has been nothing but a solid mound of dirt with little use more than housing stationary construction vehicles of various sizes and abilities. Now, though, the lot is paved in smooth cement, perfectly aligned olive trees, a strictly manicured lawn and cool placards of dedication from Joan and Sanford Weill. There were careful paths through ticket and purse checkers, to either an open field or the hall itself and to white tents where you could purchase food, soda or wine and beer. Suddenly, it was very hard to believe that any of this was on SSU grounds. But, just as you could be convincing yourself otherwise, that maybe this wooden, lopsided-looking hall with its large attracted audience and giant televised screens flanking the stage is not really your college, out steps Ruben Armiana, university president. Armiana welcomed the audience to the GMC and expressed this performance, and the four preceding it, as a celebration unlike any other California has seen in a great stretch of time, the last comparable one being the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Next, he handed the microphone to Dan Condron, vice president for university affairs.

About five years ago, we began to discuss who would perform at opening, said Condron. We wanted the definitive sound and voice of American music. He moved to state that they found that there was no better musician that displayed American music at its best than Alison Krauss and her Union Station band. Then, to a standing ovation applause from the audience, Krauss and the band walked onto stage. To say Krauss and Union Station were casual would be an understatement; they strode on stage without the introduction of flashing bright lights or jets of steam nor did they find the need to dance or try to impress the audience at all. Instead, they simply walked to their designated places, their bodies cast in hues of purple and blue from the cascading lights, picked up their instruments and played. Krauss did not speak a word to the audience until after she had performed three songs, the last being purely instrumental. Her voice came as almost a shock; where her singing voice was deep, strong and heavy with throaty emotion, she spoke with a wispy, airy small voice, and looked about the hall she was standing in. Well this is unlike any place I have ever seen, said Krauss. We are honored to be here on your opening night. The hall itself seemed small, in all honesty, when packed fully with people. Wherever you turned, there was someone more likely than not dressed more formally than the very casual jean-and-pony-tail-wearing Krauss. The lighting directed to the stage was the only source of true light in the hall, illuminating the walls and the faces of the performers in colors that varied from

deep purples and blues to bold reds, changing to match the pace and emotion of the songs. The performance itself was amazing. Sheer and utterly amazing. Krauss seemed incapable of hitting a wrong note, a talent that shared with her band. The group had no false pretenses; there was no dancing, no foul language or crude jokes, no scantily clad outfits and no special effects. The audience, the band seemed to know, came to listen to music, so playing good music was their only concern. Krauss herself performed with a calm air, appearing blind to the largeness of her audience and only able to focus on her music. The only time when she see did not seemed wrapped up in the seriousness of her own lyrics was when she picked up and played her violin and a peaceful, happy smile sprayed across her face, eyes closed. Weill Hall is rather un-Sonoma State-ish in its grandeur, but proved a perfectly able host for a very nice concert. Alison Krauss and her Union Station Band were a wonderfully entertaining performance, with their calm demeanor and perfectly performed music and was a very successful end to the Green Music Centers opening weekend.

This article can be found online at: http://www.sonomastatestar.com/news/green-music-center-comes-tolife-1.2917064#.UGywTPmfEzA

LANG LANG AT THE GREEN MUSIC CENTER GRAND OPENING

By Gabe Meline Sunday, September 30, 2012 It started with a gong, and ended with a bang. When we remember the grand opening of the Green Music Center years from now, well talk about the hall. Well talk about the pianist on stage, Lang Lang. But well also talk about the see-and-be-seen atmosphere, and the fact that for one night, dignitaries like Jerry Brown and Nancy Pelosi visited the otherwise quiet suburb of Rohnert Park. Its a marvel, said Governor Brown of the hall, casually sipping a glass of wine near a stageside box seat and chatting amiably with the public during intermission. Im glad to be here. Glad, too, were the other 3,400 estimated people in attendance witnessing this rare, strange piece of history. Strange because of the long, obstacle-laden ride toward opening the hall at a public university, and rare because, really, how often does the governor pop in on Sonoma State University? (Overheard was at least one younger attendee pleading with him to increase funding for education, alas.)

But the whole point of the night was the venues debutante ball, with Lang Lang as its chaperone. After a ceremonial gong pealed from the outdoor balcony, SSU President Ruben Armiana stood on stage to announce visiting luminaries and major donors. Jerry Brown? Oh, he got a polite round of applause and all. He certainly couldnt compete with namesake donors Donald and Maureen Green, the first to contribute financially to the project, who received a rapturous standing ovation. Sandy Weill then took the podium, gazed over the hall that bears his name, and elicited the first unintentional laugh of the night. To see a music center like this being part of the campus of Sonoma State, he said, will make this university known all over the world through our priceless partnership with Mastercard. (It wasnt a joke, but the crowd chuckled anyway.) Before ceding the stage to Lang Lang, Weill also expressed gratitude for the Harvest Moon, meant to bring good luck; if every performance is as special as tonights, the hall may not need it. There are a few reasons why Lang Lang was a perfect choice with which to open the concert space. One is his popularity. Two, his dramatic, flamboyant stage presence is apropos for an event imbued with such importance. But for purposes of introducing the halls fine-tuned acoustics, Lang Langs touch is incredible. Tonight, his notes seemed to emerge out of thin air, and then dissipated just as smoothly. During Mozarts Sonata No. 5, the hall responded to even the tiniest nuance, amplifying each dynamic choice, like droplets hitting a glassy-surfaced lake at dawn and producing pure, clean ripples in the water. After the Mozart sonatas, Chopins Ballades 1 through 4 comprised the second set, where the hall had a chance to bench-press Lang Langs dexterity. At times, the pianist seemed to extend certain phrases simply to hear the reverberation; then again, taking liberties with the score is as much a hallmark of Lang Langs performances as selling the material. And boy, is Lang Lang a power seller

when his fingers hit a key, its not just his finger hitting that key. The force originates somewhere in his back, his feet, the airtake your pickand glides through his body, with a pitstop at the face for emotive expression, to delicately trickle through the epidermal border and finally channel into the piano. At the end of the prepared program, Lang Lang addressed the audience, offmic. I know that we are really proud to have this beautiful hall in this wonderful community, he said. And I know it took a really long time. Then, mentioning it was his first time performing any of the pieces in the program, Lang Lang suggested something familiar: a Chopin nocturne. Another encore followed, the applause was lengthy and hearty, and the lights came up. The concert was over, but the night didnt end there. SSU arranged for fireworks after the set, bursting above patrons in their gowns outside on the red carpet and on the large, expansive lawn. Classical piano gave way to John Philip Sousa, Ray Charles, Kenny Chesney and R. Kelly while huge explosions popped overhead, illuminating the courtyard, the parking lot half-full of Priuses and Lexuses and the VIPs gallivanting at the aftershow gala. Without a doubt, a new era for the arts dawns in Sonoma County.

This article can be found online at: http://citysound.bohemian.com/2012/09/30/live-review-and-photos-langlang-at-the-green-music-center-grand-opening/

HOT CULTURE! HOW I SURVIVED THE GREEN MUSIC CENTER

By Robert Digitale Sunday, September 30, 2012 Many years from now, when they talk about historical cultural happenings, I will be able to say that I was there on that special day in 2012 when the Santa Rosa Symphony played its opening concert at Sonoma State Universitys Green Music Center. That was me hiding in the sea of white tablecloths, using a table and cooler to block out the 90-plus degree sun. I didnt have a lot of company. Most of the hundreds of tables around me sat empty, abandoned while the outdoor concert goers huddled beneath every twig, branch and tree on the outskirts that offered shade. Those inside Weill Hall had paid good money to watch the symphony up close in that gorgeous, air-conditioned space. Most of us on the outside had obtained free tickets that allowed us to take seats on the tiered lawn and peer inside.

On a mild day, the lawn is going to be a fabulous venue from which to watch a concert. The twin jumbo video screens give close-ups of conductors and musicians unavailable to the indoor crowd. And its very nice to sit back at your table as the music plays and nibble on a strawberry, forever linking its sweetness with the strains of Beethovens Concerto No. 4 in G major for Piano and Orchestra. Also, at night Im told the view into the lighted hall looks especially captivating. And for the kids, the best part may be that they actually get to see the man on the outside balcony hit the gong to begin the concert. (Ask your kids whether that gong doesnt look like the one eye of Mike Wasowski from Monsters Inc.) So take my advice and sit on that lawn on a mild day. However, Sunday was not a mild day. Not even close. Nonetheless, the outdoor crowd gamely sat and perspired and applauded and watched for any sign that a breeze might soon be wafting our way. And at intermission we got up and searched for cooler climes. Some of us even walked into the concert hall, where we were treated kindly despite looking like wed just pulled our red faces from a hot oven. After intermission, many never returned to those sunny white tablecloths. The concert, by the way, was historic, as you would expect on the centers gala opening weekend. It was indeed a treat to see conductor emeritus Corrick Brown once more lead the orchestra, as well as conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane return to play the grand piano while the orchestra was led by Music Director and Conductor Bruno Ferrandis. Moreover, I very much enjoyed seeing the orchestra members captured on the big screen making incredible music. When Ravels Bolero began, there was flautist Kathleen Reynolds, my daughters old flute teacher, giving a wondrous solo. Later Santa Rosa High music teacher and clarinet player Mark Wardlaw

played a fine solo. They were just two of a number of great soloists on that piece, showing the depth of talent to be found in this symphony. All in all, it was an unusual opportunity for the greater community to take part in a never-to-be-repeated weekend. It was free. It was hot. It was worth it.

This article can be found online at: http://digitalestories.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/16667/hot-culture-how-isurvived-the-green-music-center/

WEILL HALL TAKES A BOW AT ITS OPENING

By Joshua Kosman Wednesday, September 26, 2012

All Donald and Maureen Green wanted in the first place was a good location to perform choral music. The British-born telecom entrepreneur and his wife, a founding member of the Sonoma County Choral Society, had been ardent amateur choral singers since coming to the United States in 1960. But the North Bay had a dearth of suitable venues for the purpose. "One day I was having lunch with Bob Worth, the director of choral music for Sonoma State University," Don Green recalled during a recent phone interview, "and he complained that it was a pity we didn't have a hall on campus for doing choral music. We started talking about finding a local church with better acoustics. "And before you know it," he added with a dry chuckle, "there was mission creep." By the time the mission came to rest - some 15 years and more than $140 million later - the university was home to the Green Music Center, a vast complex of performance halls, outdoor spaces, educational facilities and meeting rooms. And yes, a space for student choristers - although that is still in the future.

