#120. Carol Jacobson on Music, Teaching, and the Eureka Symphony

Carol Jacobson joins Scott Hammond for a conversation about music, teaching, and the Humboldt community that shaped her life and work. She talks about leading the Eureka Symphony, teaching high school music, performing professionally in Europe, and finding her way back to the North Coast. The conversation also touches on Humboldt State, Arcata High, local teachers, choral-orchestral music, and the people who helped build the region’s music scene.

You can find the Eureka Symphony online (https://www.eurekasymphony.org/_).

Transcript

Welcome And Season Finale

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond in the 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new best friend, Carol Jacobson. Hi, Carol. Hi, Scott. So lovely to be here. It's lovely to have you. How are you? I'm good. Beautiful day in Eureka.

unknown 0:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

And the season is over. I don't have to worry about studying my score for at least two months. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 0:19

Oh, the season of what? So tell us what you do. I think it has something to do with the Eureka Symphony.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Oh, yeah. Yes, it does. I uh I conduct uh and I'm the artistic director for the Eureka Symphony. And we just finished our final concert of the season to a Brahms Requiem, and it was just stunning. I was just so thrilled by everybody's performance. Aaron Ross Powell Lovely.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

I'm sorry we missed it. We we like gone, we've been a few times. So tell what is how what does that entail? What it what it Where do we start?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

I don't know. Wait, how basic do you want to go?

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Trevor Burrus How did you build a symphony in Eureka?

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Well, I didn't build it. It was there already. Oh. Uh it got started, I believe it was in '92, nineteen ninety-two. Oh. Uh a wonderful uh choral, choir director for who was up at what used to be Humboldt State University back in the day.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Cal Poly.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yeah, yeah, right. And um

How The Eureka Symphony Began

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Ken Hanniford, and he was a wonderful, wonderful musician. And he was also, you know, real he was a singer, he was a lovely tenor, and he wanted to be able to do works for a choir and orchestra.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

And there was the symphony up at Humboldt, but and they would do the occasional work, but they didn't want their entire repertoire to be so so choir-oriented. And so he started the uh the the symphony, Eureka Symphony. And um I think uh one of the members gave me a program from back in the day, and and I think the Brahms Requiem, which we just performed, was the first thing that they did.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

How about that?

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:04

Wow. I've heard his name.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yeah. And he was he was brilliant. He was lovely, people adored him. And uh it was just horrible and tragic that he got a brain tumor and died. I don't even think he was 45.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

They were using the word was a lot, so I figured he's he was he's moved on.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

He has moved on.

SPEAKER_03 2:25

He's moved on.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah. And um so then it went to various people after that. And eventually they were sort of in desperate need of someone. And at that time, I had, I don't know if you remember the Armac Orchestra on the madrigal choir, and I was directing that.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

Arcadia Mackay. Mm-hmm. Did you teach up there too?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Okay. So that's your background. We'll go to your background in a minute.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

It's varied. It's very varied. Yeah, I did that for 20 years, man. Wow. And and uh but and I

Teaching Music And Funding With Talent

SPEAKER_01 3:06

loved it. I loved the kids and I loved what we did, and I just devoted my life to it. And um we had uh we had we did our own fundraising through our own talent. I said, we're not gonna ha sell stupid, you know, p wrapping paper and cards and stuff. Bake sale. Yeah, bake sale and uh chocolate bars or you know, I said. Waste of time. I said, you guys are all talented, you're wonderful. Oh. And we're gonna raise money with through your talent. And so we started doing, we had uh every year we had a silent film festival, we had um a dinner that was served by cooked and served by the parents, and the kids, we'd choose a country every year, and the kids would play music from that country. I anyway, we just did all that, and I took them, I took them regularly to New York and to London, and we went to and I and then when I took over the chorus, the choirs, and I we went to uh Italy to festivals in Paris. We we really cooked. It was really great. And then finally I just said, okay, I'm done.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

There goes the towel, I threw it in.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

I'm uh yeah, I I want I want my life back anyway. But in about 2003, 2004, I was approached by the Eureka Symphony and they said, we really need a conductor.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

And uh, would you consider it? But I was just so enmeshed with the my high school job, I said, well, I'd be happy to try it out. I said, but you have to do everything. I said, I'll choose the repertoire, I'll r do the rehearsals, and I'll conduct the concerts, but uh anything else, you have to do it all, because I just don't have time. So that's how we started.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

And then uh I started doing a little bit more and more and more, and as I got more and more interested in in Eureka and stuff. And it just was a as I was building the orchestra and building our audience space and stuff, uh, it just sort of coincided with the time that I was about ready to be done with uh teaching high school.

SPEAKER_03 5:16

So you're kind of like Mick Jagger building a rock band. You gotta go out and select the talent and get your get your people in place. Maybe more like the Moody Blues who had a symph London symphony.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, that's there we go. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

I love that. Yeah. So tell us the the Carol story. Where were you born and raised and where'd you go to school?

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Uh I was born and well, I was born in Oakland. And then when I was three, uh my father, who was looking for a place to set up a practice as an optometrist, chose Godforsaken Tracy, California. Tracy. In the heat and misery of the UK.

From Tracy To Humboldt To Europe

SPEAKER_01 5:56

No. It was well, there were 12,000 people in Tracy. I mean, it's like almost 200,000 now, I think. But I I don't think I'd want to be there even now, even with 200,000 people. Thank you very much. You know, it's hot and it's nasty, and and and by the time I got to be 18, I said, okay, I'm done here. I'll I'm never gonna live in a hot place again. So um I had been going up to Humboldt with my father for the chamber music workshop that they have had for forever and ever and ever and ever. And so I fell in love with Humboldt. And at that time I was not planning on being a music major, but I so I came up to Humboldt. Wow. And I I think I changed my major five times or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 6:41

Yeah. You and me.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

But that was back in the day where you could actually afford to do that. Right. You know.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

You could pivot really quickly.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Yeah. And um and um and it you know, well, it just didn't cost that much. So uh so I did that. And um and then I finally decided, yes, I do want because I'd played cello ever since I was little. Oh love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

We're gonna go see Dirty Cello tomorrow night.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Oh, this is great.

SPEAKER_03 7:08

Rebecca.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Oh, Rebecca is wonderful. No, I no, she's fantastic. Have you met her? Yes, I have met her down in the Bay Area. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

That's a hard-working band. They're playing tonight, they're playing in the city. They come up for Cada tomorrow night, Leggett mid-afternoon Saturday, and Napa on Sunday. Oh my god. So these guys like bust their humps.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, to make a living. But sh she clearly loves it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

And they could love to come to Humboldt. They have a little following here.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Aaron Ross Powell Well not a not un unexpected gift.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

Joni and I are like a little groupies. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Oh that's good.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

No, she plays Jimi Hendrix on the cello.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah, I know, I know.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Wow, how'd you play that?

