Rachael Worby winds up her more than decade-long service to the Pasadena Pops at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 when she will conduct her final concert with the Pops in the venue she inaugurated this season, the lawn adjacent to the Rose Bowl. The program is a tribute to Hollywood musicals with guest artists Doug Masek, saxophone, and Jodi Benson, vocalist. Here are a few thoughts about what this very popular conductor achieved during that time.

Rachael Worby arrived on the San Gabriel Valley scene in 1999 with a clear vision of what she wanted to accomplish.
“Great music from the classical repertoire, superb Broadway, solo singers…mix Jimi Hendrix and Josef Haydn…discover great music and play it,” is the way Worby expressed her goal. “I want people to say that I brought music to the world without being stuffy about it.” She did, no doubt about it.
During her stay with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, Ms. Worby went farther than that. She introduced serious music to young people, often disadvantaged youth, through a series of programs, all of them successful.
At Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, through her enthusiasm and an indefatigable spirit, Worby made certain her concerts represented all phases of music. A look back at reviews of concerts reveals an array that is extraordinary. In her second season with the Pasadena Pops, there was a program that included “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, Vaughn Williams’ “Greensleeves”; portions of several classical pieces including Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherezade”, Sebelius’ “Finlandia”, Tchaikovsky’s “March Slav” and Copland’s “Fanfare for the common Man”. That night, the featured guest artist was Fred Strickler who tapped danced to a Morton Gould concerto written for solo tap. The eclectic nature of the music coupled with the garden setting was instantly popular, in time allowing for two-night concerts. Ticket sales soared and financial support from the community followed.
While audiences lined up for tables and seats in the intimate garden setting of Descanso Gardens, she was equally busy developing programs for youth. One of the most successful was the “Side by Side” which allowed talented young musicians to be mentored by one of the professional members of the orchestra then sitting side-by-side with the musician during at least one concert. Several participants are now on their way to substantial music careers, but the program was designed to encourage an appreciation of fine music. Other programs were created with The Sycamores and with the Los Angeles Rotary Club.
On her website, she is quoted as saying, “We need to align public schools with non-profit organizations and the corporate sector.” She was successful in attracting corporate sponsorship so that “we have 250 students who now have something in their lives I’m sure will remain the single most remarkable thing that ever happened to them.”
If Ms. Worby has her way, the world will learn to respect the world’s finest music, its outstanding solo artists, but have fun along the way.
Worby leaves behind a creative atmosphere that is equal parts good music, fine guest artists but most of all a lot of fun.
Rachael Worby will now take on a new challenge as she directs the Angeli Ensemble in a program of children’s classics. She will be presenting “Saturday Morning Mash-ups” at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica there. She will continue conducting orchestras for famed singer Jesseye Norman.
Note: Rachael Worby announced last week that rather than renew her contract with the Pasadena Symphony Association she will conduct the final summer concert of the Pasadena Pops Orchestra on Sept. 25, “Hooray for Hollywood” at the site she inaugurated with the orchestra, adjacent to the Rose Bowl. She moves to the Broad Stage in Santa Monica to develop a music program for youth in January.

By Bill Peters, Music Editor

No one has done more for implementing modern works for the double bass than Sierra Madre resident Tom Peters. Tom has performed solo bass works of just about every modern exponent of the avant-garde music world. His upcoming concert at Cal State Long Beach at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17 is a sampling of a variety of compositions and style now in vogue.
Peters will perform six pieces: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Lux in Tenebris” (“Lead Kindly Light”); Nguyen Thien Dao’s “A Mi K Giao Tranh”; Franco Donatoni’s “Lem: Due Pezzi per Contrabasso Solo”; Jan Seger’s “Dragonflies”; Alvin Lucier’s “Tribute to James Tenney for Double Bass and Pure Wave Oscillators”; and the world premiere of Ken Walicki’s “Light”.
As a member of Southwest Chamber Music, Peters was a part of the “Ascending Dragon” program, a U.S. State Department sponsored tour to Vietnam and bring Vietnamese contemporary composers to the United States. During the Vietnam visit to Hanoi, Peters played Dao’s “A Mi K Giao Tranh”. Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed reported that the piece was “an unsettled solo for double bass was wilder still. It was written in 1975 during the final days of the Vietnam War by a composer who had…immigrated to Paris.” The composer had left the program early and did not hear Peters play his piece. To that, Swed said, “He missed a terrific performance by Tom Peters.”
The world premiere of Walicki’s “Light” is an important addition to this concert.  Walicki is an Associate Professor and director of the composition/theory program at Cal State Fullerton.  His focus is writing music that relates to people and their situations.  Walicki has found success in his studies and his music sensibilities that combine rock guitar, European influences and Buddishist ideals. 