The building and fundraising launched by the Greens' original gift of $5 million are ongoing, but this weekend marks the opening of the center's principal venue, the 1,400-seat Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall. Pianist Lang Lang will officially inaugurate the hall on Saturday night, followed on Sunday by an afternoon concert by the Santa Rosa Symphony - which will now make its home there - and an evening performance by bluegrass star Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. Named for the banking executive and philanthropist whose $12 million gift in 2011 (including a $4 million matching grant) helped revive the stalled building project, Weill Hall is modeled after Seiji Ozawa Hall, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home at Tanglewood in western Massachusetts. The back wall opens out onto a landscaped lawn with seating for 5,000 more listeners, and an area on the east side of the hall of 150,000 square feet, the Weill Commons, will eventually be home to a 10,000-seat amphitheater. The goal, says Sonoma State President Ruben Armiana, is to put the university at the hub of an artistic network serving both the academic world and the larger surrounding community. "The idea was sparked by a visit to Tanglewood and the experience of Ozawa Hall," he said. "But we are not an orchestra, and this is not just a summer place. We are a 12-month, seven-days-a-week place, with a continuous body of students and faculty and staff. So this is an opportunity to educate our students, and also to extend our involvement in the arts to several counties to the north and south and east. Not so much west." The range and variety of activity at the Green Center is certainly impressive. In addition to the nearly two dozen concerts given annually by the Santa Rosa Symphony, Weill Hall will be home to a concert series programmed by Artistic

Director Jeff Langley, in consultation with Robert Cole, the former longtime director of Cal Performances. The inaugural season includes visits by the San Francisco Symphony, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as appearances by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, mezzosopranos Joyce DiDonato and Stephanie Blythe, and the Chucho Valds Quintet. Cole says the hall's intimate design and excellent acoustics - the work of architect William L. Rawn III and acoustician Larry Kirkegaard, respectively - will make it easy to book. "There are so few halls in America that begin with the goal of having the best possible acoustics," he said. "Usually they start with, 'Let's have 3,000 seats.' 'Perfect acoustics' "At 1,400 seats, Weill Hall is big enough to bring in the San Francisco Symphony and even to do opera in concert, but it's still small enough to have really perfect acoustics." Bruno Ferrandis, the Santa Rosa Symphony's music director, seconds the words of praise about his orchestra's new home. "Moving into the new hall has been a drastic and dramatic change," he said. "The sound is incredibly precise and sensitive - you can hear the exact difference between mezzo-piano and pianissimo - and that enables us to create all kinds of shapes and nuances in the music we play."

Although Weill Hall is now complete, the rollout of Green Center continues. Among the facilities still to be completed is Schroeder Hall, a 250-seat recital hall funded by the family of the late cartoonist Charles Schulz and named for the pint-size piano prodigy in his strip Peanuts. 'INVESTOR-DONORS' Armiana, who points proudly to the generosity of over 1,600 of what he calls "investor-donors," says there is still $5 million to $10 million needed to bring the project to fruition. And he's not sure how long that will take. "This project has taken a lot of money from day one," he said. "It always seemed insane, but I felt it was a doable insanity. And I knew that there was a great deal of untapped wealth in our area that with the right project and with the right vision would be forthcoming. "I only wish I had as good a crystal ball about the timing. If I did, I would be a multimillionaire."

This article can be found online at: http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Weill-Hall-takes-a-bow-at-itsopening-3896546.php#ixzz28HQl0aYY

SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE
The Green Music Center is Ruben Armiana's most improbable milestone yeta dazzling jewel with a long road to realization By Nicolas Grizzle Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Five days before the grand opening of the building that is to be the pinnacle of his career, Sonoma State University president Ruben Armiana leans back in his office chair, breathes a reflective sigh and tells a story made for Hollywood. "I made a promise to a 14-year-old boy," Armiana says, "on Nov. 6, 1961. His name was Ruben. And he was leaving his country that day, he was leaving his parents. At that moment, he didn't know if he would ever see his parents or his brother again. He had a lot of wealth with himhe had a dime and he had a change of underwear. But he had this ability to be determined that nobody, be it government or individuals, would ever intimidate him. And he would never retreat in the face of intimidation. And I have kept that promise for 50 years." It's difficult to overstate the magnitude and impact of the Green Music Center, opening this weekend at Sonoma State University. No project has more greatly tested Armiana's promise to himself, over 50 years ago, as he was shipped on a boat from Cuba to the United States. The $145 million performing arts and music education center has taken almost 20 years to arrive at its current state, and is still not entirely finished. The main hall, however, which opens this weekend, has already garnered worldwide attention for its stunning acoustics and dazzling first-season lineup of stars like Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Michael Tilson Thomas, Alison Krauss and Wynton Marsalis. There are few concert halls comparable, let alone ones on a college campus. But to say it was a bumpy road to this weekend's opening is like saying this one guy named Mozart wrote a few good tunes. Just like the works of the famous 18th-century composer, it will only be with the passing of time that the legacy of the Green Music Centerand the legacy of Ruben Armianais truly realized. Is this the president's Spruce Goose? His Hearst Castle? On the cusp of opening night, it's looking a lot more like Carnegie Hall.

OPUS ONE At age nine, living in Santa Clara, Cuba, the young Armiana found himself enrolled in a violin class; his mother believed all educated people should learn to play an instrument. "Halfway through the class," he tells, "the teacher called my father and said, 'Why don't you come and pick up your son? I know he has talent. This is not it. Why destroy your pocketbook, and my ears?' And that was the end of my musical career." Somewhere, the camera is cutting to an image of that violin, engulfed in flames, with the word "Rosebud" on it. If Armiana is making up for being kicked out of the class by building a grand hall for classical music, then, based on the scope of the Green Music Center, he must have really felt bad. THE FINE WAY A nine-foot Steinway concert grand piano arrived at the hall via anonymous donor in 2009. The main hall alone has rightly been declared an acoustic marvel. Featuring six different kinds of wood, the room can be "tuned" for resonance using panels in the ceiling and on the walls. The stage can be pulled out in different tiers for the orchestra or pushed back to maximize performing floor space. Even the chairs, with a total price tag of $1.2 million, have unique, individual bevels corresponding with the slope of the floor, designed for maximum acoustic transparency. Pushing the space into the upper echelon of concert halls is the HVAC system, oversized for its needs, silently keeping the room at a constant temperature for both the comfort of the audience and the tuning of instruments. The back of the hall opens to a terraced lawn, allowing for over 3,000 additional seats. And

though they're technically unnecessary, because the design of the hall shoots sound out the opening at a perfectly audible volume, speakers amplify the audio outside, and 18 downfiring subwoofers shoot sound into the ground for a natural low-end feel. This main hall is only one piece of the Green Music Center, which currently includes a music education wing and top-tier restaurant. When finally completed, it will also boast a 10,000-seat outdoor concert venue and an intimate, 250-seat student recital hall with a full pipe organ. When conceived, the Green Music Center was, in Armiana's own words, "a crazy idea." Even from the start, detractors pointed out its high cost and questioned how it would benefit the universitycriticism that continues to this day. But against all odds, the 65-year-old's dogged persistence, carried to America along with the dime and a change of underwear, prevailed. "The toughest time," he says, "is when it's just an idea." INTONATION "I know that we started fundraising before the tech bubble crashed," remembers Chris Fritzche, a former voice instructor at Sonoma State who later toured with the male vocal ensemble Chanticleer. With only small spaces for music at the time, large performances were relegated to places like the gymnasium, which sounded likewell, a gymnasium. "I don't know what was in their minds," Fritzche recalls, "but the impression I got was for SSU to have a choral hall for the choral program to have a place to perform with a good acoustics." Indeed, this was the vision of Don and Maureen Green, who were members of Bob Worth's Bach Choir in the mid 1990s. Recalled Armiana in a recent email, Don Green "mentioned that he was planning to take his company, Advance Fibre Communications, public, and if that was successful [he] hoped to make a

contribution, about $1 million, to build a choral room for the choir to rehearse and perform on campus. We did not have such a facility." At the same time, Armiana visited Massachusetts with his wife for a concert at Tanglewood's Seiji Ozawa Hall, which had been finished in 1994. "I came back from that visit with the idea of creating an inspired facility like Ozawa Hall at SSU which would combine education, music and performance," he says. After their company went public, the Greens had dinner with Armiana and decided to give $5 million toward the project. The next summer, the Greens themselves visited Tanglewood, and committed another $5 million.

THE BEGINNING At left: The SSU Wind Ensemble performs at the 2001 groundbreaking in the spot where the Green Music Center now stands.

That landmark $10 million donation all but assured the $22 million acoustic masterpiece would be open by the early 2000s. But costs began to rise like the sound of a Prius accelerating onto the freeway. Estimates hit $29 million in 2003. Then $39 million in 2004. It was $60 million in 2005, and by 2007 it had cracked triple digits with a $100 million price tag.

But Armiana never gave up his dream, even after a vote of "no confidence" by the university's faculty in 2007, tied in part to concerns that the GMC was sucking sorely needed funds away from other areas of academia. "I thought [the vote] was unfair," responds Armiana, somberly. "But it clearly pointed out that we needed to be better communicators about the role of the university," adding that "it was part of the politics at that time of very strained relations with the faculty union." ACCELERANDO Armiana says his lowest point, personally, came in 2008 when construction bids began to skyrocket. The price of steel was rising by 5 to 10 percent each month. Estimates were coming in higher than expected. Then, the economy suddenly took a nosedive. The university seemed to be chasing a rainbow. HE ACTUALLY DID IT At right: Ruben Armiana: 'By nature, I'm not a quitter.' But still, "Cabeza Dura," or "Hard Head," as his mother called him, persisted. After $47 million in state bonds helped complete the music education hall, it was decided the rest of the Green Music Center would be funded privately. In nearly every public appearance over the next four years, Armiana pled his case and asked for money. Thousands of individuals came forward with small amounts, but it was the large donors that propelled the project forward when fundraising efforts stalled.

