“Classicann is going to be bigger and better this second year,” smiles Phillip Lenberg, coordinator for the second annual classical music festival blending a world-class lineup of musicians with a cannabis-friendly setting.
The event, taking place on Saturday, May 24th will once again be held at the outdoor stage at Plantshop, featuring over a dozen musicians, two food vendors, booths showcasing the region’s finest cannabis farmers “and plenty of shade,” Lenberg smiles.
“We looked at last year’s event as a proof of concept, and we hit our mark,” says Lenberg, who is the music director for the Ukiah Symphony as well as an award-winning conductor and the Professor of Music at Mendocino College. The free event is open to adults 21 and over. Adults 18-20 with a valid cannabis medical card may also attend. “This year, we’re also welcoming dogs on leashes,” Lenberg continues.
The event continues an effort by county cannabis allies to demystify stigmas associated with cannabis usage through the association with the arts- specifically, classical music. The event is held outdoors in Plantshop’s ½-acre stage area, with plenty of room for seating, eating, and for those who indulge, smoking.
The event begins at 2 p.m. and concludes at 7 p.m., broken into 4 musical sections and a “mingle and munchies” hour between 5 and 6 p.m. “Twelve musicians are coming, several who are Grammy nominees and some of whom will be returning from last year’s festival,” says Lenberg.
Charith Premawardhana, violist is a resident of San Francisco who holds performance degrees from The Ohio State University, Rice University, and a chamber music degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Premawardhana is the founder of Classical Revolution, an organization which promotes live music performances in neighborhood and community venues, with over 30 active chapters in cities around the US, Canada, and Europe. Classical Revolution has presented more than 1,200 live performance events in the Bay Area. This year’s festival marks a return of Classical Revolution to Classicann, and they will open the performance beginning at 2 p.m. Three musicians will be joining Premawardhana for the Classical Revolution performance.
Petr Masek received his master’s degree in violin performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He enjoys performing classical music by composers from his Czech homeland such as Dvorak and Smetana, but doesn’t shy away from creating his own interpretation of songs like “High and Dry” by Radiohead.
Cellist Lewis Patzner is an Oakland native who received his BM in Cello Performance from the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University. He is the founder of Judgement Day, which focuses on signal-processed electronic string music, and has performed as a session musician with Pinback, Slash, Taking Back Sunday, Pete Yorn, and numerous others, as well as performing classical music with the Jazz Mafia and others.
Chad Kaltinger is a musical freelancer, orchestral violinist, chamber musician, soloist and recording artist who is the principal violinist for Opera San Jose and the Santa Cruz Symphony. He performs new music regularly with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, UC Santa Crus New Music Works Ensemble and the Worn Chamber Ensemble.
Premawardhana, Kaltinger and Patzner will also be performing with the Musical Art Quintet at 4 p.m.
At 3 p.m., Paul Yarbrough will be playing with the Mendocino Quintet, which will be performing Mendelssohn’s Quintet No. 2. A founding member of the Alexander String Quartet Yarbrough continues to perform as a soloist, while teaching and pursuing personal projects. Yarbrough received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Allegheny College for his service to the arts and education, and an Honorary Degree from St. Lawrence University. He serves on the board of the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. Mendocino County is fortunate to have him as a resident, musician and patron of the arts.
Anna Washburn, violinist performs and records on period violin and viola with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego, Musica Angelica, Agave Baroque, Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, MUSA, and Marin Baroque. She also appears on stage with a variety of ensembles, from recording and performing with pop-orchestra artists like Sting, Chicago, John Vanderslice, Third Eye Blind and The Dodos, to hip hop/opera group Ensemble Mik Nawooj. She performs with the Symphony Silicon Valley, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Monterey Symphony, and Stockton Symphony and has degrees in violin from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Boston University.
Paul Kim, violinist is an active performer and teacher who received his master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He will be joining the Mendocino Quintet along with Washburn, Aaron Westman and Joel Cohen.
Violinist and violist Aaron Westman was a “metal-head” who now plays “the electric guitar of the 17th century,” and has been described as a “brilliant virtuoso” (Early Music America) He has performed with nearly all baroque ensembles in California, and works with Archetti, American Bach Soloists, Bach Collegium San Diego, California Bach Society, the SF Opera, and the Philharmonia Baroque. He co-directs Agave Baroque, Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, Sylvestris Quartet, and Santa Rosa Symphony’s Young People’s Chamber Orchestra, and teaches at Mills College.
Ukiah’s own cellist Joel Cohen received his degree from the University of Western Ontario. Further studies took him to Holland until his return to the San Francisco Bay area where he served as co-principal cellist with the Oakland Symphony from 1979 to 1985. Cohen lived in Vienna from 1985 to 1997, where he was a principal cellist of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. He toured extensively throughout Europe and Asia with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Johann Strauss Festival Orchestra of Vienna.
Mezzo soprano Melinda Martinez Becker is a multi-faceted performer singing a diverse repertoire of baroque, contemporary classical, and experimental works. Her New Mexican and Jewish heritage shapes her career as a performer of art song in Spanish, Ladino, Yiddish and a variety of other languages. She is a faculty member at Dominican College.
At 4 p.m., the Musical Art Quintet will perform their incredible repertoire of musical styles, inspired by composer and bassist Sascha Jacobsen, featuring elements of chamber music, world beat, and gorgeous melodies. An outgrowth of Classical Revolution, the East-Bay based group are known for their “Nuevo Chamber music.” Jacobsen’s great-great-great-great grandfather was a bassist for the Moscow Opera, and he has performed with a cornucopia of luminaries including Patti LuPone, Bonnie Raitt, Kristin Chenoweth, as well as numerous Tango and Flamenco masters.
Rounding out the Musical Art Quintet is Michele Walther, a Bay Area violinist, composer, arranger and educator who majored in jazz violin performance at the Berklee College of Music. She performs with Resonance Jazz, Steve McQuarry, Tangonero, Dan Cantrell and solo with live looping. She recently performed “A Living Tribute to Carly Bley” at the SF Jazz Center and has performed with Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull, Gloria Estefan, Joe Lovano, the Boston String Quartet and many more and is the founding member of the trio LaMuseMent.
The entire group of 12 musicians will join together to finish off the day, performing Dvorak’s String Serenade at 6 p.m.
Delicious local food will be offered by Farola Empanadas and It’s A Bao Time. Due to California law, alcohol is not allowed on the grounds of the dispensary or consumption lounge.
“This is a wonderful way to start off the Memorial Weekend on a high note,” quips Lenberg.
Plantshop is located at 2031 Wellmar Drive, off Orr Springs Road. Although tickets are free, Lenberg asks that attendees register on the website. For more information and registration visit www.classicann.org/home. For more information about Plantshop visit plantshop.co.
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