Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra Newsletter

Fred Kamphoefner is the gentleman who graciously gives MPRO members the run of his home twice a year, for our Christmas and post June concert parties. Here's a bit about the man behind the festivities.

Fred was born in San Francisco, was graduated from Berkeley, worked at Harvard's Radio Research Lab. on radar countermeasures during WW II, attended Stanford for graduate work, then worked at the Stanford Research Institute for the next forty years. He became Director of the Engineering Sciences Laboratory which over the years had groups of people involved in control systems, digital electronics, thin-film devices, mechanical engineering, bioengineering and transportation. The strangely shaped characters on the bottom of our bank checks, and the ink-jet printing of bar codes on our mail were born in his lab. His own specialty was in automated data entry for computers, of which the preceding are examples.

Fred's interest in recorders began in Heidelberg during a 1 year project for John Hopkns University. He was self taught, (a big mistake, he says), but soon joined Bill Barnhart's new MPRO in 1962 and "got on-the-job-training". A number of lessons and workshops followed, and he says that "Fred Palmer was especially helpful in showing me how to coax a decent noise out of my Sordun" (an early double reed sounding similar to a krummhorn).

Jean, Fred K's wife, was a harpsichordist, and after her death he began harpsichord lessons with Margaret Fabrizio, and later recorder lessons with Judy Linsenberg, at Stanford. When these teachers left the University Fred's home became the venue for instruction of a number of their students (moi included).

Although Fred is no longer an active participant in MPRO, he maintains Associate membership and is very involved in making music. He has taken hand drum lessons with Peter Maund, but his major musical activities now involve playing with 3 mixed consorts having recorders, violin, gamba (or cello) and harpsichord. MPRO members Mary Carrigan and Lee Hukill participate, as does Norm Rossen from early MPRO days.

Fred we appreciate your continued support of MPRO and allowing us to invade and cavort in your beautiful home.

CONDUCTOR'S CORNER

Dear members of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra,

Plans are underway for the MPRO Ensemble to record a video tape this coming March for MPAC, which provides cable television service to the Palo Alto area. This video recording will be broadcast several times on MPAC's public access channel, and copies will be used by MPRO for promotion and grant proposals. The video tape will be recorded at one of the four following times at the MPAC television studio in Palo Alto: Thursday, March 14, 2002 from 8:00 to 10:30 P.M.; Saturday, March 16, 2002 from 9:30 A.M. to 12:00 noon; Saturday, March 16, 2002 from 12:30 to 3:00 P.M.; Sunday, March 17, 2002 from 12:30 to 3:00 P.M. Rehearsals for this video recording will be on Wednesdays, January 16, February 13 and March 13. All rehearsals will be at JLS Middle School and begin at 7:30 P.M. There will be a sign up sheet at the upcoming meetings for those interested in appearing with the orchestra for this video recording. Associate MPRO members and those who have performed with the MPRO Ensemble during previous seasons are invited to join the orchestra for the recording. This is an extremely important project for the orchestra, and I encourage all members and friends of MPRO participate.

I am pleased to announce that Shira Kammen will be directing the orchestra's meeting on April 17, 2002. She will be presenting medieval selections which will include works by Dufay, Landini and Machaut. This will be a wonderful opportunity to work with one of the Bay Area's leading performers and interpreters of medieval music, and I urge all of the orchestra's member to plan on attending that evening.

Listed below is the music for the next three meetings of the orchestra. Please note that krummhorn players will be needed for the meeting on October 17, which begins at 7:30 P.M. and will be a joint rehearsal with the Palo Alto Madrigal Singers.

I look forward to seeing you at these upcoming meetings.

Don't forget to register for our workshop, Old Wine in New Bottles, on Saturday, November 10, 2001, at the Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church, 600 West 42nd Avenue in San Mateo. Shelly Gruskin, a distinguished recorder player, teacher, and performer, will be leading us. He will trace the development of musical forms (such as "prelude," "aria," and "pastoral,"). Workshop fee is $36 for MPRO members if received by November 3; otherwise $39. Non-members? fee is $39 before November 3, $42 afterwards. Send your check, made out to MPRO, to Mary Carrigan, 420 Crestlake Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132. (See the September UpBeat for more info.)

Tish Berlin, Frances Blaker and Friends are inaugurating a new recorder oriented concert and workshop series, to start in Jan.., Apr., and Mar. of '02. In order to inform as many people as possible they've asked for our membership list; a request which has been granted by the MPRO Board of Directors. IF YOU DO NOT WISH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS TO BE USED IN THIS FASHION, PLEASE NOTIFY MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN CHRIS FLAKE, and he will see that your mailing information is deleted.

The Farallon Recorder Quartet (Letitia Berlin, Frances Blaker, Louise Carslake, Hanneke van Proosdij) will be performing on Sunday, October 28, 5 p.m., at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland. $15 general admission, $10 for SFEMS, senior citizens, students. Call Tish Berlin at 510-559-4670 or email tish-feb@mindspring.com for info.

The Bay Area Recorder Series, directed by Letitia Berlin and Frances Blaker, is a new SFEMS affiliate that will bring recorder players from around the world to the Bay Area for concerts and special educational events starting in the 2002 winter season. The directors, along with assisting members of the local recorder community, are pleased to be introducing performers of international acclaim to local audiences. In conjunction with the concerts, BARS will be hosting workshops, masterclasses, and other participatory events led by each of the visiting artists.

The series begins on Saturday, January 13 with a half-day masterclass led by Geert Van Gele of Belgium, focusing on music for soloists and ensembles. Van Gele, a founding member of the Flanders Recorder Quartet and now a flourishing solo artist, is active as a performer and teacher at workshops in Europe. He is frequently invited to give masterclasses in the U.S. and abroad, and has performed regularly at major U.S. festivals such as the Amherst Early Music Festival. He appears on numerous recordings with the Flanders Recorder Quartet, and on the Vox Temporis label as a soloist. On Sunday, January 13, Van Gele will perform a solo program of new and old works for recorder entitled ``A Family Trial: Alto Recorder versus Bass Recorder'', featuring music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Pete Rose, Daan Maaneke, and Frans Geysen. Call 510-559-4670 or email tish-feb@mindspring.com for more information or to receive a brochure.

A reminder to pay your dues for the 2001-2002 season: $65.00 for Participating Member, $17.00 for Associate Member. If you haven't paid yet, make your check to MPRO and give to Chris at an October meeting, or mail to Christopher Flake.

Chris prefers to receive an application form with your payment. (See last month's UpBeat.) If the info hasn't changed from last year, just write your name. Please do fill in any consort request and your preferred instrument choices.

(See printed newsletter for Chris' mailing address).