Geo.Matthews Terry McNeill
History of the Concerts Grand Series
Beginning with recitals in 2003, Concerts Grand was the creation of producers George Mathews and Terry McNeill, Sonoma County residents and historians of piano performance practice. In Northern California, there were all-classical piano seasons in Sacramento and Fresno, but nothing in the San Francisco Bay Area or on the North Coast.
The initial business plan was to eliminate the committees and programming/artists selection procedures of many musical organizations, and to manage an annual slate of solo recitals with a three-person board and closely held, flexible decision making. This has continued through the beginning of the 2008/9 season, although without the august counsel of Mr. Mathews, who died in 2006.
The first season, all in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Newman Auditorium, featured William Corbett-Jones (San Francisco) in the opening recital, followed by Cynthia Darby (San Diego), Antonio Iturrioz (Guerneville, CA), Peggy Nance (Santa Rosa) and New York’s Gila Goldstein. A practice of inviting the entire audience to a garden party following the final recital of the season commenced after Ms. Goldstein’s mighty performance of the Brahms-Handel Variations, and has continued into the sixth season.
In 2004/5, the performers were: Deborah Clasquin (Arcata, CA); Nicholas Zumbro (Tucson); Virginia Eskin (Boston) and Donald Manildi (College Park, MD). The third season featured pianists Zeynep Ucbasaran (Santa Barbara), David Viscoli (Mankato, MN), Evgeni Mikhailov (Kazan, Russia) and Joseph Banowetz (Frisco, TX). The year began with an all-Brahms concert honoring Santa Rosa pianist Norma Brown, and colleagues Corrick Brown (piano), Joseph Edelberg (Violin) and Carol Menke (soprano). The event drew the largest audience ever for a concert in Newman Auditorium, 246.
International virtuoso Garrick Ohlsson opened the fourth season with a memorable program, including Liszt’s B Minor Sonata, and Concerts Grand produced for the first time recitals outside of Sonoma County. At the JB piano store in San Rafael, Halida Dinova (Moscow, Cleveland), John Boyajy (Novato) and Dmitri Rachmanov (Moscow, New York) played. In Santa Rosa Mr. Ohlsson was followed by Andrei Korobenikov (Moscow, London), Danny Glover (San Francisco) and Ken Iisaka (Mill Valley, CA). At Mendocino College, north of Santa Rosa, Concerts Grand produced its first Ukiah recital with William Corbett-Jones.
Just completed, the fifth season was unique in several ways. A single recital, in association with the Guzik Foundation, was presented in a private home in Belvedere, with Konstantin Alexeev (Moscow) at the Bosendorfer. Additionally, the first two-piano recital in the series was held at JB, with artists Marilyn Thompson (Petaluma, CA) and Roxanne Michaelian (San Mateo, CA). Concluding the Marin season was Mill Valley pianist Elenor Barcsak. Ukiah expanded to host two concerts, with local pianist Elizabeth MacDougall and Peggy Nance from Santa Rosa. The actual Santa Rosa season was extensive, beginning with Ksenia Nosikova (Russia, Iowa City), William Wellborn (San Francisco); 16-year old Lauren Xie (Rohnert Park, CA) and Marin artist Jean Alexis Smith (Stinson Beach, CA). The sixth season is displayed on this website, with the highlights expected to be the Jon Nakamatsu Celebration Recital and Elena Ulyanova’s West Coast Debut in Tiburon with a gala buffet.
In summary, Concerts Grand’s goal is to produce only solo classical piano recitals, using small halls, no advertising and moderate ticket prices. Instruments include a Grotrian 274, Mason & Hamlin BB, Steinway (Hamburg) D, Yamaha CF111 and a Baldwin SD10B.
If you love the piano, you belong at the North Bay’s Concerts Grand recitals!
 Terry McNeill, Producer |