SPEAKER_01 7:51

No, she's great. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

She's super super duper. So what year did you graduate Humboldt?

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Oh well. How many years did you think is I never I didn't graduate the first time. So I I fell in love with my cello teacher and we took off for Europe. Aaron Ross Powell Oh, perfect.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Who doesn't?

SPEAKER_01 8:12

I mean now I suppose you know it would be you know horrific, whatever. But so anyway, so we went off to Europe and uh stayed there for 20 years. Wow. And uh played played professionally. I you know, after he had a grant to study chamber music in Denmark, and so we did that for a year, and I did some studying too. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Like Copenhagen or Yeah, right in Copenhagen at the conservatory there. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 8:32

My son's been there a lot. They lived in the Netherlands. They loved Den they said Denmark was the bomb. Beautiful. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

It's okay if you can manage the language. I mean I think it was miserable languages. It's the most difficult one I've ever tried to Dutch is weird, yeah. Well I learned Dutch. So that's but so then after a year, he said, Do you want to go back? I said no, and he said, Neither do I. So I said, What do we do? He said, practice. So we started auditioning and uh ended up in the opera orchestra in Norway. Whoa. And so we stayed there for a year, but it was so far away from everything. So we auditioned for um uh the ballet orchestra in Amsterdam and got the jobs there. And that's cool. Stayed there for 18 years.

SPEAKER_03 9:16

Been there for three summers in a row now. Oh that's actually a German, it's three. Try. Um so uh yeah, I have a son that lived in Utrecht.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Oh, is he still there?

SPEAKER_03 9:26

No, they just flew and six months ago they live in Seoul, South Korea. She worked for Nike here.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:33

And uh just got a job with Samsung.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

So they went to the other side. She's Korean and they have two darling girls and all the aunties are in Seoul.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Oh yeah, that's lovely.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

But Amsterdam's pretty darn fun.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yep. I stayed well, so um we were there and we lived in Amsterdam, and we stayed there for hmm uh eight years in Amsterdam, and then I got sick of ballet music and I auditioned to play out at the radio, and I got into the Radio Symphony and stayed there another ten years, and I loved it. And then the Netherlands? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Yeah. So and then we bought a house and yeah, it was great.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

Where were you? Were you down by the park, down by um like the uh what's it? Fondel Park? The Reich. Yeah, the Reich.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

The Reichs Museum? Yeah, were you down by the Republican? Yeah, no, uh well, we rented a house there for a while. We were we were in this on the Spaustraat for seven years, then we were uh down by the Fondel Park for one year, and then I got the job out at the radio, and then we were so my husband and I were both commuting out of the city every morning. So we went out to a little tiny town called Nierreinen, which is south of Utrecht by about half an hour.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

And bought a house, bought the old schoolmaster's house and lived out there, and I just adored it.

SPEAKER_03 10:45

That's way down there.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Yeah. It was great.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

And uh but then my husband decided it was time to come back to the States. So so we did.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Uh and I was miserable. I hated being back. I cried Nate for three years. No. Cry today.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

It's a bad combo.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

It's a bad combo. And and then um uh I I started doing stuff up at the up at uh Humboldt, they had the uh music academy up there. And so that was Frank and Sheila Marks

Making A Life In Amsterdam Orchestras

SPEAKER_01 11:20

for anybody who remembers them. And they were uh they were ready to to pass it on. Still work, but so then they asked me if I would take it over.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

Hugely talented, right? Both of them. Oh yeah. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Incredible.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

So I remember Dr. Barlow, who was old when I was there.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

And then Hubert Kennemer. Was that his interesting dude? He s taught music when we were.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

We still exchange Christmas cards.

SPEAKER_03 11:41

Is he still living?

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Yeah. He's d he's in Palo Alto. Tell him I said hi. He's a lovely man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

And then um, did Laura Middlemas' father teach music? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Uh yes. Julie Fulkerson.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

Wagner, that's right. That's right. That's right. And then uh Julie Fulkerson's father. Was he there? Charles.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

He was gone by the when I came back.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Yeah, he was there when I before I left, and he was lovely. And then when I came back, he'd already retired.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

All these music legends.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Yeah. Super legends. And yeah. So then I got uh I didn't know there wasn't anything for me to do because my husband had the job there at Humboldt. And so I went back to school and got my teaching credential, and that's how I started in the high school.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Wow. Wow, second career.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

That's pretty cool. So Arcada High or both?

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Arcata High. And then the kids from MAC High would come down in zero period in the morning and join us.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Yeah, our Mac was legend. Still they still exist, right? Mm-hmm. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah. We did some great stuff.

SPEAKER_03 12:47

Yeah, really cool. So 20 years of that? Yeah. Wow. Oh, chops to you. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

And and then in 2015, everybody started getting those damn smartphones. Yeah. Yeah. And I refused to get one. And people always say we'll show them.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

Yeah. A holdout.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Yeah, I was. I was a terrible holdout. We can't call you. I said, leave a message at my house. You know, I had a landline. Call you later. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe, yeah, exactly. And and and I was so sick of making people put their cell phones in the basket. I had this basket. Yeah. You're not looking at your music that hard.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

That's my move. My my daughter had a 14-year-old birthday and I passed her on the basket. I said, okay, ladies, you're all sitting on a bench texting each other. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Oh, God. I said, put them in the basket. Mr. Hammond, you can't make us do that. I go, watch me. It's my house. You'll get it back, maybe. Throw it in the basket now. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

I know.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

And they all pitched them in there and they got their phones and everything worked out. But anymore, it's like people are like I know.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Yeah. They can't be without it. No, it's really it's yeah. What can I say?

SPEAKER_03 14:09

Trevor Burrus, that ain't kids necessarily. Trevor Burrus No.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

No, I see I'm sorry, I see these mothers walking with their babies and and they don't pay any attention to their babies. They're on their phone the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

It's really people walk into traffic downtown. It's crazy. Mm-hmm. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Yeah. This uh the story of the cell phone. But eventually, of course, I got one,

Coming Home And Rebuilding A Career

SPEAKER_01 14:30

but uh only after I left high school.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

So where'd you go to high school, Tracy?

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

Okay. Came to Humboldt, graduated.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

No, didn't we? Well, I didn't I didn't graduate until 1995.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

So are uh you fell in love with this guy and you guys did the world together and came back.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Is he still around?

