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

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.

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

Marvin Hamlisch

The Pasadena Symphony Association announced today the appointment of musical legend Marvin Hamlisch as Principal pops conductor of the Pasadena POPS, taking the podium next year for three of the four season concerts that will be presented at the POPS new venue, the area adjacent to the Rose Bowl.
In welcoming Hamlisch, CEO of the Symphony Association, Paul Jan Zdunek, said, “We are so delighted to welcome Marvin Hamlisch to Pasadena and look forward to him continuing to position the Pasadena POPS at its new home on the Lawn Adjacent the Rose Bowl, as the destination for exhilarating pops concerts.”
Some news reports quote Zdunek as saying the organization had already approached Hamlisch to be a guest conductor for the current season and when Rachael Worby announced her intention to leave the orchestra to pursue other interests about two and a half weeks ago, working with the Symphony’s Artistic Advisor, James de Preist, approached the well-known composer to offer a more prominent role. The offer received swift approval from Hamlisch.
Hamlisch, at age 66, has had a long and distinguished career in musical theater, television, and motion pictures. He is known as a performer, arranger, musical coordinator, orchestrator, musical supervisor, composer, film scorer and more. Among his achievements are four Emmys, four Grammys, three Golden Globes, one Tony, a Pulitzer Prize and three Oscars. Ascap lists 709 compositions credited to him, among them, the songs from “A Chorus Line”, the song, “The Way We Were” and an adaptation of Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” from the film, “The Sting”.
Representing the Symphony Board of Directors, Melinda Shea, President, said, “After a dynamic ten-year tenure under the baton of Rachael Worby, we welcome Marvin Hamlisch to the Pasadena POPS as we build on the past with an eye to an even more robust future.”
In the past few years, Hamlisch has been appearing with Pops orchestras around the country and continues to hold the position of Principal Conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.
The Pasadena Pops 2011 season will include a concert on June 18, July 23, Aug. 6, and Aug. 27. The June 18 concert will be lead by a to-be-determined guest conductor.
The Symphony Board is continuing its work in engaging guest conductors to round out its POPS offerings which include a Holiday POPS concert in December and the annual Music Under the Stars held in the plaza in front of the Pasadena City Hall. The announcement from the Pasadena Symphony Association is decidedly upbeat. “This appointment comes at a time of many exciting and successful changes for the Pasadena Symphony Association this year”, it states. The Pasadena Symphony will begin its fall season on Oct. 23 at the Ambassador Auditorium under the baton of Maestro James DePreist. Mr. DePreist is Artistic Advisor to the group.

By Bill Peters

Jane Fuller

Singer Jane Fuller has been solidly booked into clubs and restaurants all year as her popularity grown.  She completed one successfully at Corfu Restaurant on Aug. 21 and now will be the finale act Friday, Aug. 27 as the featured guest artist during Sierra Madre Village’s Friday Night Live. 

At Friday Night Live, show-time for Jane Fuller is 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

“I will be backed by local guitarist, Mike Gallegos,” Jane emailed us.  “I will sing songs from my CDs as well as popular tunes from across decades and genres,” she said.

Just FYI, Corfu is also open during the Friday Night Live event as are eight other restaurants and many of the shops.

Corfu Restaurant is at 48 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. Telephone: (626) 355-5993. Friday Night Live centers around Kersting Court at Baldwin Ave. and Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. Information on Friday Night Live is available from the Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce, (626) 355-5111.

It can’t be anything but fun. That is the assessment being given the Pasadena Pops Orchestra concerts at the area adjacent to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena that draws thousands to hear the musicians of the Pasadena Symphony led by Pops conductor Rachael Worby present their summer series.
Worby brings ‘em in because of the lively programming that deliberately eschews classical music and continues to insist on light fare for the four-concert series. The next concert is Saturday, Aug. 14, with a concert start time of 7:30 p.m. but with gates opening at 5:30 p.m. for picnickers.
“All That Jazz” brings the audience and the orchestra together to celebrate American jazz as written by Duke Ellington, Henry Mancini, John Kander, Harold Arlen and a couple of lesser known musical elites, Ron Abel and Richard Lane. Soloists for the affair are vocalist Valarie Pettiford and pianist Alfredo Rodriguez.

Valarie Pettiford, vocalist will sing jazz standards with Pasadena Pops.