Notable donations included $5 million from Jean Schulz, wife of cartoonist Charles Schulz; just over $3 million from telecom pioneers John and Jennifer Webley; $3 million from formerPress Democrat publisher Evert Person and wife, Norma; $1.4 million from the GK Hardt Foundation; $1.2 million from former OCLI CEO Herb Dwight and wife, Jane; $1 million from the Henry Trione Foundation and $1 million from winery owners Jacques and Barbara Schlumberger. The most notable donation, after the initial $10 million given by the Greens, came from former Citigroup chairman and CEO Sandy Weill and wife, Joan. Weill heard about the project from a neighbor after the couple moved from New York into a $31 million estate on Sonoma Mountain. "I knew we had horses, lambs, sheep, and a lot of land," he said at a press conference in March, "but nothing about a music center." Weill's musical background was limited to playing bass drum in a military band, but his curiosity was piqued. "It really looked like a gem," he said. "I spoke to Lang Lang, and said, 'You gotta do me a favor.'" Soon, Lang Lang, the globally acclaimed concert pianist who opens the Green Music Center this Saturday, visited Sonoma State at midnight to be silently ushered into the main hall for a trial run. At 1:30am, after an hour and a half at the piano, the pianist gave the hall his blessing. Subsequently, Weill gave the hall $12 million. The thing that was once just an idea was becoming more and more tangible. As Armiana is fond of saying, the tires on the car were finally able to be kicked. "If we had not built it to the point we had," says Armiana, "I don't think the Weills would have come in, visited one time and then called back saying, 'How much do you need?'" The reverberations of Weill's involvement were wide. Weill's financial connections led to a $15 million donation from Mastercard to name the as-yet-

unfinished 10,000-seat outdoor performance space. But it also led to some activists vowing to speak the newly christened words "Weill Hall" in the original German pronunciation. DISSONANCE Weill, who did not respond to a request for an interview for this story, is a board member for Carnegie Hall and a noted philanthropist with a history of donating to the arts and to universities. Yet many assert his responsibility in the financial meltdown of 2008, beginning with his flouting of regulatory laws in merging Citicorp and Travelers Group in 1998. Weill then lobbied successfully to repeal the Glass-Steagall act, which opened the doors for other banks to follow his lead and grow too-big-to-fail. He was named one of the "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis" by Time magazine, and there was even a minor protest at 2012's commencement ceremony at SSU, at which Weill and his wife, Joan, were presented with honorary degrees from the university. MAJOR SCALE Above right: Sandy Weill, who with his wife Joan donated $12 million, is the center's largest personal donor. Armiana understands why people felt the need to demonstrate. "There is not a great deal of love at this moment, nationally, toward big banking," he says. But he feels that Weill is not to blame. Citing the House's passage and President Clinton's signing of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, Armiana says laying blame solely on Weill for the repeal of Glass-Steagall "shows a great deal of lack

of knowledge of how the legislative executive process works in the United States." For his part, Weill has since reexamined his position, stating this July that government regulations are necessary to prevent economic collapse. ("I have found him very nimble in his mind," notes Armiana.) Weill's history aside, some faculty believe the GMC has diverted funds and attention away from other areas of the university. In a study released this year by SSU sociology professor Peter Phillips, 14 of 16 department heads interviewed under condition of anonymity said they felt "GMC development efforts directed funds away from the quality of education throughout Sonoma State." Overall, those interviewed felt that the GMC "might not have been the best venture," the study says. "The university has no business being in the concert business; we're in the education business," says Phillips. "All these resources are being put into this music hall, which is essentially for the Sonoma County upper crust." Armiana has not read the report, but allows that he is familiar with it. "I have had encounters in the past that Peter's methodologies have been very biased," he says, choosing not to comment further. Additionally, students and faculty in Sonoma State's music department are eager to see the completion of the 250-seat Schroeder Hall. A medium-sized, acoustically pleasing cousin of the 1,400-seat main hall, Schroeder Hall is the closest thing to the Green's original vision, yet remains unfinished, needing $5 million for completion. In the meantime, most student ensembles meet and perform in GMC 1028 or 1029, which are boxy rooms with odd acoustics. "I believe when Schroeder Hall opens, it will be mostly academic focused," says administrative coordinator Caroline Ammann. "We can get students in there, it's the perfect place."

University CFO and executive director of the GMC Larry Furukawa-Schlereth understands the criticism, but doesn't feel it will stick in the long run. "It's difficult when a project is in the planning stage or building stage for people to fully understand its impact," he says. "Once a thing is completed, people become more aware of the importance of a project." He adds that the controversy surrounding the Green Music Center has not been any greater than any he's experienced on campus, including the Schulz Information Center, which was completed in June 2000, one month after the CSU Board of Trustees approved a master plan adding the 48 acres for the GMC. "Now," says Furukawa-Schlereth, "people can't imagine the university without the operations of the Schulz Information Center. I think the same is true with the music center." CODA Though he exudes a sense of modesty about it, Armiana is, by all accounts, the person who took the idea for a small choral hall and turned it into a worldclass performing arts facility. He persevered in the face of adversity, both financial and personal. "By nature," he says today, "I'm not a quitter." Even when a large donor suggested otherwise, Armiana would not stray from his vision. "I had a conversation with somebody who is no longer on earth," he says, declining to name names, "who said, 'Here, you have my money, why don't you just build a tent to do summer things, et cetera. You can build a really nice tent with the money you've got.'" But straying from the original plan was not an option. "We were never willing to compromise," says Armiana. "There were chances, and requests, to compromise the quality, and the answer was absolutely no. Once we made the decision of what the full scope of the project was, there was never a doubt to do it all."

Does the controversy bother him? "Not at all," he responds, matter-of-factly. The Green Music Center and other capital improvements made under Armiana's tenure (the Schulz Information Center, the Salazar and Darwin Hall renovations and student recreation facilities, among others) will remain integral parts of the educational experience far after he retires, and "if people think I did this to create a legacy, I just don't operate that way," he says. "I think soon, someday," he says, "they will forget Ruben Armiana."

This article can be found online at: http://www.bohemian.com/gyrobase/symphoniefantastique/Content?oid=2314845&showFullText=true

MUSIC DREAMS
THE MAKING OF THE DONALD AND MAUREEN GREEN MUSIC CENTER AND THE JOAN AND SANFORD I. WEILL HALL
By Janet Gray Volkman Friday, September 21, 2012 Dr. Ruben Armiana doesnt play any instrument. Not the bass guitar, not the bassoon, not even the bongos. He had one disastrous violin lesson, his first and last. His favorite composer is John Philip Sousa. And yet, the spectacular Green Music Center was a twinkle in his eye before it occurred to anyone else. That happened almost 20 years ago. Armiana is president of Sonoma State University, and he had always wanted to bring more arts to his liberal arts university. But how? By chance he attended a concert at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestras summer venue in western Massachusetts. The concert was given in the newly constructed Seiji Ozawa Hall, the back of which opens up so people can enjoy music under the stars. During intermission, Armiana wandered into a bookstore on the site and purchased a little booklet about the construction of the stunning new hall. He

read it over quickly, his heart racing. Returning to his seat, he stuck the booklet in his pocket, and said to himself, Now we have a roadmap. Why not have this kind of venue in Sonoma County, he thought. Here in Lenox, Masschusetts, he concluded as he sat back down, scratching a mosquito bite or two, its hot, humid, and buggy. There, its dry, cool, and without flying insects. In addition, his Seiji Ozawa Hall would be attached to a large public university where it could play a major learning role, a lab, as he puts it, for arts students of all stripes. Like many dreams, this one was a long time coming. Groundbreaking in a yellow grass field on a far corner of the university campus took place in 2001. For years, those driving by could see only an odd up-sloping structure rising above the meadow, looking a lot like a ski jump or part of an outsized skateboard park. But on September 29, the building with the curving roof will open to thousands, its 1,406 seats booked months ago, its outdoor tables filled for the Halls debut concert. Chinese superstar Lang Lang will christen the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, Lawn and Commons with a tour de force performance on piano. Some of those attending the concert that night, those with generations of Sonoma County history, may have been shocked to find all this happening in a place where not so long ago there were more cows than people, where imagining anything of world-class culture would have been a stretch. Then came world-class wine, of course, and the rest is recent history. Without Armianas uncensored imagination and the generous donations of Donald and Maureen Green and Joan and Sanford Weill, among more than 1,800 others, the magnificent hall would simply never have happened. But already several concerts are sold out months ahead of their dates.

Those lucky enough to attend the inaugural Lang Lang concert will be in magical territory as soon as they arrive. Theyll walk toward the Weill Hall on Spanish tiles down a path lined by 100-year old olive trees, their gnarled trunks more than two feet in diameter. Theyll enter a grand foyer where donors names are inscribed and, as they find their seats, they will be struck by the stunning simplicity of the place: a symphony in wood and stone, flowing together perfectly like a Bach fugue. Steamed European beech, Douglas fir, and white maple seats, stage, floor, and railings projecting a woodsy feeling of warmth and welcome. The stage on which Lang Lang will sit rises up and down on a cushion of air. Sitting down, visitors are surprised by how comfortable wooden, slatted seats can be, especially when fitted with cushions of three separate layers and densities of foam. Some may not notice, but under each seat is a green circle, several inches in diameter. These circles regulate the halls natural airconditioning. Built over a layer of air, with just the groundthat is, dirtbelow, the hall is cooled by the 59-degree temperature of the earth itself, let in a little or a lot depending on the adjustment of those circles. For the audience, though, the best of what Weill Hall has to offer is yet to come. It is, as it should be, the sound that Armiana says hes proudest of. Lang Langs every note will be heard in crystal clarity due to world-class acoustics engineered by Lawrence Kiergegaard and architect William Rawn, the same renowned duo who created Seiji Ozawa Hall in Massachusetts and whose names were on the booklet Armiana stuffed in his pocket that humid night. Even the seats are acoustically neutral, empty or filled. In fact, each beechwood seat was made by hand with minute adjustments to fit its exact placement in the hall for the sake of sound. Slats that front the balconies are designed to let sound flow through. Window curtains with baffles adjust (by computer!) to suit

the kind of music being played, be it vocal or jazz or a full orchestra. Speakers are everywhere; outside they are hidden underground and in trees so those sitting at the 2,000 tables or on the terraced lawn wont miss the subtle shadings of notes and delicate phrasings even in pianissimo. The stage on which Lang Lang will sit rises up and down on a cushion of air. Its layers of white maple fold into themselves to create a lower, higher or flat surface, as needed. And of course the entire back of the shoebox-shaped hall slides open for the outside audience. When closed, that wall too is acoustically neutral. Once the applause for Lang Lang finally dies out, it will be comforting to remember that this was only the inaugural weekend, just the beginning of an inaugural year encompassing the worlds most distinguished performers in five categories: Acclaimed Classical Musicians, Orchestral Concerts (this is the permanent home of the Santa Rosa Symphony). Vocal Arts Series, Jazz and world Music, and Early Music Offerings.

Big names stand out in all groups. Alison Krauss & Union Station will appear that very first weekend. Later, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter and Vadim Repin, four concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, two with music director Michael Tilson Thomas; vocalists Stephanie Blythe, Elina Garanca, Joyce diDonato, and Barbara Cook will take the stage. Wynton Marsalis headlines the Jazz and World Music series; and Early Music Offerings include Tallis Scholars and Masaaki Suzuki conducting Philharmonia Baroque with original instruments in Handels Messiah.

And not to forget, too, that the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center is not just a concert hall: It is a complex. Shroeder Hall, a 250-seat space for choral works, is already under construction thanks to Jean Schulz, and named after the Beethoven-obsessed Peanuts character her late husband created. And soon Mastercard will construct an outdoor amphitheater for amplified music, dance, and large crowds. A fine-dining restaurant will open shortly. And true to Armianas vision, there is an education center with practice rooms, lecture halls and ensemble spaces that are already attracting new students and dozens of events for Music Department students. Stay tuned.