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Aaron Ross Powell No, he died in 2011.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

I'm sorry?

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Kids? Nope. You must have thousands of kids actually. I do.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

I have thousands of kids that I, you know, just like, for example, this last work that we did, the Brahms Requiem, there were like eight kids in the chorus who'd been in my madrigal choir. And I had, you know, one of those proud mother moments. And there there are kids who there are people who are playing in the symphony too that were in my orchestra.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

I think Dave said you taught Adam uh Gunderson.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Yes, I did.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

What's up, Adam? He's in Hawaii now.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Where is he?

SPEAKER_03 15:22

He's in Hawaii. I think he's a boat. He's a sailor of some sort.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Yeah, and he was in the choir, too. He was in the magical choir.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

Good singer.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yeah. He was a little had a lovely voice.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

Nice. I don't suppose we could get you to sing.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

No. Okay. I'm not a singer. I'm not a trained vocalist. That's okay. Yeah, no. I didn't quite ask.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

I floated the ask. We got Brett McFarland to sing. Uh that's what uh that's how we do it in Humboldt. He opened uh the interview, uh the Outlaw Cowboy Guy, and sang the most beautiful acoustic rendering of that ever, according to my daughter. Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, that's pretty cool. Well, that's nice. We don't do a lot of performance here. No. Okay. Hey, that's that's who we are. So uh let's talk about who you are. So uh the quiz is coming up where you can win a Dick Taylor chocolate bar. Oh, wait. Um quinoa crunch milk chocolate? Yes, that's would you like that one? Yes, I like that. Don't get cared. It isn't yours, yeah. Okay. Oh, I'll just put it Hey. God, you make life tough. You gotta earn this, man. It's so free. No free lunch or chocolate.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

So I yeah, so I gather.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

We'll come to the quiz in a minute, but I was gonna ask. So my f my my wife Joni, my father-in-law Tom, had a great qu question. Two questions. Okay. Who are you? And what do you want? So who who is Carol Jacobson? And what do you want?

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Um Carol Jacobson is somebody who has dedicated her life to music. And what do I want? I want a purpose in life.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

Ooh, good one. What's your purpose?

SPEAKER_01 16:56

My purpose is to make great music in in Eureka, California and and have all the musicians who are here who wanna who are able to participate at that level join us. It's really it's I have no desire to, except for the soloists, I don't want to bring in, you know, hot shots from hither, thither, and yon, which so many orchestras that start out as community orchestras, community-based, and then, oh, well, let's hire these people from it, because they're, you know. No, I we just we are are are the music of of Humboldt County and you know, classical symphony music. And we're the live experience, and there's nothing like live symphony orchestra music. It's fabulous. I've always loved to play in symphony orchestras. That's I mean, of course I love playing chamber music and stuff and the small groups and stuff, but I'm happiest when I'm sitting in a symphony and having all this amazing sound just all around me and just, you know, being part of that whole thing. And I just I feel really strongly about it. And I and I just feel like like this should be for for this is for all the musicians of Humboldt County who want to play in that play that kind of uh music.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

I so want to talk about all this. So uh real fast, how do we get a h- if you're just joining us, my b new best friend Carol Jacobson, Eureka Symphony, 35th year? Yeah. Crazy. Um and tell me how do we get a hold of you or the organization if we want to donate uh our treasure or time.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

Oh, just uh eurekasymphony.org. Okay. Uh um on Google it. Can you Venmo or PayPal or absolutely and and and I really

Why Live Music Hits Deeper

SPEAKER_01 18:35

recommend getting tickets for next season? It's people Yeah. I think you're really gonna love the next season.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

Oh, pay it forward.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:42

I love it. And so before we uh talk about live music, which I want to talk about real bad. Yeah. Um I just started collecting vinyl.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

And for my birthday, I got a really cool stereo with an audio technical turntable, polk speakers. Thank you, Matt Mullaney, and family. Um and I got Dark Side of the Moon.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Ooh, that's a great one.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

And then I went to the dark side. My whole I have like five boxes of curated vinyl of the finest type. I mean, I got the Beatles, I got Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Judy Collins. Now, Judy Collins, there's a girl that can sing. Yes, that's beautiful. So um I'm really appreciating the the uh the uh analog experience being surrounded by music. Just upgraded the speakers. Oh. So I can really hear it. So I really appreciate your comments about um live music and having it swirl around you and envelop you and have a have a a real visceral experience, huh?

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Absolutely. It's all about, you know, I mean, you're you're doing it with all these technical things now, and I'm sure it's wonderful, but there's nothing quite like having that communication between the musicians and the audience there. It's just it's you know, it's really deep.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

Aaron Powell That's magic.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Yeah, it is. It's really isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 19:55

It's spiritual. Yeah. I mean, I'm going religion on this deal. Let me tell you about my religion. Music. Music, you know and then there's worship, and that's next level for people. I love it, man. So let's do it. Um we go to the Brit Festival, Joni and I, for the last 15 or so years up in uh uh Jacksonville. Very uh very underrated, but three hours away. We're gonna go see uh Oh, I don't think Brit Festival's underrated, is it? Well, it's under under I let me it is not underrated. It's not overrated either. It's um it's not known as much on the coast.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

People go, what? I usually go out south or I go to Reading or I go somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

No, the Brit Festival's lovely. And they have they have a whole range from from pop and rock to to classical symphony, really good symphony.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

The month of June, devoted to symphony.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

And they it looks like they get some rock and roll, I mean some rock star symphony.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Oh, they do. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

Yeah. And it's funny we're gonna go see String Cheese Incident there and uh Los Lobos. We're gonna go see who else was gonna see. Oh, Whiskey Myers. Very good outlaw country rock and roll stuff.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

I don't know that at all.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

They're really good. Oh, we've seen uh Judy Collins with Steven Stills.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Oh, that's exciting.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

That was really cool. Sweet Judy Blue Eyes. And um we actually saw um Johnny Depp play in a band.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

No kidding.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

I didn't know he did. Oh, he's yeah, he was actually a guitarist. He was discovered in Florida in a coffee shop playing guitar. And then uh Keanu Reeves is in a band. Doesn't say word one, he's very modest, but he came out before the show and hung out with all the staff and just a nice band. So anyway, good venue, and yeah, you don't already know all that.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yeah, well, music really does marvelous things to relationships and people and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

And that live experience is nothing like it.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Nothing like the live experience. It's really true.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

Aaron Ross Powell You go out, get some live music today. Um So backing up to um the live music experience, I think uh tell me what what's what's in a symphony? I mean uh a class what are the classic elements if we were to

SPEAKER_01 22:04

The m majority of players are string players and especially violin.

