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CITY OF SAN BERK.4RDINO - REQUEST JR COUNCIL ACTION
From: Tom Minor, Mayor Subject: Approve City's participation in the
Dept: Mayor' s Office Mark O'Connor Violin Concerto
Date: December 20, 1993
Synopsis of Previous Council action:
NONE
Recommended motion: MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL
Approve the co-sponsoring of the Mark O'Connor Violin Concerto with the
Inland Empire Symphony on January 29, 1994, and assist the program with
a grant in an amount not to exceed $10,000.00
t�L
Signature
Contact person: J . Lorraine Vel arde Phone: Ext. 5133
Supporting data attached: Yes Ward:
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount:NOT TO EXCEED $10,000.00
Source: (Acct. No.) Civic and Promotion
tAcct. Description)
Finance:
Council Notes:
CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO - REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
STAFF REPORT
The Inland Empire Symphony has requested assistance from the City.
The Symphony has been given the opportunity to present to our
community "Mark O'Connor' s Violin Concerto", on Saturday, January
29, 1994, at 8:00 p.m. , at the California Theatre.
Mark O'Connor has won countless Grammy awards and has been the
Country Music Association' s "Musician of the Year,, for the past
three years. While country music is his vocation, his true love is
symphonic music. To this end, he has composed a Concerto for
Violin and Orchestra which will receive its west coast debut with
our orchestra. The Nashville Symphony premiered the concerto. It
was critically acclaimed as "a virtuosic tour-de-forcell and many
major orchestras plan to perform it next year.
This performance will be produced locally by Bob Harvey, a well-
known media personality, Country Connection, which is in over 80
markets across the country. Key markets are Nashville, Miami,
Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Sacramento, San
Francisco, etc. It reaches an estimated 100 million households and
is carried on most cable and VHF stations. It is now entering its
fourth year and is growing rapidly into one of the most popular
shows on PBS.
The entire performance will cost $53,000.00. Of this amount,
$15,000.00 is directly related to the PBS broadcast. The breakdown
is as follows:
Theatre Rental (rehearsal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750.00
Musicians (rehearsal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,300.00
Guest and Conductor fees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,500.00
Country Connection-Bob Harvey-Production costs $ 6,500.00
The Symphony is requesting $10,000.00 of the amount listed above
from the City of San Bernardino. The additional $5,000.00 will be
raised from corporate sponsors.
Additionally, for this production, the Symphony will be called the
"San Bernardino Symphony" (with the intent that they will
eventually make this a permanent name change) , and the City will be
listed as a primary sponsor during the program.
Also, in addition to the PBS broadcast, the Symphony is discussing
a commercial recording with Warner Brothers. As stated previously,
most of Mark' s recordings have won Grammy awards and the potential
for major publicity is great. This is only in the negotiating
stages at this point.
The funding source identified is the Civic and Promotion Fund.
F �=
O'COnnor, fiddlin
9
with musical fame :
1 gY David Zimmerman
r USA TODAY
Dazzling fiddler!Mark
O'Connor still Is riding r
high from his two wins
at the Country Music A,
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1991 ooc kno it was.
"1 1 know t was Garth
Brooks'and Vince Gtil's `
night,but I sure felt like
I was right behind
them," says O'Connor,
Who claimed the must.
clan award and the vo-
cal event award for an
album that Is certjfying
his genius beyond coun• A
try circles. \
The prime-dme expo-
sure of his wins and a
performance with
Ricky Skaggs, Vince
Gill, Steve Wariner and
Bill Monroe was enough
to pull O'Connor's land-
mark, 7-month-old al- O'CONNOR:Child prow gy leaps from
bum, The New Nash- SeSSIOn player to solo instrumentalist.
Ville Cats,back onto the
BiUboard country album chart- Cajun, Appalachian,Texas fid•
And It put new fire Into his cur- dle music, swing, Latin, R&B,
rent virtuoso one-man tour classical,blues and boogie.
(next stop; Nashville, Nov. 4), He still accepts a few session
which sometimes wins an Jobs. He's on albums by new:
hour's worth of encores, age performer Andreas Vollen
It was the biggest boost a for- welder, Jazzman Michael
mer behind-the-scenes studio Brecker, as well as venerable
musician could hope for, folkle James Taylor and coun
enough t0 make people take try heavy hitters Randy Travis,
more notice when Chet Atkins George Jones and Wanner.
links O'Connor with cla-mical He recently recorded a com
violinist Itzhak Perlman as posillon he wrote for a classical
"two of the greatest musicians string quartet and Is writing a:
On the planet," concerto for fiddle and sym
Until last year,O'Connor,30, phony. Ile's just signed to tour•
was one of the most soughtaf- on a bill with Travis Tritt and:
ter session players In Nash. Marry Stuart next year, and is'
ville, a veteran of more than planning a duet album that will
450 albums who earned up- pair him "with all my fiddle.
wards of S15o,000 per year. and violin heroes,^ including:
To his colleagues'shock, he famed jazz violinist Stephane
dropped out to launch a solo Grappelli, with whom he,
career as an instrumentalist. toured a dozen years ago.
"It was too comfortable," he For the many,other jobs he's
says. "I was willing to go back offered,he recommends other:
to bare bones-Ing It." fiddlers. Most are students of
wrote songsa10 showcase the his own
revived heouse of the
Specific skills of 53 of his Stu- fiddle in the early 1980s,when
diumusician peers. "I knew it had virtually disappeared
the inside of what really made from mainstream country
these players tick and cast O'Connor says his style,
them accordingly,"he says. caught on because of"an in0ux�
Most of the players are of roducers r
known only to those who read Coast, the Northeast and Ntust'
alburn credits,but there are a cle Shoals (Ala,). They were
few stars also known for their not a part of the old Nashv,lle,
instrumental skills, including sound, and when they found,
Gill, Skaggs and Wariner. out I had a contemporary,
n'Connor had performed with sound.I gvt the jobs."
each of them in his child-prods- In his concerts. O'Connor,
gy years, when he was on his plays fiddle,guitar and mando-:
way to winning every major lin and takes listeners"through:
fiddling contest in the country. all kinds of fiddle history.''
Cats is likely to be a historic The musical category he
reference for country, instru- best fits, he says, is lhat of
mentalists and butts.O'Connor "American stylist I play al.:
sticks in virtually every coun- most anything associated with.
try-music influence: bluegrass• our country."