This article can be found online at: http://www.sonomanews.com/Sonoma-Magazine/Fall-2012/MusicDreams/

PIANIST LANG LANG TO OPEN WEILL HALL AT SONOMA STATE'S GREEN MUSIC CENTER, 9/29
By Sean Martinfield September 26, 2012 Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall officially opens this Saturday, September 29th with a celebratory Opening Night concert featuring Lang Lang in recital, the inaugural concert of the season-long MasterCard Performance Series. Opening Weekend festivities continue on Sunday with a Sunrise Choral Concert, a concert with Bruno Ferrandis and the Santa Rosa Symphony, and an evening performance with Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. Bank of America serves as the overall sponsor for the Grand Opening Weekend. Lang Lang, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, will all perform to indoor and outdoor crowds, utilizing the unique modular rear wall feature of Weill Hall which opens to seating accommodating

up to 4,500 patrons outdoors at tables or on the lawn. Large video screens will bring the concert experience outdoors to patrons at tables and lawn seating, where guests can enjoy food and wine during the concert experiences.

Internationally acclaimed Chinese piano sensation Lang Lang kicks off the Opening Night festivities with a program of Mozart Piano Sonatas and Chopin Ballades at 7:00 p.m. on September 29th. Following his concert, all guests are invited outside to enjoy a twenty-minute fireworks display under a beautiful Harvest Moon in the Sonoma County skies complete with a choreographed musical soundtrack. On Sunday, September 30th, the celebration continues with a 7:30 a.m. Sunrise Choral Concert featuring music composed by Jeff Langley, Director of SSUs School of Performing Arts, and words written by librettist Amanda McTigue. A tribute to the community of Sonoma and supporters of Weill Hall and the Green Music Center, the concert features Sonoma County-based vocal/choral ensembles, guest soloists including Ruth Ann Swenson and university musical ensembles and singers. At 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, the Santa Rosa Symphony takes the stage for the first official concert in its new home. Led by Music Director Bruno Ferrandis and featuring former music directors Jeffrey Kahane and Corrick Brown for the first time on one program, this celebratory concert includes Ravels Bolro, Beethovens Piano Concerto No. 4, Coplands Canticle of Freedom and a world premiere from Sonoma County composer Nolan Gasser. Bluegrass sensation Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas concludes the Grand Opening Weekend celebration with a concert at 7:00 p.m. A bluegrass-themed barbecue precedes the concert with performances by local groups The Brothers Comatose and The Pat Jordan Band, and country cuisine

prepared by Cochon Volant, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Mike The Bejkr Zakowski, and Three Twins Ice Cream. Co-chaired by Marne Olson and Joan Weill, a memorable celebration for more than 600 generous patrons complements the opening night concert festivities. In a community partnership, the talented young people of Santa Rosa Junior College will provide hors d'oeuvres for the pre-concert champagne reception in Prelude. Award-winning Napa chef Michael Chiarello has designed a magnificent menu for the post concert dinner, including local delectables such as heirloom tomatoes, rack of lamb, and a special Chocolate Budino for dessert. Chef Chiarello is supported by the renowned wine-country based Elaine Bell Catering. French landscape, event and floral designer Thierry Chantrel has planned an enchanting dcor for the dinner tent, complete with more than 60 individually designed still life tablescapes unique to each table, beautiful linens from La Tavola, and local and seasonal flowers. A rare, 2007 Year of the Dragon Chinese Cuvee has been contributed by the Sterling Family of Iron Horse Vineyards for a champagne toast as guests arrive. Additional wines contributed for the dinner include a 2011 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca Valley, Chile, provided by Agustin and Valeria Huneeus; a 2010 Patz & Hall Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, provided by Anne Moses and James Hall; and a 2009 Bedrock Wine Co., Lachryma Montis Late-Harvest Semillon from Monte Rosso Vineyard, provided by Morgan Twain-Peterson. MasterCard Worldwide is the series presenting sponsor for Weill Hall at Sonoma State Universitys Green Music Center. MasterCards generous contribution supports the annual MasterCard Performance Series, as well as a future outdoor pavilion for music and dance. The Grand Opening Weekend is generously sponsored by Bank of America.

Additional sponsors include the Koret Foundation, Alexsis de Raadt St. James, the Sterling Family of Iron Horse Vineyards, On Campus Presents, Rudolph and Sletten, Bedrock Wine Co., Patz & Hall, Kosta Brown, Sonoma State Enterprises, and Santa Rosa Junior College. Programming support is also provided by the Edward and Carolyn Stolman Fund, inaugural season lead underwriter; and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, vocal series underwriters. A focal point for music in the region, the MasterCard Performance Series features an array of internationally acclaimed performers including vocalists Stephanie Blythe, Elna Garana, Joyce DiDonato and Barbara Cook; celebrated classical soloists Yo-Yo Ma, Vadim Repin, Wynton Marsalis and Anne-Sophie Mutter; acclaimed early music ensembles Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, Tallis Scholars and Il Complesso Barocco; and Latin jazz greats Chucho Valds and Buika. The Santa Rosa Symphony, Resident Orchestra, offers a full season of programming and the San Francisco Symphony will perform four concerts, two of which are led by renowned music director Michael Tilson Thomas. And beginning in June 2013, Sonoma State University and New Yorks Carnegie Hall will launch a new partnership to include a year-long residency at SSU by young professional musicians, all alumni of The Academy, the prestigious program created by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. As Visiting Artists in Residence, a small number of specially-selected Academy alumni will reside on the SSU campus for a year, fully engaging musically with the SSU community: presenting performances, offering lessons, chamber music coachings, and workshops; participating in community outreach to K-12 schools and other community partners; mentoring students; and coordinating audience development and concert preparation activities in residence halls for on-campus performances, among many other duties. This

marks the first time that Academy alumni will create such an extended residency, working in a university setting. The initial concept for the Green Music Center began in the 1990s with University President Ruben Armiana, his wife Marne Olson, and local philanthropists Donald and Maureen Green all of whom shared a vision of creating a choral recital hall on campus. Over the next few years, an inspiring visit to Tanglewood Music Centers renowned Ozawa Hall led the four to expand their initial vision into a world-class arts center. They realized that the University, nestled in the beautiful Wine Country of Northern California, was an ideal home for a music venue unmatched by any on the West Coast and beyond. Impressed by the acoustic excellence of Ozawa Hall, and intrigued by its indoor/outdoor design, the founders engaged William Rawn and Larry Kirkegaard, the architect and acoustician principally responsible for the design of Ozawa Hall, and San Francisco-based theatre consultant Len Auerbach. Their task was to create a new concert hall for the campus that would recall the spirit and quality of Ozawa Hall, while drawing on the unique physical and cultural environments of the Sonoma County setting. After a strong start and more than a decade of planning and construction, in late 2006 the economy began to be challenging and fundraising slowed dramatically until the beginning of 2011. This is when Joan and Sanford I. Weill newcomers to Sonoma County gave Sonoma State its largest ever cash gift. Their generous $12 million contribution enabled the completion of the concert hall and adjacent lawn and paved the way for the September 29th opening.

This article can be found online at: http://www.examiner.com/article/pianist-lang-lang-to-open-weill-hall-atsonoma-state-s-green-music-center-9-29

GOING GREEN

FIFTEEN YEARS AND $120 MILLION LATER, NORTH BAY MUSIC CENTER OPENS AT SONOMA STATE
By Greg Cahill Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Glitz and glitter will be on display this weekend when the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center, on the bucolic campus of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, opens its doors in grand style with a star-studded series that features everything from a champagne toast and performances by music's elite to a $200 barbecue and a sunrise choral concert. Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang kicks off the proceedings with a recital at the center's Joan and Sanford Weill Hall on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 7pm. At press time, tickets were still available for outdoor lawn seating. At the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, at 7am, audiences can watch the sun rise through the windows of Weill Hall as local choral ensembles and soloists perform. The Santa Rosa Symphony will take the stage of its new home at the center at 2pm, at a program of Beethoven, Copland and Ravel, as well as a world premiere of a work by Petaluma composer Nolan Gassser, led by current conductor Bruno Ferrandis and former SRS music directors Jeffrey Kahane and Corrick Brown. Then, on Sunday night, at 7:30pm, 27-time Grammy-winning fiddler and vocalist Alison Krause and Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas, will brings their celebrated bluegrass to Weill Hall (also viewable from the lawn and adjacent commons). The Green Music Center opens 15 years and $120 million after its groundbreaking. It was first conceived by North Bay technology magnate and amateur vocalist Donald Green as a recital hall for singers.

Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, violin virtuoso AnneSophie Mutter, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, soprano Barbara Cooke, the San Francisco Symphony, Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (under the direction of Kahane), Latin-jazz legend Chucho Valdez, and singer Lila Downs are among the other acts newly announced to appear. The center will house several education programs, including a residency with classical concert violinist and USC Thornton School of Music educator Midori Goto, and an unprecedented partnership with New York's Carnegie Hall that will offer yearlong fellowships with the Academy, a prestigious music-education program that is a joint venture of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, the Weill Music Institute and New York public schools. This is the first time that Academy alumni have created a residency with a public university. The venue, fashioned after the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home at Tanglewood in western Massachusetts, will be the new home to the Santa Rosa Symphony. The back wall of the shoebox-shaped center can be opened so performers can face out to the terraced lawn area. The center also includes the smaller 250-seat Schroeder Hall, sponsored by Jean Schulz, a Santa Rosa resident and widow of Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. This article can be found online at: http://www.pacificsun.com/news/show_story.php?id=4775

EDITORIAL: SONOMA STATE'S SOUND OF MUSIC

Friday, September 28, 2012 Sonoma County steps onto a larger cultural stage today when the renowned pianist Lang Lang performs at the Don and Maureen Green Music Center. It's taken longer and cost considerably more than anticipated, but Sonoma State University President Ruben Armiana is finally achieving his ambitious vision: opening a concert hall on the Rohnert Park campus that rivals any in the nation. It will make Sonoma State a unique campus where people from all over the world will want to come, said Sanford Weill, a former Citigroup chairman and the largest private benefactor of the $145 million music complex. For most patrons, a visit to the Green Music Center is likely to mean attending a performance in the 1,400-seat concert hall named for Weill and his wife, Joan. With its 53-foot high ceiling and polished-wood panels, the room is designed for pitch-perfect acoustics. A retractable wall opens to an outdoor lawn with seating for another 3,000 people.

But the Green Music Center is more than a dazzling concert venue. It's also the home of Sonoma State's music program, with a wing of new classrooms and practice space for student musicians. A 250-seat recital hall named for Shroeder of Peanuts' fame is not yet completed. Plans also are in place for a 10,000-seat amphitheater, a year-round outdoor music venue befitting the Bay Area's climate. This grand facility sprouted from a $10 million gift in 1997 from the Greens. They hoped to provide Sonoma State with a proper choral room. Armiana imagined more, a West Coast equivalent of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony, and set about raising millions of public and private dollars to create it. There have been discordant notes along the way rising costs, two withering recessions and campus controversy, including the faculty's vote of noconfidence in Armiana in 2007. Challenges lie ahead, too. Another $15 million is needed to finish the recital hall and the amphiteater, with ongoing fundraising to help meet the annual operating budget of $3 million. Booking performers is a competitive business, and new concert halls at Stanford University and in San Francisco will be looking to build audiences, too. On this day, however, let's stop to recognize this achievement and toast the debut of a spectacular new attraction for Sonoma County.