The Sept. 17 performance is Faculty Artist Recital as part of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music’s outreach.   Tickets are $10, $7 for students.

Peters teaches double bass at California State University, Long Beach, where the Conservatory is located. The recital will be held in the Gerald Daniel Recital Hall, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach.

The second program, “A Taste of Baroque” will be offered by members of the Pomona College Dept. of Music faculty and guest artists at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26.  The music of Boismortier, Gabrieli, Telemann and others will be performed by the Cornucopia Baroque ensemble members Alfred Cramer, Baroque violin; Roger Lebow, Baroque Cello; Carolyn Beck, Barque Bassoon; and Graydon Beeks, harpsichord.

James DePreist is seen in 2005 receiving the Medal of the Arts from President George W. Bush. The often-honored DePreist will conduct the opening concert of the Pasadena Symphony Oct. 23.

Lots of changes are taking place at Pasadena Symphony but one thing remains constant: This symphony orchestra is the best regional orchestra in Southern California. The orchestra blazes new trails with five Guest conductors and a new concert location when it opens the season on Saturday, Oct. 23 at Ambassador Auditorium. It will also, for the first time in its history, present both a matinee and an evening concert, the matinee at 2:00 p.m. and the evening concert at 8:00 p.m. Conductor for the inaugural season concert is the group’s Artistic Advisor, James DePreist.
DePreist leads the orchestra in a safe program: Rossini’s “La gazza ladra” (“The thieving magpie”); Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 and Barber’s Violin Concerto with guest artist, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers.
DePreist comes to Pasadena for the first time as a heralded conductor—he is currently Director of Conducting and Orchestra Studies at the Julliard School in New York.
Pasadena Symphony: 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 at Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena. Ticket prices range from $30 to $80; children under age 14, $10. Information: (626) 793-7172 or visit www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org.

Small charities that have filed for tax exempt status may lose their exemption if they fail to file an e-postcard by Oct. 15, 2010.
Although all charities in the 501(c) category are required to file annually with the IRS, as many as 200,000 charities nationwide with gross receipts of less than $25,000 have failed to file the simple Form 990N over the past three years. The required return, called Form 990N, most often called the e-postcard return, must be filed on-line. The IRS recognizes that smaller organizations may be unaware that a change in regulations in 2006 that requires the simple filing even if gross receipts (defined as all revenue to an organization) are only $1 and that failure to file for three years will automatically revoke the tax exemption.
The IRS has extended the deadline for these small charities—but only to Oct. 15, 2010. Normally, small tax exempt organizations with gross receipts of less than $25,000 are expected to file the Form 990N every year no later than five months plus 15 days following the close of their fiscal year. For example, a tax year ending on Dec. 31, the e-postcard must be filled out and filed on-line no later than May 15 of the following year.  Groups that are a part of a national organization are often covered by their filing, which means the local chapter may not have to do anything.  Check with your headquarters to see.
Form 990N asks eight simple pieces of information: the organization’s name, other names it might be known as, the address of the organization, website address if there is one, the Employer or Taxpayer Identification Number (EIN or TIN), name and address of a principal officer, the date of the organization’s fiscal year, and gross receipts. The IRS also requests the filing for organizations that have terminated or gone out of business.
The website includes a list of organizations that the IRS says have not filed and are in jeopardy of losing their exempt status. The California list is 1,162 pages long! There is also an area where you can enter your organization’s name to see if a filing has occurred.
To file, (and for information as well) go to www.irs.gov/charities. Click on e-postcard filing. Then, under an article entitled “Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations” you will find a box “How to File”. It leads you to the Form 990N and also gives instructions. Other information on the webpage includes who needs to file giving complete description of each item the form requires.
Additional help is available at IRS Customer Service, (877) 829-5500. The local IRS office is located at 9350 Flair Dr., El Monte, telephone (626) 312-5138.

By Bill Peters