South Valley Symphony : South Valley ’ s Best Kept Secret for Forty years
“ Music has a remarkable ability to affect and manipulate how we feel . Simply listening to songs we like stimulates the brain ’ s reward system , creating feelings of pleasure and comfort . But music goes beyond our hearts to our minds , shaping how we think . Scientific evidence suggests that even a little music training when we ’ re young can shape how brains develop , improving the ability to differentiate sounds and speech .”
Scientific American
For forty years in the South Valley a group of musicians have gathered together , lugging their instruments around in all kinds of weather , every week , year after year – often after a long day at work – just to play music .
They don ’ t receive a paycheck . They have little notoriety , in fact they often joke that they are South Valley ’ s best-kept secret . So who are these musicians and why do they play ? They are the South Valley Symphony and they play simply because they love music and want to share it with our community .
How It All Started Four decades ago , Pat Meyer , a South Valley resident and professional musician with the San Jose Symphony , along with her husband , and a few other musicians were asked to play at a Fourth of July program in Morgan Hill . The string quartet – consisting of a first and second violin , a cello , and viola – were at that time just a group of friends who got together to play music .
When the concert request came , the quartet felt they needed more than just strings . Soon word got out in the music community that they needed more musicians . Through sheer organic growth and word of mouth ( no Facebook or email back then ) this small group began to grow and take on a life of their own .
Before long , horn players joined in , flutes showed up , clarinets and drums appeared , and a conductor , Kathleen Baraclough , became the glue that held it all together as she waved her baton like a magic wand . After that first concert the group just kept playing – unofficially – but with regular dedication .
At some point ( no one seems to remember exactly at which point that was ) they decided that if they were going to hang out and play , they should make it official . In the late 1970s the group became a nonprofit complete with a board of directors . The South Valley Symphony was born .
Today professional conductor Anthony Quartuccio - or
30
M O R G A N H I L L T O D A Y W I N T E R 2 0 1 4