This article can be found online at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120928/OPINION/120929496?p=a ll&tc=pgall

GREEN MUSIC CENTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT LANG LANG TO OEPN $145 MILLION MUSIC HALL AT SSU
By Dave Williams Friday, September 28, 2012 The public finally gets a chance to judge whether the Green Music Center (GMC) on the campus of Sonoma State University is worth its $145 million price tag and all the controversy involved in building it. The GMC makes its highly anticipated debut on Saturday, Sept. 29, with world renowned pianist Lang Lang as the first performer at 7 p.m. in Weill Hall, named after major benefactors Sanford Sandy and Joan Weill. The Sunrise Choral Concert will be held Sunday at 7 a.m. in Weill Hall, followed by 2 p.m. Orchestral Opening by the Santa Rosa Symphony at Weill Hall and Lawn. Opening weekend winds down with a performance by Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas at Weill Hall. Those who have been able to hear music inside Weill Hall on a preview basis all agree the GMC will take its place among the finest music halls in the world. This is a fantastic facility in an unbelievable part of the world, said Weill, who along with his wife Joan, donated $12 million to help complete the state-of-theart hall. Not only will the center create an innovative learning environment for students, it will provide an economic boost to the area and help diversify its tourist base.

Still, there is more to be done to complete the 600,000 sq. ft. facility. The 250seat Schroeder recital hall and an outdoor pavilion that will seat 10,000 people is around $15 million away from completion. There were several critics who felt the building of the GMC would turn into a multi-million dollar boondoggle, especially when considering the project began with modest aspirations. It was originally planned to be a choral auditorium that ran in the price range of $10 million. Obviously, plans expanded into making the GMC what appears to be among the crown jewels of music centers. No one bore the brunt of criticism more than SSU President Ruben Armiana. He was on the wrong end of a no-confidence faculty vote in 2007 when it was deemed the center was too expensive for the university. This came in the face of state funds for education being slashed and the cost of tuition rising at an accelerated pace. Armiana stood firm in his belief SSU could build a music hall that can stand up against any in the world. We have thought about this day for more than 15 years, Armiana said. During a visit to Tanglewood (Mass.) in the early 1990s, my wife and I had a breathtaking experience and an idea. That idea was to build a world-class music center on the Sonoma State University campus, with many similarities to Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. Not only would such a place enhance the university's academic growth, but it would provide a remarkable venue for attracting and highlighting significant performers for the campus and the community. In 2007, frustration mounted for Armiana as the project stalled, but a midnight meeting with Weill, Lang Lang and other SSU officials turned the tide. Weill saw the unfinished hall and inquired as to how much it would take to complete the project. He gave $12 million ($4 million of it a matching gift) to complete the majority of the music center. Since then, local donors have helped bring Armianas vision to fruition. Extraordinary members of our local community have shared this dream and championed the cause, including the faculty and staff of the Sonoma State University, the State of California and the California State University system, Donald and Maureen Green, Corrick and Norma Brown, Jean Schulz, Norma and Evert Person, Joan and Sandy Weill, and hundreds morewho together brought this vision to reality," Armiana said. This article can be found online at: http://www.thecommunityvoice.com/article.php?id=5436

CONSECRATION OF THE HOUSE: WEILL HALL OPENS

By Janos Gereben Monday, October 1, 2012 The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, the dazzling 1,400-seat heart of Sonoma State University's $130 million Donald & Maureen Green Music Center opened this weekend with two festive and sold-out performances. On Saturday, it was a recital by Lang Lang; Sunday afternoon, the hall's resident orchestra made its debut. Santa Rosa Symphony was conducted by Music Director Bruno Ferrandis, featuring his predecessor, Jeffrey Kahane as piano soloist, and former Music Director Corrick Brown in the opening Beethoven Consecration of the House Overture. There is no question about the hall's appearance: it's all light-colored wood, with light pouring through the windows (silent air conditioning battling the 90degree heat successfully), airy, graceful an elegant, appealing structure, giving "barn" a good name. The windows make Weill Hall look even better than its architectural twin, Tanglewood's Seiji Ozawa Hall. Both venues, by architect William Rawn Associates and acoustician Lawrence Kirkegaard, feature a back wall that opens up, allowing hundreds of additional listeners on the lawn. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, the free attendance there attracted more than a thousand people on each occasion.

And now, to the matter of acoustics. I did not attend the Lang Lang recital, but heard a piano in an empty Weill Hall before and it was stunning. Listening while walking around, the sound appeared clear and rich from every spot. On Sunday, listening from one place in the center of the orchestra section, with 1,400 bodies absorbing the sound, and the back wall open, the experience was different. The good: The sound appears from a single source, without echoes; reverberation time seems exactly right. The problem: Instruments upstage low strings, woodwinds, brass sound somewhat mushy, veiled. Those familiar with Disney Hall's clear, (over)bright acoustics would understand what is meant by calling Weill Hall the opposite. Violins downstage on either side of the conductor, and the piano in the concerto, were better. Until the San Francisco Symphony and other orchestras play in the hall, it's difficult to say how much of that sound differential was a matter of acoustics or what role the Santa Rosa Symphony had in it. Brown conducted the opening National Anthem and the Beethoven overture, the orchestra still warming up, but both violin sections in full bloom. Ferrandis took the baton for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, with Kahane at the keyboard. Balances picked up, tempos were consistent, the solo performance varied. There was something excessively blustery at times in Kahane's performance in the Allegro and Rondo, but the Andante worked well, and both cadenzas while a bit on the loud side were virtuosic, clear, and expressive. Nolan Gasser's brief Sonoma Overture for Orchestra, a commissioned work, had its premiere. The 10-minute overture from a well-known Petaluma composer, impressed with its complex and effective orchestration, but did not leave a lasting memory.

The Santa Rosa Symphony Honor Choir, Sonoma Bach Choir, Montgomery High School, and Santa Rosa High School Chamber Singers contributed to Copland's gnarly, rarely-performed Canticle of Freedom. Lack of clear diction and the acoustics from the choral platform above the orchestra made the 14thcentury text impossible to understand. (Copland used John Barbour's 1395 poem about the value of freedom.) Saving the best for last, Ferrandis and the orchestra as an ensemble and featuring brief solos by numerous instruments shone in Ravel's Bolro, rushing inexorably into that mighty finale. In addition to Weill Hall, the center also includes: The Music Education Hall, of seminar rooms, ensemble/rehearsal rooms, practice studios, musical activities rooms, faculty and administrative offices The 250-seat Schroeder's Recital Hall, planned with a high ceiling and curved walls, serving choral music, but also accommodate classes Prelude: a special event, wedding and meeting facility, with an exterior patio, featuring pools, fire pits, and an arbor overhead.

This article can be found online at: http://www.sfcv.org/article/consecration-of-the-house-weill-hall-opens

LUSH SUNRISE CONCERT IN WEILL FEATURES LANGLEY COMPOSITIONS AND ELEGANT SINGING
By Phillip Beard Sunday, September 30, 2012 Its hard to imagine a more fitting setting than the Sept. 30 Sunrise Concert for the popular as opposed to elite inauguration of the palatial, pre-legendary Weill Hall in the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University. You know something special is going on when you fill a 1,400-seat hall at 7 a.m., most of those 1,400 still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. The elite inauguration, the one with all the tux-and-gown pooh-bahs and the solitary rock star, had of course taken place the previous evening, hugely impressive with its pomp and circumstance and speeches and its stunning recital by the worlds current leading pianist Lang Lang . This Sunrise Concert, by contrast, was entirely home-grown and consciously community-oriented: a choral program created by SSUs own composer Jeff Langley and poet/drama coach Amanda McTigue, performed by a phalanx of local choruses and soloists and a 14-piece instrumental ensemble, the Sunrise Players, drawn primarily from the Santa Rosa Symphony. The conductor was SSU choral director Jenny Bent. Host Lynne Morrow, another SSU music faculty fixture, welcomed the crowd invitingly and inclusively, delivering her own paean to the beautiful shared

space, an instrument that tunes us, and rehearsing the audience for its singalong role in the ode to music that would end the concert. Then we were launched gently, first silently (what a magic moment of shared introspection!) then with brassy fanfare into a marvelous eight-song mlange of full-choir, small-choir, solo-voice, dual-voice, and instrumental numbers sometimes merging one into the other, sometimes ending on glorious full chords. They ran the musical gamut from mild harmonic edginess (in Fanfare: Make Music) to hymn-like strophic loveliness (The Loving Cup), to pop-tune sing-along good vibes (Every Little Minute). The texts, each a masterly poem in its own right, roamed from the sundry roles that music plays in our lives to the love that binds us together, whether intimately (Love Is Our Lot) or communally (The Loving Cup and Every Little Minute). This triple focus, the interweaving of three thematic elements love, music, community provided the backdrop for myriad glistening moments. My favorites included soprano Carol Menkes several stellar solos; the velvet trio offered by Jeff Langley at the piano, soprano Jenni Samuelson, and the amazing countertenor Chris Fritzsche, serendipitously blessed by the dawn sun rising over the hills to the east at the very moment of the vocal line Its the angle of the light, Its the fading of the hills. In the Sunrise Players both Kathleen Reynolds flute and Roy Zajacs clarinet playing stood out with warm resonance, along with the descant purity of the Santa Rosa Childrens Chorus. The larger ensemble, made up of the Maria Carrillo High School Chamber Singers, the SSU Symphonic Chorus, Cantiamo Sonoma, and the aforementioned Childrens Chorus, sang with thundering richness.

A star performer throughout the concert was the hall itself and its acoustic spectrum, ranging from pianissimo delicacy and crispness to full-on Mahlerian boom. It was simply a delight to experience. This article can be found online at: http://www.classicalsonoma.org/reviews/?reviewid=327&genreid=

SANTA ROSA SYMHPONY ORCHESTRAL OPENING AT THE GREEN MUSIC CENTER

By Gabe Meline Monday, October 1, 2012 By now, youve read about how many millions went into the Green Music Center, youve seen photos of Sonoma County movers and shakers in tuxedos and gowns, youve read about the halls world-class lineup and perfect acoustics, and maybe youve thought, Oh well, Im not part of Santa Rosas upper crustdoubt Ill ever be able to go there. Guess what? Its just not true. Although last nights grand opening twinkled with glitterati, from Nancy Pelosi to Governor Jerry Brown, todays Santa Rosa Symphony opening offered a look at exactly how the common person can enjoy the place. White-collar donors, blue-collar fans, yall. I was headed to the hardware store today, to be honest, and I was certainly dressed for the plumbing aisle in cutoffs, tennies, and a T-shirt. Halfway to Friedman Bros., though, the lingering buzz from last nights opening caused a spontaneous left turn onto Petaluma Hill Road to get myself to the 2pm symphony opening. Ive been watching the Santa Rosa Symphony for 25 years, I thought to myself, and Im going to miss Corrick Brown, Jeffrey Kahane and Bruno Ferrandis inaugurating a beautiful new venue. . . . so I can work on plumbing? Am I nuts?