Pettiford is a long-time friend of Worby’s and they have collaborated often for the Pops concerts. Pettiford, in addition to singing jazz standards like “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” and “Come Rain or Come Shine” (repeats with this orchestra if memory serves me well) will be heard in newly orchestrated jazz tunes by Pettiford’s musical director and orchestrator, Ron Abel, “Le Jazz Hot” and “All that Jazz”. According to Worby, Pettiford, in addition to her film and TV successes, “used to be a Fosses dancer and a Fosse singer,” she told KGIL interviewer P.J. Ochlan.
Rodriguez is a 24 year-old recent transplant from Cuba. Last year he requested and received political asylum from the United States after expressing his desire to share his keyboard talent with the world. Rodriguez brings from Cuba distinctly classical training, but has turned to jazz. Although he is imbued with the Creole-Cuban music traditions, his reputation has been built on the shoulders of Monk, Evans, Tatum and other American jazz greats.
Almost shockingly, following some jazz riffs, Rodriguez will perform George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”. Ms. Worby told Ochlan in the radio interview that in this, his inaugural performance of the piece, he will play a “refreshing and as untainted a reading of the piece as I have ever heard.”
Rodriguez’ discoverer and mentor, Quincy Jones, responded, Worby reported, “Gershwin? Gershwin? Go figure.” Still, it is a jazzy idea.
The Pasadena Pops Orchestra performs “All that Jazz” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14 on the erected band shell at the lawn adjacent to the Rose Bowl. Ticket prices range from $25 for lawn seating, to $90 for table seating.
For information, please call (626) 793-7172.

By Bill Peters

Rachael Worby is seen with frequent guest artist Valarie Pettiford at a 2007 concert of the Pasadena Pops at Descanso Gardens. Worby announced her departure from the post of Music Director of the Pops as soon as the summer series concludes. Two concerts remain: Aug. 14 and Sept. 25.

Another startling announcement has come out of the offices of the Pasadena Symphony and Pops. Rachael Worby, 10 year Music Director of the Pasadena Pops, three of them under the jurisdiction of the Pasadena Symphony Association, announced that she will leave the orchestra immediately following the close of the final concert on Sept. 25.
In a radio interview heard on station KGIL last week, Worby told interviewer P.J. Ochlan that the transition from the Pasadena Pops to the integration with Pasadena Symphony had been rocky.
The turmoil apparently spilled over onto the Symphony Board as they were faced with an array of financial and personnel difficulties. Several Pops Board members who initially agreed to serve with the Pasadena Symphony Association soon left. Jorge Mester, the Symphony Music Director for 25 years, left the orchestra this year under a cloud as to whether he walked out on

At the announcement of the acquisition of the Pasadena Pops by the Pasadena Symphony Association, it was smiles all around.

them or if they terminated his contract. The swift leaving of Worby only raises the level of speculation about the organization. There is every indication that community financial support has been forthcoming, but at the same time, the Symphony Association has put out a goodly sum of money for its new venue for the Pasadena Pops at the Rose Bowl. Although no figures have been released by the Symphony, attendance to the Area H site seems to have been promising.
Information released by the Symphony office today (Aug. 11) at 4:11 p.m. contained the usual statements from Worby and Board President Melinda Shea. Worby said, “Being Music Director of the Pasadena Pops has been a joyful, fulfilling experience. I wish the Pasadena Symphony and POPS all continued success.” Shea followed that with, “On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Pasadena Symphony Association thanks Rachael Worby for her dedicated years of enthusiastic advocacy for live symphonic music and the performing arts in Pasadena. Her leadership and support throughout the merger of the Pasadena Symphony and the POPS has helped make this organization a treasured community resource providing diverse musical concerts year round. We wish her all the success.”
Two concerts remain for the Pops orchestra: Aug. 25 with “All That Jazz” and Worby’s final date with the orchestra, Sept. 25 for “Hooray for Hollywood.”

By Bill Peters

Michael B. Levin (above) gives his impression of Sinatra. He will join Broadway's Kevin Earley and violinist Daniel Shinarov in an all-star program at Cal Phil's Festival on the Green Saturday, Aug. 7, and at Walt Disney Concert Hall Sunday, Aug. 8.

A line-up of top performers has been set by the California Philharmonic Orchestra for its back-to-back concerts, the first at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia, on Aug. 7; and the second at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles on Aug. 8.
Michael B. Levin will bring his comedy and his vocal impressions of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett to the stage, perhaps along with some of the other 30 voices he imitates. He will be joined by Broadway star Kevin Earley who returns to the Festival on the Green stage after his successful run as Ernest Defarge in “A Tale of Two Cities”. Earley will sing hits from his CD “Earley Standards”.

Kevin Earley

There will be a classical connection as well.  Victor Vener, conductor of the California Philharmonic, will lead the orchestra in works by Rimsky-Korsakov (“Scheherazade”) and Elgar (“Enigma Variations”). Violinist Daniel Shindarov will perform Camille Saint Saens’ “Introduction and Rondo Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra”.

Daniel Shindarov

“Critics have likened Daniel to a vast array of virtuoso violinists, from Jascha Heiftez to Ruggiero Ricci, but Daniel is in a class by himself,” says Vener.
The concert will begin with selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Sound of Music”.
“Cocktails to Classics” by the California Philharmonic Orchestra is at The Arboretum Saturday, Aug. 7 when gates open at 5:30 p.m. for picnicking and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The concert repeats at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 8 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Ticket prices start at $20. Arboretum tickets are available by calling (626) 300-8200. Disney Hall tickets can be purchased through by calling (800) 745-3000. Both are available online at www.calphil.org.
The Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden is at 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. Walt Disney Concert Hall is at 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

By Bill Peters