News Release
Don't Miss the Celebration of Music Luncheon
02/22/2010
Where: Walla Walla Country Club
When: April 14th, 11:45 a.m.
Cost: $25
Walla Walla, WA - (April 1, 2010) Young violinist Anna Burgess and her father, guitarist Jesse Burgess, will be featured at the Walla Walla Symphony’s Celebration of Music luncheon on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 11:45 a.m. at the Walla Walla Country Club. Walla Walla Symphony Music Director/Conductor Yaacov Bergman will be the guest speaker. Cost is $25 per person, and a buffet luncheon will be served including a soup du jour station, three salads including Basil Pesto Pasta, Red Bliss Potato, and Tomato Cucumber, shaved turkey, ham, roast beef and cheeses, and assorted breads and condiments. Dessert is an ice cream sundae bar. All proceeds benefit the Walla Walla Symphony. Advance reservations and payment are required, and are available online at www.wwsymphony.org or by calling the Symphony office at 509-529-8020. They are also available at the Symphony office at 13-1/2 E. Main, Suite 201 in Walla Walla.
Anna Okada Burgess was born in Japan and speaks Japanese. She began playing the violin just after returning from a summer in Japan, just before her fourth birthday. Her violin teacher is Maya Takemoto. In 2005, after hearing Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, she began learning Celtic fiddle. She attended Alasdair Fraser’s Sierra Fiddle Camp in 2006 and 2007 where she studied with Alasdair Fraser, Hanneke Castle, Laura Risk, Bruce Molskey, and Harald Haugaard. A couple of years ago, Anna was a soloist (with Rachael and Emily Schueller) with the Walla Walla Symphony. Anna plays in the Wa-Hi orchestra, a string quartet, a Celtic duo, the Walla Walla Symphony Youth Orchestra, and she sings in Wa-Hi’s Treble Choir and takes voice lessons with Genevieve Baglio. She also studies piano with Candace Rose. She was in Explorers from 3rd to 8th grades and is a straight-A student. She’ll be soloist with the WWSYO this spring, playing a Haydn violin concerto.
Jesse Burgess has been composing since he was a teenager when he began to study composition and orchestration privately with William H. Bailey. Jesse has also studied with Jose Rambaldi, George Skipworth, and Lee Friese. He has composed pieces for Oregon East Symphony and Inland Northwest Symphony Orchestra as well as dozens of soundtracks, one of which won 1st place in national competition. He has written, with co-songwriter (and brother), Aaron Burgess, more than 250 songs, and has produced many recordings. He operated his own recording studio in Walla Walla for ten years before moving to Seattle where he worked as an independent recording engineer. Jesse holds a BA in philosophy from Whitman College, an MA in Humanities from California State University, and he currently teaches English and Humanities at Walla Walla Community College
Maestro Yaacov Bergman has been Music Director and Conductor of the Walla Walla Symphony since 1987. He is also Music Director of the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and former Music Director of the Colorado Springs Symphony, the New York Heritage Chamber Orchestra, and the 92nd St. Y Symphonic Workshop Orchestra in New York City. His versatility has led to frequent guest appearances across the globe, including Japan, Vienna, Israel, Denmark, Egypt, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, the Edmonton Symphony in Canada, the West Virginia Symphony, the Redlands (California) Symphony, and more. Born in Israel, Bergman’s early musical training began with violin and vocal studies, later changing to conducting and composition. He graduated from the Rubin Academy of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and completed post-graduate studies at the Mannes College of Music in New York. He pursued further conducting studies under the guidance of Charles Bruck as well as private study under Leonard Bernstein. In 1998 he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Colorado Technical University. Maestro Bergman is married to pianist and pedagogue Joan Behrens-Bergman.
The Walla Walla Symphony, the oldest continuously operating symphony west of the Mississippi, has been under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Yaacov Bergman since 1987, and has performed in Cordiner Hall on the Whitman College campus since 1967. The Symphony is recognized for its adventurous programming, school programs, and tradition of performing original compositions. From October through June, the Walla Walla Symphony plays or sponsors concerts in a schedule that includes a mix of symphony concerts, chamber concerts, special concerts and a Discovery series exploring music traditions from around the world. For more information, visit the Symphony’s website at www.wwsymphony.org or call the symphony office at 509-529-8020.