What A Symphony Orchestra Includes

SPEAKER_01 22:10

So that's the biggest group of an orchestra. So you have the first and the second violins, and then you have the violas and the cellos and the double basses. Aaron Ross Powell. That's what that's by instrument. I'm a cellist. Trevor Burrus I know. Love the cello.

SPEAKER_03 22:27

Love dirty cello. They're great. Yeah. She's great.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

She's great. But okay. And then you have uh a woodwind section. I mean they call it woodwind because flutes used to be wood. And so anyway. But so then you usually have two to three flutes. Okay. Depending on usually it's two for classical repertoire, it's two. Okay. And uh classical term in terms of of um year, you know. So um but uh when we got to the more romantic and the twentieth century, then very often they add a third flute or a piccolo plus the two, you know, flutes. And then we have two oboes and then an English horn on s on some things. Then we have at least two clarinets and sometimes two clarinets and bass clarinet, depending on your repertoire.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Then we have two bassoons, and very seldom you have a contra bassoon with that. And then the And those are metal.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

Those are the big horns? Or those are the long horns. Yeah, yeah. We're not even into the horns yet.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

No. Now then we have we usually always have four horns, four French horns. And um speaking of French horn, when Claire joined Claire Bent joined the orchestra uh when she was a freshman, she came in and she told me that she played clarinet. And I just I watched I said, Claire, you're not a clarinet player. I said, You're a French horn player. And I said, You've got great ears and you really sing beautifully. You need to sit play the French horn. So she switched, she went to French horn, and she was a great French horn player, for God's sakes. Yeah. It was one of anyway. So that for four horns, then two to three trumpets, depending on your repertoire, and then um three uh trombones and one tuba. And then you have a whole array of percussion instruments. And sometimes you can have a harp. We had a harp that was in the uh bronze requiem that we just did. And sometimes uh so we nearly always have timpani. And then the big drums. Yes, that's the big kettle drums. Yeah. And then depending on the repertoire and the and the uh age of the instrument uh of the of the composition, we you can have snare drums, cymbals, um uh xylophone, gongs, chimes, um a whole array of things, triangles, you know.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

Wow. Yeah. Or those little things with the that you go they're all hanging out.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

Oh, oh uh a wind chimes.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

A wind chimes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, we have those two. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Those are cool. Yeah, we have that because those certain especially 20th century music in the 21st century. We do not have a marimba.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

But you could, right? I guess depending on the repertoire.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

There's not usually a marimba as part of the percussion section. The marimba is usually if there's a marimba, it's a solo instrument. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

It's a separate thing.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

But we do have a gorgeous uh marimba one xylophone that is just heavenly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

We've had him on the show.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Yeah. Oh, oh, yeah. Yeah, great guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's great.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

Hi to Steve Cole, too. Hi, Steve.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Yes, yes. Do you know Steve? Of course. He's on our board.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

Well, we can go by without mentioning Steve Cole.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

And not only that, he just sang in the Requiem. He sings in the Eureka Symphony chorus.

SPEAKER_03 25:54

Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 25:55

So I lived with Steve and his former wife Janet when I was in college. Did you really? And they turned me on to Wyndham Hill music, the label.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

And I'll have you know, I just got an hour ago, I just picked up about 17 Windham Hill records. And I'm so excited to take this home. Steve Cole, thank you. Small world. It's all cute. It is a small world. It's very cathartic here. We'll bring it back together here in a minute. We thought it was random, but it wasn't. No, great guy. And um, so uh to the to the point of a lot of people say we're full of creativity in Humboldt.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

And Humboldt County is right over here. I gotta use my map because if if I don't um I wasted my money on my map. So here we go next. So this is Humboldt County.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

Cydnia Rica uh is the is the county seat. Yep. There's the bay. That's 101 north to Canada and Oregon. Or as they say, Oregon back east. Uh 299. Oh, this is up here at Jacksonville. This is where the the Britfestival in Southern Humboldt, where marijuana started, maybe ended recently. But that's where we live. Yeah. Um so they say there's a lot of creativity here. Yes. And a lot of art. And that would include musicians. So far so good. So is

Creativity Here And A Worrying Future

SPEAKER_03 27:10

it uh are you of the mindset that it's um based on that quality of person and demographic and talent that this would be a a really good symphony? Because you you're full of you're full of creative folk.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

True, but um classical music uh in general requires a certain kind of dedication and practice f from a long time. Um I compare it to like really super good guitar players, you know, who who, you know, they don't just, you know, whack around and you know but they they really study their craft and they, you know, n know everything. To play reasonably satisfyingly the violin or any string instrument, you really have to start when you're young.

SPEAKER_03 28:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

And it's not something you can just sort of pick up later in life, unfortunately. So depends on the quality of the programs that are available to people to learn these instruments. And luckily I have uh a group of people who were had access to this. I'm a little worried about the future when I'm long gone. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Aren't we all? No, not not from that perspective. No, no. But when I'm when I'm long when I'm gone. And there's because I feel like the schools are really not putting music as a as a priority. And uh it makes me very sad. A lot of the schools have lost their their music programs. Right. We don't have uh unfortunately the music academy up at Cal Poly Humboldt that used to be just a thriving beehive of little kids every Saturday taking lessons of all sorts and being a matter of all. They, I'm sorry to say, they've let it fall by the wayside and it doesn't exist anymore. So where do kids go for lessons? Where do they learn how to play these instruments? You know, there's such a uh a skill level required. It's okay to sit in a in a group of kids, but uh, you know, you don't really learn everything you need to learn to make it um satisfying.

SPEAKER_03 29:32

Aaron Ross Powell Right. And then you can't do it on YouTube.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

No. Yeah. No, you really can't.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

And um and it's it's you know, some kids they go, oh, it's just too out of tune, and you know, and people don't know how to fix it. You unfortunately with these kind of instruments, you know, and being really accomplished on the flute or the trumpet or whatever requires that you take lessons. So this is a this is a this is another level that that parents and kids have to be willing to invest in, or able to invest in. Let's not say just willing, but able.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

Next level.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah, next level. And yeah, they have to be able to um afford it, you know, and find teachers and make sure that their kids actually do stick with it. And um yeah. And so I do worry about the future um in that in that sense.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

But you know, for for my for my purposes, I I think, you know, for the next 10 years, we're good. But and then I'll be dead. So hopefully not. Hopefully.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

We'll be here doing another podcast. I love it. Yeah, the um Yeah, that would be a concern.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

Yeah, a lot of things are going by the wayside. Yeah. All my eight-track tapes are gone. The cassettes. Yeah. Bowling. You know, bowling is like going downhill. Uh it's hard to find out. Bowling is fun. Yeah. It is pretty fun.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Yeah, yeah. I I still I still listen to CDs all the time.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Good. I have a C D player in my car. I never want to get rid of this car because I d I'm worried about ever getting another C D player in my car.