So, bypassing the long line of Lexuses clogging Petaluma Hill Road near the Green Music Center, I parked my clunky old car in the south lot of SSU and caught the shuttle. (This is tip No. 1.) Waited for a while in line at the box office, and then asked, Do you have any lawn tickets? Yes, they did. Whats more, lawn tickets were free. Thats right: F-R-E-E. I felt underdressed for a symphony opening, but lots of other people out on the lawn were wearing shorts, too. Some were eating hot dogs. Others were laying flat on their back in the grass. A few dudes were drinking Lagunitas IPA. See those trees down the side of the concrete walkway in the photo below? Thats considered lawn, too, meaning you can sit just as close for a fraction of the costwe sat far off to the side, but still, right up front. So, yeah, did I mention the concession stands? Formerly, the Santa Rosa Symphony food offerings were limited to wine and cookies. I scanned the menu today, which included salads, wraps and fruit bowls, and got a burger. It was five bucks. Another three bucks bought my three-year-old a hot dog. Thats half the cost of ballpark prices, right there. And about that three-year-old of mine. Theres no way I could have brought her to a grand opening of the symphony at its old home. Outside on the lawn seemed like a safe bet. Being able to talk to her about the pieces, the instruments and the performers while we listened to the music and watched the jumbotrons on either side of the lawn made it a special daddy-daughter outing her first symphony. Those with kids, take note. Yes, it was hot. But thats another bonus of the lawns casual nature: if you want to leave, you just get up and leave, without worry of disapproving stares from the benefactors circle. Plenty of tables were abandoned by the end of the program, and we bailed just before the end of Bolero to beat both the heat and

the traffic. In doing so, we passed even more people who were lounging around barefoot, fanning themselves in tank tops or flip-flops, or just plain sleeping on the ground. Sleeping on the ground, at the symphony! Crazy! From the Notebook: What a treat it was to watch Corrick Brown conduct again, and yet the highlight for me was Jeffrey Kahane, whose piano playing Ill take over Lang Langs any day. His notes have far more definition, and unlike Lang Lang, he extracts from the score what the composer truly intends instead of what he believes will most titillate the crowd. . . . Symphony Executive Director Alan Silow waxed the usual rhapsodies about the hall, predicting that in ten years, Sonoma County would become as well-known a destination for the performing arts as we are for our wine. But he also delivered a veiled reference to election year, noting that the emotional connection music provides can be a really healing force in a divided world. . . . Charlie Schlangen, symphony board president, thanked several of the halls donors, and Don and Maureen Green stood up to receive another sustained, thunderous standing ovation . . . Seated applause for all the others. Schlangen also thanked the city of Santa Rosa, and the Santa Rosa Visitors Bureau; if Im not mistaken, there was no mention of Rohnert Park from the stage. You might think this a curious omission for a Rohnert Park-situated orchestra, but between retaining the name Santa Rosa Symphony and applying for and receiving a $15,000 grant paid for by a business improvement tax on Santa Rosa hotels, the symphony clearly has designs on keeping ties to its hometown. Their main offices are still right across from Santa Rosa City Hall, so what the hell. . . . Oh! Kudos to Nolan Gasser, composer of Sonoma Overture, written for this daythe piece danced along fantasticallylively, triumphant and very early-20th-Century-American-sounding. After the orchestra pounded out the final downbeat, the hall erupted, and Gasser himself came from the wings for his bow. Always a treat to stand and personally applaud the

composer. . . . Over at the PD, theres possibly the worlds eeriest photo of Bruno Ferrandis. Someone cast this guy in a Lars Von Trier film! . . . And I gotta say, the tradition of the gong being struck at the beginning of all shows at the Green Music Center is a fun one, presumably with rotating honors, like throwing in the first pitch or ringing the NASDAQ morning bell. Note to self: new life goal. Strike gong.

This article can be found online at: http://citysound.bohemian.com/2012/10/01/review-and-photos-santa-rosasymphony-orchestral-opening-at-the-green-music-center/#comment260172

SR SYMPHONY TRIUMPHS IN FIRST INNING AT GREEN MUSIC CENTERartic

By Steve Osborn Sunday, September 30, 2012 Before the Santa Rosa Symphonys inaugural concert in the new Green Music Center on Sept. 30, the audience was warned that there would be lots of opportunities for applause, but that didnt stop them from delivering repeated ovations throughout the blazing Indian Summer afternoon. The first came before a note had been played, when Don Green was introduced. Without him there would be no Green Music Center, and the full house rose applauding to acknowledge his presence at the back of the hall. As Santa Rosa Symphony Executive Director Alan Silow noted in his opening remarks, one word captures the essence of the music center: wow. Its a 10 on the wow Richter scale, he exulted, gesturing to the magnificent architectural surroundings, which were at their absolute prime in the glowing autumnal sun. Light streamed in through all the windows, and fresh air through the wide-open back wall, beyond which stretched a sun-drenched crowd that seemed as large

as the one inside. Mr. Silow expressed the hope that, thanks to the music center, Sonoma County would become as well known for the quality of its culture as for the quality of its wine. With that aspiration still hanging in the air, conductor emeritus Corrick Brown strode upon the stage and bid the orchestra and chorus to rise for a spirited rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. The anthem began with a drum roll at the back of the hall, followed by thunderous playing and singing from the stage. When it was over, nobody shouted, Play ball, but the effect was nonetheless the same. The audience was ready for action. First up to bat was Mr. Brown himself, who stayed on stage to conduct Beethovens Consecration of the House overture, an almost obligatory opening piece for new concert halls. Brown, who is in his 80s, shows no sign of slowing down, and he conducted the overture with panache, even eschewing the customary baton. The tempo was stately, the musical lines distinctive, the crescendos effective, and the balance excellent. The basses were particularly resonant, their low notes seeming to meld with all the surrounding wood. After the applause subsided, the stagehands wheeled out a Steinway concert grand perilously close to the edge of the stage. The instruments player arrived a few minutes later, in the person of conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane, followed by the symphonys current conductor, Bruno Ferrandis. Both men were warmly greeted--another standing ovation--and then took their respective at-bats with Beethovens Piano Concerto No. 4. Mr. Kahane eased into the concertos distinctive opening with real feeling, bringing out each note to the full. Moments later the orchestra matched his subtlety with a remarkably smooth entry. The back-and-forth between the pianist and the orchestra built in intensity throughout the movement, with both

moving irresistibly forward. The acoustics in the hall seem especially well suited for piano sound. Every note is clear, even in the most dense runs, and the dynamic contrast between pianissimos and fortissimos is palpable. Mr. Kahane used these acoustic advantages to the max. One trill in particular started off as a roaring lion but rapidly morphed into a purring kitten. The artist himself was a study in metamorphosis, often leaning back and staring up as if receiving energy from above, then suddenly plunging forward into the keyboard. At other times, he shook his head, arched his eyebrows and closed his eyes. His playing in the cadenza was exceptionally memorable, and the transition back to the orchestra was exquisite. The brief second movement was as ethereal as it gets, compounded by the remarkable quietude of the hall itself. No one dropped the proverbial pin, but there was a distant airplane flying by. The concluding Rondo began at a rapid pace, showcasing Mr. Kahanes furious energy and bravura runs up and down the keyboard. A syncopated section with the violas was distinctly effective, with piano and strings meshing tightly despite their rhythmic divergence. The tempestuous ending brought an equally tempestuous ovation, the third of the day--but whos counting? The applause, however, was soon replaced by a smattering of complaints when people on the east side of the hall realized they had few alternatives other than long lines for reaching the main lobby on the west side. For all its magnificence, the music center might benefit from a couple sessions with a foot-traffic engineer. The second half began with another overture, this one the world premiere of the Sonoma Overture by Petaluma composer Nolan Gasser. The work began with rapid quintuplets and other short phrases in the strings. The effect was one of murmuring yet rapid motion. The sound became more distinctive with the

addition of a marimba, but pretty soon everyone got into the act, and the piece transmuted into a fanfare evoking the local scenery. It was pleasurable but not quite indelible. Far more consequential was the next offering, the rarely performed Canticle of Freedom, for orchestra and chorus, by Aaron Copland. Originally composed for the opening of Kresge Auditorium at MIT in 1955, the canticle is classic Copland with wide-open chords and broad harmonies. The beginning is enchanting. The themes open out gradually, interspersed with hunting calls, and a tense expectancy hovers in the air. Mr. Ferrandis was clearly in his element, using restrained clocklike motions to usher in each new musical line as the music continued to build to a shattering climax punctuated by a resonant gong. After a trumpet solo, the choir entered with the words of the medieval Scottish poet John Barbour: Freedom is a noble thing! Every word was distinct, and the choral sound was full and rich. With around 100 singers drawn from the Sonoma Bach Choir and various student choruses, the assembled multitude could make itself heard above the orchestra, although the balance was sometimes tenuous. The key phrase, however, rang out with consistency. Freedom is indeed a noble thing. Just as Beethovens Consecration of the House is almost de rigeur for inaugurating concert halls, so too is Ravels Bolero for showing off all the orchestras various sections, starting with the percussion, spreading to the woodwinds, sweeping up the strings, and culminating with the brass. Its a nolonger-young persons guide to the orchestra, easily distinguished from Benjamin Brittens orchestral guide for young people by its underlying eroticism. The playing in this instance was exemplary. The snare drum never varied from

its incessant rhythmic figure, and the pizzicatos were pointedly perfect. Each woodwind and brass solo was better than the last, culminating in a stupendous trombone riff. Toward the end all one could do was to sit back and luxuriate in the veritable cloud of orchestral sound. As before, Mr. Ferrandis was in complete control, ushering the orchestra step by step from the opening pianissimo to the final thunderclap. Yet another standing ovation. Moments later, the audience got a chance to use its hands in a more musical fashion, clapping along with the Radetzky March, a favorite encore by Johann Strauss the elder. They clearly enjoyed Mr. Ferrandiss exhortations to clap loudly or softly, as befitting the music, and everyone got an idea of what its like to make music together. Its a noble thing.

