Written By Jordan Rosenfeld
A
s the South Valley Symphony
enters its 46th season under
Music Director and Conductor
Anthony Quartuccio’s steady leadership,
the community’s love of symphony music
is booming.
Quartuccio said the Symphony’s
audience is growing along with interest
from area musicians, due to the value
that the South Valley community places
on music and the arts.
“When this area was a rural
community, keeping an orchestra together
where there were not a lot of musicians
was a testament to the dedication
and loyalty of this group of people,”
Quartuccio said. “It has been consistently
alive in a place that, for many years, was
difficult to recruit people.”
Thanks to the Internet and social
media, the Symphony’s visibility within
50
the performing arts community contin-
ues to grow, and the orchestra can swell
from approximately 30 to as many as 65
members at any given performance.
The Symphony presents four stage
performances per year, in October,
December, March and May. This year’s
theme is “The Spirit of Music.” Two of
the performances typically take place
in the theater at the Gilroy campus of
Gavilan College, a long-time partner
of the Symphony. Other performances
have been held at popular venues
such as Mission San Juan Bautista, and
Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill.
This year, Quartuccio supported
Gavilan College’s 100th anniversary
by playing two pieces composed by
a faculty member and a graduate of
Gavilan. All members of the Symphony,
from the board members to the
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
FALL/HOLIDAY 2019
musicians and Quartuccio himself, are
dedicated volunteers.
“Ours is a community orchestra that
consists of largely non-professional but
very dedicated and passionate amateurs,”
he said. “What makes it work is a core of
people in the community who really love
the subject matter.”
While they may not be professional
musicians, the quality of their musician-
ship makes it hard for the average
listener to discern any difference.
Professional musicians may be able to
afford more expensive instruments,
and be under more pressure to play
with intense polish, but according to
Quartuccio, “In general you get a lot of
enthusiasm from a community orches-
tra that you don’t always get from a
professional orchestra.”
The musicians invest a lot of time in
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