SPEAKER_03 31:09

I'm holding on like grim death.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 31:13

We have a CD in our um in our Honda Odyssey. And I have a big stack of Steely Dan and all kinds of great motivational stuff that I don't want to Yeah, Joni, keep that Odyssey, man. We love it. Yeah. So speaking of C C Ds, Mike Drunkers was saying saying today that so you have uh CDs, you have MP3s, and you have vinyl.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

And how they're read by by the needle and the vinyl, and how these two are read differently. The tech tech is all different, and it comes over different to the ear.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

And when we're under fluorescent lights like we are now, you kind of know, you know, yeah. So some of that is kind of bright music, but vinyl has it so in quality, and you liken that to sunlight versus neon light. And I thought, ooh, that's a good metaphor. I love it. Anyway, speaking of chocolate. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_01 32:02

I'm ready. Okay. Sure. I hope so. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

This is gonna be kind of tough. So you Okay. 100% Humboldt Quiz. Take one. Okay, so this is a uh Oh, it's a quinoa crunch milk chocolate, 55%. With uh Did you say it? Alexandra Farms?

SPEAKER_01 32:21

They're uh I thought it was Alexander Farms, isn't it? Oh, Alexandra, sounds like it to me.

The Humboldt Quiz And Daily Joys

SPEAKER_03 32:32

They're in uh Ferndale, but they're also up in um Smith Rivers, I think where they started. First pretty organic. Anyway, delicious. And uh here we go. Ready?

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Okay, I'm ready.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Question number one. What do you like the best about Humboldt and what could you do without?

SPEAKER_01 32:49

What do I like the best? I like the fact that most people here are interested in doing something special. So um you know, like you were talking about people being creative. People are like to do you know, whether it's painting or surfing or whatever, you know, it's they really they really have interests that that are that are that are exciting. I think yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

That search for significance.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:21

Yeah. I like that. I like that better than being specific too specific, going I I want to m change the world, because that that's good, but good good luck.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

That's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_03 33:32

I'd rather be significant and just do something to pursue something. Yeah. Yeah, great. So what do you what could you do without in terms of Humboldt County or that the headspace here? Or anything else. Let's see. Don't say rain.

SPEAKER_01 33:48

Oh, I love rain. I hate hot climates and I hate being dried out.

SPEAKER_03 33:53

No wonder you loved Amsterdam. Oh, I did. You're like my son. He loved it there.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Oh, I loved it. I would never have moved back.

SPEAKER_03 34:00

You people.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

No, that's one of the things I do love about Humphrey.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Let's go to Reading. It's 107 to 1.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

No, thank you. You couldn't pay me enough to live there. Not even enough. Yeah, never. Let's see. What can I do without well? I don't know. There's some rude driving. There's a little bit, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:23

And people, those tailgators, man, how do they do that? So dangerous.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

You know, they can't see in front of me if I had to break for a kid or something.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

Oh, I know. I know.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

And they're always at fault. You rank you ream somebody, psh, you're done. You're done. Yeah.

unknown 34:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

I don't know. What what do I Yeah, I mean, I oh well, I would really like to see a lot more of music programs in the schools. There it is. I that's it. That's that that is it.

SPEAKER_03 34:51

Nailed it. Yeah. All right. Question number two, but first the reset. Hey, for just joining us. It's Scott Hammond with my new best friend, Carol Jacobson, from Eureka Symphony, located in Eureka, California, which is with Humboldt County.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

With Humboldt County players. From Trinidad, I have a delightful young woman who comes in every week for rehearsals from uh uh was it Whitethorn? It could be Southern Humboldt.

SPEAKER_03 35:21

That's a good drive.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

Yeah, it's a good drive.

SPEAKER_03 35:23

That's probably an hour and a quarter, easy. Wow. Comes in every time. And it's a beautiful drive, but it's a long drive. It's a long drive. The gas ain't cheap here. No. That's what I don't like. Dang it with the gas. You people.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Okay. Yeah, anyway, you were saying.

SPEAKER_03 35:41

Question number two.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

What are you most proud of in your life and what do you have regrets about?

SPEAKER_01 35:48

I really think I'm well, there's two things I'm proudest of. One is the degree to which I raised the level of the music program at Arcade High. And the other is what I've accomplished with the Eureka Symphony in making it really a first-class community orchestra.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

Trevor Burrus Sweet. Beautiful. And what's uh any regrets?

SPEAKER_01 36:15

Well, I used to regret moving from Amsterdam, from the Netherlands. I really wanted to die there.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

Aaron Powell Eight years of tears and eating? No, three. Three. It was only three. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Three's That's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

It is a grievous grieving. But but now I no longer regret it because it's taken my life in a whole different direction that I never would have had. You know, the thing is that that that I know. So I had a great job in a in a really good symphony orchestra. And when I left, you know, there was an audition and there were 50 people who could have taken my place. You know, they just, you know, they found a really good cellist and they just moved it right in.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

There it is.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

And there it is. I was not necessary there, but I really feel necessary here.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

Wow. That's a I like the necessary fact. I like that a lot. Yeah. I I feel I have moments of necessary necess. Sometimes that's not necessary for you to be here, Scott. Just step aside, fella. Okay, question number three. Um if you had the day off, you get the full day to be in that county right there, called Humboldt.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

What are you going to do with your time? And I I'll write the check so you do whatever you want, eat wherever you want, go wherever you want. What would you do with your day?

SPEAKER_01 37:36

I would go for a walk with my dog in some place that other dogs that have to be on leash because he doesn't like dogs off leash.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

Oh, you're a non-leasher.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

Oh, I no, I'm a leasher.

SPEAKER_03 37:50

Oh, you are a leasher. I have to be a leisure here. Good for you. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:54

And so pet peeve, what's crushing to me? Non-leasures.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

My wife's a runner in the woods, and guess what people in the woods do with their dogs?

SPEAKER_01 38:02

Let them off-leash. I know. That's why how come I can't take my my dog uh into you know the Redwood Park because there's always dogs off-leash, and he does not do well with dogs that he doesn't know off-leash.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

Trevor Burrus, I think pretty sure those people all have special permits to not have leashes. Just like the Yahoos that drive 80 on the corridor. Right. And tailgate and passwords. Right. Let me just get started on something right now.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

No, but but uh yeah, I've I've discovered like I go to Fort Humboldt with my doggy because everybody has to be on leash there. It's really nice.

unknown 38:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

So I like that. So I would do that, and then I would actually I would probably practice my cello and do some gardening.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Fun.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

And then maybe go out to dinner. But I would probably invite friends over and cook dinner for them.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

Aaron Ross Powell What would you have?

