El Vaquero

Issue date: 5/28/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Fabienne Niederberger Lynne Ludeke, center, expresses thanks to conductor Theodore Stern, right, while Chris Krambo displays a list of more than 300 works the orchestra has presented over the years.

The auditorium buzzed with excitement as hundreds of people, young and old, swarmed the aisles, anticipating the glorious music their ears were yearning to hear. On stage, music stands and chairs sat unattended, longing for the moment that the sounds of feet could be heard, as the musicians quietly sauntered to their proper places.


On May 18, the music department presented the annual spring concert, performed by the Glendale College Community Orchestra and conducted by Dr. Theodore Stern in the college auditorium.


This night's performance would be unlike any other, being that this was Stern's last concert as conductor.


Music could be heard as a film played on a white screen, showing a younger, dark-haired Stern fiercely conducting the 1986 Glendale College Community Orchestra. As his baton struck the air, keeping a steady common time, the musicians played German composer Richard Wagner's 1840 "Rienzi Overture."


As the film ended, the musicians, many with instruments in hand, made their way to their seats - some tuned up, others waited. The orchestra consists of students from the college and Glendale community members.


The audience hushed as the concert mistress, Lynne Ludeke, made her way to center stage. She warmed up the orchestra with her violin, playing single, long notes, ensuring that the musicians were in-tune and ready.


Applause erupted from the audience as Stern emerged from stage left, smiling and waving to the audience as he made his way to the conductor's podium.


The first piece was "Mars" from Gustav Holst's 1916 score, "The Planets." Inspired by the Roman god of war, this piece was nothing short of an epic battle between good and evil.


"Mars" began with a steady war-like percussion, beating like the sounds of soldiers' boots, marching off into war. The strings accompanied, playing short, staccato-like detached notes, emphasizing the march into battle. From the depths of darkness, the winds bellowed, bringing a foreboding sense of the chaos to come. As the volume began to crescendo, so did the intensity.

Continued...

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