This article can be found online at: http://www.classicalsonoma.org/reviews/?reviewid=326

REVIEW AND PHOTOS: ALISON KRAUSS AND UNION STATION AT THE GREEN MUSIC CENTER
By Nicolas Grizzle Monday, October 1, 2012 I used to sell meat. My favorite part of the day was sampling our bacon. Our bacon was real, thick-cut, how-it-should-be bacon, which many members of the public had never experienced. Their reaction always began at the eyes, then traveled up to the brow before sinking into the rest of the face and, sometimes, weakening the knees. It was something they were familiar with, but just didnt know what it was really like, or how good it could be. After seeing Alison Krauss with Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas, last night at the Green Music Center, I now know that feeling from the other side of the counter. It was maybe halfway through the concert that everything came together in a rush of emotion, and Krauss emotional songs might have played a factor, but I was holding back tears when the realization hit me. Nothing will ever sound better than inside this hall. This is quite possibly the best-sounding band, the

most professional engineers, in the most gorgeous acoustic space I will ever experience. This is the French Laundry of concert spaces. This was the first non-classical concert in Weill Hall, the five-carat diamond amongst the surrounding gems of the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University. In addition to Krauss and Union Station wrapping up the festivities, this opening weekend included a gala opening concert with pianist Lang Lang, a sunrise choral concert with original music composed for and dedicated to those involved with the creation of the center, and an afternoon performance by the Santa Rosa Symphony, which has the privilege of calling the hall its home. In comparison to the previous evening, which was full of tuxedos, Versace gowns, politicians and formal stuffiness, this was a decidedly blue-jeans event. There were even people dancing on the lawn, the mood was so jovial. The weather was perfect, absolutely perfect, and I cant help but see exactly what drove SSU President Ruben Armiana to create this indoor-outdoor concert space. In fact, though my seat was inside the hall, I strode outside in the second half to see what it was like, and honestly I preferred sitting on the lawn. Of course, weather permitting and musical style taken into account, it wasnt inconceivable that the best seats in the house were, in fact, not in the house at all. The two large LED screens flanking the opening to the concert hall were a little too bright, but what they showed was beautiful. Close-ups of the band, their expressive faces, their lightning-fast picking all dissolved with slow fades. Combined with the excellent, natural sound coming from both the hall itself and reinforced with high-hanging speakers and downfiring subwoofers (18 of them), this was the best outdoor sound I have ever heard. I had a tough time hearing some of the stories and witty banter between songs, but I suspect that had more to do with the storytellers turning away from the microphone for a moment. Cant amplify sound thats not there!

The band played together for about an hour before Jerry Douglas gave a solo performance on Dobro guitar, which blew me away from my 10th-row seat. Even with a stack of speakers in front of me, the sound was natural, even, pleasing and rich. Not once did this sound engineer turn to look back in the direction of the mixing board to suggest something unpleasant was happening. In fact, I would like to give a written high-five to the engineer for the evening. You did the hall justice. You got on that balance between acoustic and amplified and walked the tightrope all night long. And when the band came back for an encore set, using only one microphone, they were right there, too, blending themselves using distance and dynamics between voices and instruments. Douglas announced this was the last stop of their two-year (!) tour. They were so musically tight and having so much fun, it seemed like they felt at home. At one point, Krauss turned to the balcony crowd behind her and waved, turning back to the microphone to say, as understated as her music, This like no other place Ive ever seen.

This article can be found online at: http://citysound.bohemian.com/2012/10/01/live-review-and-photos-allisonkrauss-and-union-station-featuring-jerry-douglas-at-weill-hall/

MUSIC FOR EVERYONE AT NEW GREEN MUSIC CENTER

By Diane Peterson Monday, October 1, 2012 The crescendo of excitement surrounding the grand opening of Weill Hall at Sonoma State University reached a climax Sunday with a dawn-to-dusk, allAmerican trio of concerts spanning the heights of local and national talents. From an uplifting choral concert at sunrise to an orchestral showcase in midafternoon and a rollicking bluegrass show at sundown, the musical marathon at the Rohnert Park campus drew more than 10,000 audience members throughout the day, giving a taste of the diversity of music to be presented at the $145 million Green Music Center in the months and years to come. The biggest event of the day came last, when bluegrass maven Alison Krauss and Union Station with Jerry Douglas took over the stage a little after 7:30 p.m.

and got toes tapping and hands clapping with traditional, Americana tunes and ballads. The concert was mostly acoustic, but the voices were miked. We knew we wanted the definitive sound and voice of Americas music, said Jeff Langley, artistic director of the Green Music Center, while introducing the band. There is no better representative of American music at its best than Alison Krauss. The laid-back concert drew a sold-out, capacity crowd of 6,000, who wore cowboy hats and jeans, down vests and denim jackets while sipping wine outdoors at the tables and on the lawn, where the temperature had cooled into the high 60s. Among those seated inside the hall was Gary Humbarger of San Francisco, who was given a ticket at the last minute by friends in celebration of his 50th birthday. Ive seen her many times, he said of the multiple Grammy-winning Krauss. She has a very pure, crystal clear voice, and shes an amazing fiddle player. She tells good stories, too. Coming on the heels of Saturday nights sold-out, gala recital by pianist Lang Lang, the early morning Sunrise Choral Concert was a quiet and contemplative affair, with the rear wall of the hall closed but a full house of 1,400. About halfway through the free 40-minute program, which featured original songs by Langley, the suns rays peeked over the Sonoma Mountains and flooded the eastern half of the hall with sunlight.

I dont think Jeff Langley could have predicted the dramatic effect of the light pouring through the windows, said David Marsten of Calistoga, a board member of the Santa Rosa Symphony. We have been dreaming of this moment for many years, and it surpasses all expectations. Arnie Carston of World of Carpet One and a major donor to the hall, was especially moved by the song, The Loving Cup, which was dedicated to Telecom entrepreneur Donald Green and his wife, Maureen. The couple kicked off the fundraising effort in 1996-97 with a $10 million gift to SSU for a choral recital hall. I was crying like a baby in there, Carston said after the early morning concert. The Greens have never lost heart. At times, it was like a yo-yo, up and down. And today, hes still alive to enjoy this. The tempo on campus quickened before the 2 p.m. concert by the Santa Rosa Symphony, which drew about 4,200 people inside the hall as well as on the outdoor terrace and lawn area. Those who did not arrive at least an hour in advance, however, faced traffic jams on the roads leading to the northwest corner of campus, where the Green Music Center and the main parking lot are located. But those who arrived on campus in advance had plenty of time to park and find their seats. We got here at 1 p.m., and parking was fine, said Sandy Sandine of Santa Rosa. You cant expect to park like at the Wells Fargo Center. things will settle down. Welcoming the audience, Santa Rosa Symphony Board President Charlie Schlangen thanked the donors and announced that the stage of Weill Hall had

been named in honor of Santa Rosa Symphony Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brown and his wife, Norma. Were so lucky to be here, Schlangen said. This will help us achieve our vision of becoming one of the leading regional symphony orchestras in the U.S. This is a transformative moment seldom afforded any American orchestra, said Santa Rosa Symphony Executive Director Allan Silow. In 10 years, Sonoma County will be known as much for our quality arts as we are known for our quality wine today. The orchestra program kicked off with a rousing rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner and Beethovens Consecration of the House Overture, both conducted by Brown, who led the symphonys fundraising efforts for the hall. Next up, Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane performed a glittering and upbeat Beethovens Concerto No. 4 with Music Director Bruno Ferrandis conducting. I had full body goose bumps during that concerto, said Floyd Ross, former executive director of the Green Music Center. When I go to concerts around the country, Im always frustrated because I cant hear the piano. The second half of the concert was filled with shorter works, including a world premiere of Sonoma Overture by Nolan Gasser of Petaluma, Aaron Coplands Canticle of Freedom for orchestra and chorus, and Ravels hypnotically rhythmic Bolero. I just closed my eyes, and I could hear every single instrument, Sonoma County Supervisor Shirley Zane said. Bolero was fun because there was a dance going on between the snare drummer and Bruno. Those seated outside included lots of families with kids, who proceeded to dance and tumble down the hillside while the music played.

I would not be able to bring Lena, my 3-year-old daughter, to the symphony otherwise, Gabe Melin of Santa Rosa said. Its casual out on the lawn, and that accessibility didnt exist before. The one drawback to sitting outdoors was the soaring temperature. At intermission, patrons who had been sweating in the direct sun scrambled for shade and water after temperatures reached the mid-90s. The sound is excellent, but it is hot on a day like this, said Katherine Williams of Sebastopol, pouring water over her head. I had heat stroke, and I had to get under the table. SSU President Ruben Armiana and his wife, Marne Olson, who were the driving forces behind the hall, attended all three concerts on Sunday, as well as the Saturday night recital. Fifteen years ago, I said I want one of those, Armiana said Sunday night, addressing the crowd before the Alison Krauss concert. Today, you have one of those. This article can be found online at: http://rohnertpark.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2012/10/news/music-foreveryone-at-new-green-music-center/attachment/krauss/

GREEN CENTER: A VISION DELIVERED

Sonoma State University President Ruben Armiana in the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall in the Green Music Center.

By Jeremy Hay Saturday, September 22, 2012

Sonoma State University's $145 million Green Music Center, after a final boost from a banking magnate, is set to open Saturday, catching attention around the country. The opening is a decade later than first projected. In the 15 years since the dream was launched and 12 years since ground was broken, the center has been a costly tale of aspiration and controversy, hindered by slippery economic slopes and elevated by startlingly rich support. It's happening, said SSU President Ruben Armiana, whose legacy will be marked indelibly by a project for which he has been shepherd and cheerleader from the start. Despite all the doubt, it's happening, he said, pleasure and relief clear in his voice. About $15 million still is needed to complete the 250-seat Schroeder recital hall and an outdoor pavilion for 10,000 people partially funded by a Mastercard sponsorship. But the 600,000-square-foot music center feels whole in a way it never has before. And Armiana who always has characterized it in understated terms as a union of education and culture now takes flight when articulating his vision for it. It will help us all think about and be challenged about what the world is and could be, through different lenses of the mind and the senses, he said. The center's chief private benefactor, former Citigroup CEO and Chairman Sanford Sandy Weill, paints it as an institution that will become a cultural gathering place with international appeal, heightening SSU's profile while serving as a resource for at-risk youth.

It will make Sonoma State a unique campus where people from all over the world will want to come. It is ambitious, but I think it's doable, Weill said. All the PR is right, he said, referring to Sonoma County's renown as a food and wine center, its temperate climate and the concert hall's nascent but blossoming reputation. Through the years Armiana has absorbed steady criticism, at times sharply personal in nature, for his unwavering (detractors called it stubborn) attachment to a constantly expanding vision of a world-class music hall at a small public university. A runaway ego thing, environmental sciences professor Steve Orlick said in 2010 when it was announced that $30 million more would be needed for the project. What was originally planned as a $10 million choral auditorium grew in scope to the current facility, priced at almost 15 times that and containing concert and recital halls, a restaurant, an outdoor amphitheater, practice studios and classrooms. In the interim, state education funds were being cut and tuition was on its way to doubling. Skeptics on the SSU faculty revolted. Armiana suffered the indignity of a 2007 faculty no-confidence vote partly driven by concerns that the center was an indulgence that the university could ill afford and was detracting from SSU's academic mission. But for now the glow of the well-polished wood in the three-story Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall appears to have muted that history of conflict, delivering the moment fully to Armiana and music center boosters. While critics remain, even some of the most persistent credit the university president with a major achievement.