SPEAKER_01 38:55

I make a mean lasagna.

SPEAKER_03 38:57

Oh yeah. Are you Italian?

SPEAKER_01 38:59

No.

SPEAKER_03 39:00

Or as Joni's mom says Italian.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

No, but but but I have a great recipe and I've cooked it for I've baked it and cooked it for, I don't know, most most of my adult life. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

Nick and I are getting hungry right now. What do you say? I mean that's some of that lasagna. Sounds pretty good. Sounds delicious. Funny story about uh Ashland uh Lithia Park.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

Uh there's a cello player there in the weekends. He's been there for I think a long time. We just saw him.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

I have seen him when I was up in Ashland.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

Same spot right there in the kind of in the shade by the little first pond.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

And he is he plays to recorded mus he's pretty darn good. Saw him last couple weeks ago we were up there.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Aaron Ross Powell That's really nice that he does that.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

It is cool. And no dogs allowed in the park.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_03 39:45

Yeah, not at all. I have a sign. Why do we not let dogs in here? Because people let them off leash. Pro Well that's for sure. But uh what are the what are the reasons? Uh wildlife? Um poop?

SPEAKER_01 40:00

Well, that that's a pet peeve of mine.

SPEAKER_03 40:02

Oh, tell me more.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

People who don't clean up after their dogs, so that, you know, it makes it miserable for all of us. Responsible dog owners who keep our dogs on leashes in public places and clean up after them. That's a pet peeve. Yeah, that's a pet peeve.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

We should do a pet peeve podcast. I'd have them lined up out the door, Nick. Let me tell you what my pet peeve is. You could bring them through, give them numbers, and just start them one at a time and just line them up. That's funny.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

There we go, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:35

We all have pet peeves.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

Do you have any others that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_01 40:39

No, no, that's that's a that's a good one when I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_03 40:41

We'll let them come up organically.

SPEAKER_01 40:43

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:44

Better that way. Hey, question number 17. You get to go to any restaurant you want to go with whomever you want to go.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

Where do you go, what do you eat, and who do you take? In Humboldt. In Humboldt, yes. Which is in California.

SPEAKER_01 41:02

There's There's three restaurants that I would have a difficult time choosing between. Okay. One is Brick and Fire, one is Larapins, and one is Seagrill.

SPEAKER_03 41:15

Oh, good ones.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:17

All right. You've got to pick one now. So which one do you have to go to? Oh actually score all three. What what do you have at Seagrill? What's good there?

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Oh,

Favorite Local Meals And Dutch Bites

SPEAKER_01 41:25

they're scallops.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:27

I haven't had those in a minute.

SPEAKER_01 41:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

And probably good for you.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I don't know. Butter and garlic. Just delicious, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:36

Oh, those are great. They used to have a killer salad bar.

SPEAKER_01 41:39

Yeah. And then they had to get rid of it with uh COVID. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

And all the yeah. That was a world-class salad bar.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

It was. Absolutely. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

It's quite good. No.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

I would have probably their fish of the day, whatever they do, because they do a fabulous job with it.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah. They don't know how to cook fish, which is no small thing.

SPEAKER_01 41:59

Trevor Burrus No. And they also have the world's best uh creme brulee. They don't put stuff in it. I hate I I'm a purist when it comes to creme brulee. I don't like creme brulee with lavender or creme brulee with blueberries or cre you know. It's this I'm sorry, I'm a French purist. Trevor Burrus, Jr. It's another pet peeve. Trevor Burrus Another pet peeve. People who stick stuff in creme brulee.

SPEAKER_03 42:23

How dare you? Damn it. Think about that, you people.

SPEAKER_01 42:27

Ruin my creme brulee.

SPEAKER_03 42:28

You creative chef. Keep it simple.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

Trevor Burrus And if I went to Brick and Fire, I'd start with their uh mushroom uh what do they call it? Oh right. There's the that wild mushroom I can't remember what they call it.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

I think I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. Trevor Burrus What is it?

SPEAKER_01 42:44

Is it is are they they put it in in a in a little thick cr with a crust. Yes. Oh, it's just to die for. You almost get fill up on that. And then also I really do love when they have like something like polenta with uh with something really yummy or um I've had some some of their pork there that's been delicious, too.

SPEAKER_03 43:08

Trevor Burrus They have this like I remember these little dumpling sweet potato balls that you would dip in something. They were quite good. Yeah. No, all good, all three, good. Love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:24

Keep it pure.

SPEAKER_01 43:25

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah. The the guy who owns Larapins, his daughter was in my orchestra for Paul. Yeah, Paul. His daughter. Pip Paul. Yeah. And and um and and I took her to, I think it was Amsterdam, she went with me and with the orchestra. And she was lovely. Violinist. And then uh after I stopped doing the orchestra, then I went up there and she was up there and she was making the desserts. Oh. So she made beautiful creme brulee.

SPEAKER_03 43:54

This whole team were they're amazing.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

Yeah, they do a great job.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

Yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_03 43:57

Well, let me be the first to congratulate you on the website. On your new Dick Taylor chocolate bar. Ooh, how lovely. Thank you. Don't eat it b between now and home.

SPEAKER_01 44:07

Can I eat it now? Sure. Sure. Pop that baby open and go for it. No, I've not.

SPEAKER_03 44:12

I think we did that on the show one time. Did we crack a bar? I think we may have. Anyway, it was delicious. Great guys, really kind-hearted people. So if you're just joining us, and you would be very late in joining.

SPEAKER_01 44:25

We've been yakking for a while, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:27

Yeah, we have. My new best friend Carol Jacobson, uh, from the Eureka Symphony, located in Eureka, California, Humboldt County, USA. Yes. And uh I had another question for you. What? Um and I'm going to make segue into your legacy in a minute and talk about all that. But in the meantime, I was one more question about live music, and it slipped me oh, day off Larapin. Um I guess I'll get to it. Let's talk about your legacy. How do you want to be remembered?

SPEAKER_01 44:59

I want to be remembered as somebody who brought wonderful musical experiences to to to Humboldt County. And and and uh like the and and all the kids that I taught, that so many of them are going on still playing. I mean, some of them have n stopped. But I I don't expect ki I don't expect kids to be professionals. They, you know, it that's a hard road.

Legacy And Next Season Preview

SPEAKER_01 45:25

And there are several who are, you know, doing the the professional musician route who who came up through my high school program.

SPEAKER_03 45:32

Would that be Claire? What? Would that be Claire Bent?

SPEAKER_01 45:34

One is Claire Bent, who's gonna be singing with us next season. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 45:37

She sings with like five bands or something.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

I know, what can I say? And one is Otis Harriel, who's actually gonna be playing with us next season, uh professional violinist. Then there's Clara Lyle, who's a professional opera singer. She's in New York. And several uh let's see, who else can I think of?

SPEAKER_03 45:55

Jenny Scheiman's from here, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Yes, she is, but she was also she was uh launched long before I got around. She was she from Southern Humboldt? I originally she was from Petrolea. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And about three or four years ago, she played with us. We did a a jazz thing. Oh, right. Yeah. And it was really great. She's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

Aaron Ross Powell That would be fun.

SPEAKER_01 46:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:16

So uh who else? Um what about Huckleberry Flint? Any of those guys?

SPEAKER_01 46:22

I don't no, I don't know any of the Trevor Burrus. They're all bluegrass. Yeah, yeah. See, you know, that's well that's one thing too. Uh we have such a variety of music here.

SPEAKER_00 46:31

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

You know, but the one thing we don't have a lot of is classical music, you know? And so I feel very proud that we have that I have that we have a symphony that I feel very proud of.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 46:45

And uh Yeah. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

Who are what's the repertoire next season? Do you do do you know that this early? Or do you have ideas?

SPEAKER_01 46:51

It's all it's all it's all right in that everything is there. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 46:55

Pray. Here, you tell you you tell me who's coming. Okay. Who's coming to town? What are we here?

SPEAKER_01 47:00

All right, coming to town. The first concert is um we're gonna have Terry Baughn, our concertmaster, who's gonna be playing a concerto for violin and French horn with a really fine French horn player who lives, I don't know, Oklahoma or someplace now. And she's gonna come out and do that. And we're gonna uh be playing a Beethoven symphony and that kind of stuff. But this is a really interesting concerto. October 2nd and 3rd, first weekend of October always.

SPEAKER_03 47:28

Coming right up.

SPEAKER_01 47:29

Coming right up.

SPEAKER_03 47:30

Before you know it, it's almost Christmas, you know.

SPEAKER_01 47:33

It's just Christmas.

SPEAKER_03 47:35

You know it's coming. It's coming.

SPEAKER_01 47:37

And then our next concert, which is the first weekend of December, that is the one that where Claire Bent's gonna join us. Oh. And she's gonna be. Yep. And she's gonna be that's gonna be this whole whole second half of the concert's gonna be devoted to her singing, you know, really favorites, holiday favorites.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

Oh, nice. Yeah. It'll be fun.

SPEAKER_01 47:57

Yeah, it'll really be fun.

SPEAKER_03 47:58

That's really special.

SPEAKER_01 47:59

Yeah, it is. And then uh our next concert was gonna be the first weekend of March. We're gonna be doing concert version. We're gonna be doing an all-American program. There's this wonderful m man, he was actually a history teacher at uh Arcade High when I was there, Jim West. And he has is sponsoring us to do um an all-American program. And we're gonna do Copeland and uh and then we're gonna do after the intermission, we're gonna do the concert version, which is only 45 minutes long, of Porgy and Bess. Oh, nice. Two soloists from the Bears. Very American. Yeah. And then we're going to do um uh a program with Otis Harriel, who's from here. And he's gonna be playing uh this flashing dashy uh concerto, Symfony Espanyol, and and we're doing some really fun things in the gusta, muy bueno. And and that that that's gonna be the w one of the concerts that we will adapt for we do the Schools to Symphony program where we bring any of the kids who I it's especially geared to fourth through sixth grade. But really lots of lots of ages come to it is uh and we provide uh with the Humboldt County Office of Education, we provide that for all Humboldt County kids who want to come uh free of charge. They don't ha you know, field field trips are expensive, and so the buses are paid for, the the every everything is paid for, including, you know, like if the teachers have to ha hire a substitute or something. And so we we have we have dedicated funds for that so that we can have two sell-out houses in the morning. They come they come to the Arkley and uh should do.

SPEAKER_03 49:50

Yeah. And what a theater that is. It's beautiful. Thanks, Rob. Yeah. And Sherry?

SPEAKER_01 49:55

Yeah. No, it's a really beautiful place. I'm so we're so I mean, I can't imagine not playing there.

SPEAKER_03 50:00

Acoustically, it's quite good, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 50:02

It really is. I just wish the stage was larger. We really had to squish for the problems directly of the poor chorus. Oh my god. Yeah. Yeah. They had to squeeze.

SPEAKER_03 50:12

So uh quick reverting to the qu so if we want more information, let's talk about that. And then I want to talk about Amsterdam one more time.

SPEAKER_01 50:18

Aaron Ross Powell Oh yeah, and I want to do a shout out to uh Ryan McAvoy McCullough.

SPEAKER_03 50:22

Hey Ryan.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

And he's he's he grew up here too. And he's he's really doing a fantastic job. He's in New York with his wife, Lucy, who just sang with us. They're both real professional f fabulous. He's doing a show. And he's yeah, he's doing a piano concerto with us.

SPEAKER_03 50:37

Aaron Ross Powell A month from today. Tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 50:39

No.

SPEAKER_03 50:40

Is it today the fourth? Or a year from today? A year from today. Not a month.

SPEAKER_01 50:43

No, a year. He's our f he's our culminating concert of the season.

SPEAKER_03 50:49

I like the fact that you got your whole mm map there. Oh yeah. You got to. You've got to. You can't mess around.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

No. I'm already working on season 27-28.

SPEAKER_03 51:01

Wow. I love your energy. That deserves a Larapin. And Seagrow.

SPEAKER_00 51:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:10

And brick and fire. And two doors down.

SPEAKER_00 51:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:14

Starting there.

SPEAKER_00 51:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:15

So uh no, wonderful. And I want to go back to food real quick. So uh Amsterdam is full of food. Yes, it is. And some of the best food, arguably, in a lot of pla in anywhere. Um we really enjoyed eating in our way through Netherlands and Belgium. And the frites, the f the French fries that you dip in mayonnaise?

SPEAKER_01 51:35

I I I I eschew the mayonnaise. But but but I do love it. And uh but I'm addicted to the bitter bollin. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 51:48

Bitterbollin's so good with some good beer?

SPEAKER_01 51:51

Oh, good beer and and and uh and Dutch mustard.

SPEAKER_03 51:55

The uh the Dutch oh yummy. Bitterballen. They're so good.

SPEAKER_01 51:58

Aaron Ross Powell Ah, that's an addiction. Aaron Ross Powell Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:01

We had that in Oliver's, which is a church uh was a church, a Protestant church in Utrecht. Oh and it's it's a beautiful beer joint now and bit the bitter ballad was delicious. Oh they're so good. Oh, and they're good for you.

SPEAKER_01 52:15

Well yeah, they're good to put on weight. That's for but well, what can I say?

SPEAKER_03 52:20

Aaron Ross Powell But they're delicious. They are and everywhere is you go, you're on a train, which uh Joni and I really like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:32

We didn't need it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 52:33

Why would you have a car? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 52:34

We got car when we moved out to the country.

SPEAKER_03 52:38

Yeah, and uh the pastries there are quite good. Yes. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 52:43

And fabulous bread.

SPEAKER_03 52:45

And the bread's oh.

SPEAKER_01 52:47

And uh you know, uh when I w when we when we lived in in Amsterdam, I met the person the owner of Las Bagels, I think maybe he's uh Dennis Real. Dennis Real. He had a restaurant called Cafe Pacifico.

SPEAKER_03 53:07

Yes, he did.

SPEAKER_01 53:08

In Amsterdam, and my husband and I ate there frequently.

SPEAKER_03 53:11

That's funny.

SPEAKER_01 53:11

Yeah. And then when I we came, we moved back to Amsterdam and I saw saw Los Vegas and I saw him, and I said, didn't you used to live in Amsterdam? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:20

He did for a minute, right? Yeah. Was it Mexican food?

SPEAKER_01 53:22

Yeah. It was fat. It was the only place at that time you could get decent Mexican food because they didn't really know what Mexican food was for forever. And then he brought that, and now there's more Mexican restaurants, but still. Yeah.

unknown 53:35

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 53:36

At risk of offending anyone at all. I'm from San Diego and Humboldt is is it's working toward good Mexican food. I'm saying it gently in a gentle sort of snobby San Diego way. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 53:48

That's okay. That's okay. We all have our preferences and prejudices.

SPEAKER_03 53:53

I'll go Yeah, and pure um uh creme brulee all the time.

SPEAKER_01 53:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:58

Let's let's keep it Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 53:59

Creme brulee and bitter ballin. What a combination.

SPEAKER_03 54:04

There's a there's a combination that would be delicious. So how do we uh send you uh money and treasure and time? And I have a brand new jag if I want to you know uh cash my car in. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 54:16

Contact, you just go Google and you go to EurekaSymphony.org. You've got to go to the dot org. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 54:23

The dollar.org. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:26

And you can you can get sign on and you know you click on, and there's you know, it talks about all the concerts. It shows you how to get tickets for the next season. And you have to be really careful. There's uh unbelievable there are these scams

Tickets, Scams, Discounts, Shuttle Help

SPEAKER_01 54:40

these days for for tickets to the Eureka Symphony, for God's sakes. You know, and they sell you tickets that don't exist. Uh and for like and so often for double the price that we charge.

SPEAKER_03 54:52

You know, it's crazy. Aaron Powell Yeah, the Brit uh uh cautions against that, because they have uh scammers out there. Yeah. What's an average ticket cost? We we didn't ask that.

SPEAKER_01 55:01

Well, um it goes everywhere from it's the the h the the high priced spread, let me uh get that up there, is uh is fifty-four dollars down to twenty-one dollars. Trevor Burrus It's a bargain. Yeah. But and if you come at the last minute, you can what do they call them?

SPEAKER_03 55:19

Uh standing room only or no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 55:21

You get the best the best seat that's available for it ca you have to pay cash and uh yes, what do they call it? Rush tickets, yes. And starting at 6 p.m. before each concert, cash only, adults $15, and students with student ID ten dollars. Aaron Powell Get out of town.

SPEAKER_03 55:39

That's a bargain.

SPEAKER_01 55:40

It is a bargain. So even if you don't feel like you can afford a seasoned ticket, but if you get a seasoned ticket, if you get a discount, a 15 percent discount, if you get a five five concert season.

SPEAKER_03 55:51

Oh, that's a really good bargain. Yeah. And a way to support the symphony.

SPEAKER_01 55:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 55:55

I love it. And you don't have to stay at a hotel. No. You don't have to eat at a restaurant. Nope. You don't have to go out of town. Nope. You could drive to Eureka and go home.

SPEAKER_01 56:04

Yeah. And you know what else? Uh our orchestra manager, Nancy Stevenson, who's done some really wonderful, wonderful stuff. Hi, Nancy. I know Nancy Stephen. Anyway, she started this whole thing for shuttle service for people who uh don't feel like they can really drive at night anymore. And they go for Dow, I think they go as far south, I don't know, Humboldt Hill to like I don't think they go all the way to Fortuna, maybe, but you could call her an ass, call the office an ass. And they go up to Trinidad, I believe. So so that so that there's a shuttle. You have to order it in advance.

SPEAKER_00 56:42

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 56:42

And then the shuttle will go and pick you up. And it you we usually have about eight or nine passengers a night per per congress. Yeah, it is it's great.

SPEAKER_03 56:51

It's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01 56:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:52

Yeah. Get get get everybody out there.

SPEAKER_01 56:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:55

Well, cool. Well, thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 56:57

Oh, thank you for having me, Scott. It was really fun. Really just I had no idea we had all these connections, you know.

SPEAKER_03 57:03

Humboldt, man. It's like seven layers of Kevin Bacon, and now it's just two layers in Humboldt.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:11

Because I know Nancy and I know Steve Cole.

SPEAKER_01 57:13

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:14

Oh, those are we both know David Turner and Cheryl and that's small world.

SPEAKER_01 57:18

And we both know Claire.

SPEAKER_03 57:20

And we both know Claire. And hi, everybody. Well, thanks for being here. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

Thank you for having me. It's been a real pleasure.

SPEAKER_03 57:27

Thank you. Scott Hammond with 100% Humboldt, and thanks for joining us. And if you're just joining us, you're way too late. You missed the whole show. If you're just joining us, what you could do is leave a nice comment or subscribe to us. We're on all the platforms for uh podcasts, including Access Humboldt Local TV. Uh thanks to those guys, they're amazing. And YouTube and my great producer, Nick Flores. Uh, don't say enough nice things about him. But uh if you want to send uh your time treasure or your jag, uh you could do that too, because the none of this happens for free. And uh like us, love us, and see you next time. Scott Hammond, 100%

Final Thanks And Where To Listen

SPEAKER_03 58:05

humble. Thanks again, Carol.

SPEAKER_01 58:06

Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.