Our concern was that there wouldn't be the resources that was the big fear, that all of a sudden the academic side would find themselves paying huge bills. But those have diminished because of Ruben's ability to pull in the money, said history professor Robert Karlsrud, dean emeritus of the school of social sciences. No reasonable person, in his wildest dreams, could have believed this could happen, that he could put this out there and raise this kind of money. Nobody, Karlsrud said. Sonoma County telecom pioneer Don Green launched the center in 1997 with a $5 million gift that he later doubled. Over the years, other local philanthropists stepped forward to push it along. But partly because of expansion of the project, and also due to rising construction prices, the costs kept mounting: $63 million in 2005; $100 million in 2007; $120 million in 2010. At the same time, fundraising lagged, suppressed first by the dot-com crash and then the recession. The project ground to a standstill in 2007. Privately, community leaders who had stood behind Armiana's vision began to express frustration, even doubts. Then, early last year, in a moment that Armiana hardly could have orchestrated better, Weill and his deep pockets emerged from the wings onto the music center's white maple stage. Weill gave $12 million $4 million of it a matching gift to complete the heart of the facility, its concert hall, which is now named for him and his wife, Joan. The center's incomplete state, along with the hall's acoustics, figured in his decision to invest, Weill said. They didn't take an easy route of shortcuts but basically stopped until they could continue to do it right, he said, recounting a midnight meeting with SSU

officials in the unfinished concert hall at which the Chinese pianist Lang Lang, who will perform on Saturday, spent more than an hour vetting the 53-foot-high room. Soon after the meeting, Weill asked how much was needed to finish the hall. The man who built Citigroup into what became the world's biggest bank arrived in Sonoma County in 2010, buying a 362-acre estate in the hills west of Sonoma for $31 million. Longtime supporters of the project knew then that their investments in money and in faith in Armiana's abilities finally had borne fruit. The bigger it got, the bigger the stretch was in being able to raise that kind of money in Sonoma County, said Herb Dwight, the one-time CEO of the former Optical Coating Laboratory and an early backer of the project. In my mind, it was a real godsend that Sandy Weill arrived on the scene, said Dwight, who with his wife, Jane, has given $1.2 million to SSU for the center. Having that clout associated with a project in a fairly modest community has given the project quite a boost, he said. Officials at the Santa Rosa Symphony, which will be the center's resident orchestra and which committed to fundraising for it in exchange for 25 rent-free years, also breathed a sigh of relief. It's a long time coming and obviously there were obstacles unexpected along the way, said Alan Silow, executive director of the symphony. We're elated. As opening night approaches, observers say the music center is poised to hit a high note, with a scheduled performance lineup that includes Lang Lang, Alison Kraus, Yo Yo Ma, Bill Maher and the Santa Rosa and San Francisco symphonies.

This is very ambitious, and it's also got a lot of interesting, very diverse programming, said Laura Zucker, executive director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and director of the Master in Arts Management Program at Claremont Graduate University. It's classical, but it's much more than that. It looks very cool to me, she said.

This article can be found online at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120922/ARTICLES/120929831/1/topics10?p=all&tc=pgall

GREEN CENTER FACES TOUGH CHALLENGES

Weill Hall is the heart of the $145 million Green Music Center at SSU. The last major unfinished project is an outdoor amphitheater, upper right, that will seat 10,000 people.

By Jeremy Hay Saturday, September 22, 2012 On the verge of its inaugural weekend, the Green Music Center has positioned itself well in the high-stakes competition of top-shelf performing arts venues, experts say.

It's spectacular, Peter Lane, president and CEO of the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Ark., said of the center's first season lineup, a mixture of classical music heavyweights, jazz, world music and opera performers, comedians and political celebrities. I think they're going to hit an absolute home run the first season, he said. Beyond season one, however, the center will confront an array of long-term challenges. Those include attracting a broad audience and competing in aregion already rich with performing arts venues with two more opening soon, at Stanford University and in San Francisco. You see a honeymoon effect often when new halls open, but you're in a competitive market, Lane said. Further complicating the future is that the Green Center is not a separate entity, but part of Sonoma State University. To avoid burdening the university's finances, it must bring in enough from ticket sales, donors and corporate and foundation sponsors to cover its $3.3million operating budget. It's a substantial nut, said Herb Dwight, the one-time CEO of the former Optical Coating Laboratory, who was one of the center's first major donors. First-year ticket revenue will be something under $1 million, said the center's artistic consultant, Robert Cole, formerly director of Cal Performances, the booking organization for UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall. He and others believe Weill Hall will be the core of the center's success if managed correctly. This is not just another theater. This is one of the greatest concert halls in America, so it has to be done right, Cole said. It has to be seen, really nationwide, as a destination.

Larry Furukawa-Schlereth, SSU's chief financial officer and also the music center's executive director, offers a similar assessment. The approach will have to reflect the uniqueness of our venue. There's not a venue like this anywhere in the western United States, he said. The goal is for the hall to take its place among the Bay Area's prominent attractions, said its principal private benefactor, financier Sanford Sandy Weill. In addition to all the other great things that San Francisco and the area provide, this will be one more venue that people will want to go see, he said. Sustained quality of the programming, though not the only factor, will be key to its success, industry observers say. The music center could be very exciting and fill a niche not presently being filled, said Laura Zucker, executive director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and head of Claremont Graduate University's master in arts management program. That's going to be driven by phenomenal programming people can't see anywhere else, she said. Green Music Center officials say they know that programming is one of the most important tasks they face. We have an extraordinary first season, everyone is very, very proud of it, Furukawa-Schlereth said. Once you begin with that, you want to maintain it. It's an ongoing commitment that the university has. The second-season lineup at the center's Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall named for Weill and his wife is largely set, but cannot be announced yet, Cole said. Other challenges include enlarging the potential audience, said Cole, whom SSU hired as a consultant in 2011 largely because of his stellar industry connections.

We need to bring an audience from outside the county in order to make this a viable center artistically and financially, he said. It can't be that you run a place like that just with people who live there already, the population just isn't large enough. That challenge has a flip side, Lane said: The real question is, Is there a market for this much classical music concentrated in your marketplace?' I hope there is. Sustained financial support also is integral to the center; such performing arts venues typically bring in about half their revenue from ticket sales, relying on other sources for the remainder, experts say. It's mostly about who's going to finance this thing in the long term, said Bruce Thibodeau, president of Arts Consulting Group, a national arts sector management firm. Are the major donors, the champions of this project, willing to continue to finance at least the first five years, which are critical? Thibodeau asked. That's the challenging part. In its favor, Zucker said, is that the music center is a part of the university and it's got the larger safety net of a much bigger budgeted institution. It doesn't live or die as a contained unit with a box around it, she said. The goal, Furukawa-Schlereth said, is to try and make it self supporting, and efforts to develop an operating endowment to help with ongoing expenses are under way. Having stepped in to push the capital campaign over the top, Weill is now seen as a major player in solidifying the music center's future. It's going to take someone of Sandy's contacts to get it to a point where it's self-sustained, Dwight said. That's the challenge at this moment, and I have no doubt he and his friends are going to pull it off.

Weill said last week that he is committed to that. It is something that my wife and I both agree to, and we're spending a ton of time at the university really working with everyone and working on how to make it work, he said. As long as we're still standing, we think that this is a very, very important thing that can affect the lives of a lot of people and we're thrilled that we have the opportunity to work on it, he said. Also, said Furukawa-Schlereth and Cole, an outdated 2008 business plan is being rewritten as a strategic plan for the future. They really need to rework what they had based upon reality, what we see, and that's under way. It's just a matter of getting through this weekend, Cole said. Frankly everyone's been so over-stressed about the opening and just getting it going, everyone's just hanging on by the fingernails, he said. The first weekend is sold out. That's a good business plan right there.

This article can be found online at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120922/ARTICLES/120929830/1/topics10?p=all&tc=pgall

DEEP POCKETS HELP MAKE GREEN CENTER A REALITY

Joan and Sandy Weill donated $12 million to the Green Music Center on the SSU campus to complete the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall.

By Jeremy Hay Saturday, September 22, 2012 If the story of the Green Music Center has a tempo, it has been set by money.

In 1997, Telecom Valley leader Don Green and his wife, Maureen, gave Sonoma State University $10 million to build a choral auditorium modeled on Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, in Lenox, Mass. The Santa Rosa Symphony in 1997 pledged to raise $10 million toward the facility. Winery owners and symphony board members Jacques and Barbara Schlumberger gave $1 million to the effort in 1999. It was estimated then that the music center would cost $47 million and that the 1,400-seat concert hall would open in 2002. But a wrenching economic slowdown brought on by the bursting of the dot-com bubble dried up private and corporate donations. SSU said it would build the project in phases. In 2003, the concert hall was put out to bid; the lowest bid came in more than $6million over budget. The project suffered an even stiffer setback in 2004, when bids again came in high, more than 35 percent over budget. Construction was delayed indefinitely. Then, later in 2004, Sonoma State University President Ruben Armiana outlined a new plan: The music center would be a public-private venture that would include an academic wing paid for by state education-facilities bonds. It puts the whole project together as it was originally conceived, Armiana said at the time. That year, the total cost of the center was pegged at $63 million. Two years on, projected costs hit $87 million and the opening was projected for 2008. By the decade's end, that number had grown to $100 million, fueled partly by rising construction costs.

It kept climbing and today, with about $15 million still needed for a recital hall and an outdoor pavilion, the total cost is estimated at $145 million, said Larry Furukawa-Schlereth, SSU's chief financial officer and executive director of the new music center. Major donors have included: California taxpayers, who have footed about $47 million in bills for construction and furnishings of the academic portions of the complex. Jean Schulz, wife of Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz: $5 million. The late Evert Person, former owner of The Press Democrat, and his wife, Norma: $3 million. Telecommunications executive John Webley and his wife, Jennifer: $2.1million. Herb Dwight, onetime CEO of the former Optical Coating Laboratory, and his wife, Jane: $1.2 million. The Trione Foundation, founded by financier and businessman Henry Trione: $2.1 million. Estate of G.K. Hardt, Santa Rosa auto dealer: $1.3 million. Sanford Sandy Weill, former Citigroup CEO and chairman, pushed the facility over the top in 2011, with a $12 million gift. And this summer, Weill arranged a $15 million deal with MasterCard Worldwide to sponsor the outdoor pavilion.

This article can be found online at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120922/ARTICLES/120929829/1/topics10?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar