 The Santa Cruz County Arts Commission presents its fifth annual profile performance to honor its artist of the year. This year's recipient is maestro George Barati. Mr. Barati is acclaimed outstanding achievements and meritorious distinction in the world of music. The quality of his work is recognized internationally. His musical accomplishments have played an important role in increasing Santa Cruz County's visibility as a community which nurtures and supports artistic creativity, development and growth. Maestro Barati has performed and recorded with the London Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. Maestro Barati was cellist with the San Francisco Symphony under Pierre Mont, and cellist with the California String Quartet. He has been music director of the Barati Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, and music director of the Honolulu Symphony in Opera from 1950 until 1968. And now here is chair of the County Arts Commission, Robert Corns, to introduce tonight's program. We're on specifically the staff of the County Parks and Wildlife Services Department, special Saunders and the Cultural Affairs Coordinator, along with many volunteers who have allowed us to move forward with what I'm sure to find is very successful. Five years ago, the County Arts Commission began this program of acknowledging a person from the arts in the county who lives here, whose special contributions to the arts are excellent, as noted on our local level, as noted on the regional and national levels, and also someone who has given a great deal to the community while living here. For 1988, we have chosen a man who fits all these, he has lived in Central Europe, on our East Coast, on our West Coast, in Hawaii, and for the last, I think, 18 years here in Santa Cruz County. During this evening, you'll learn much about him, I think you'll appreciate him more than ever, and I need to say much now, but would just like to introduce to you my screw, George Baraki, just recognized in the audience, other people whose names are on this plaque who have come tonight to honor George. As far as I know, all of them were here in the first one, on the Tanneville, said she might be late this Tanneville year, she's late. Lou Harris, here, this is Mary Kay Ember, who is to you, Carol Bransich, the commissioner of the Arts Commission in charge of this year's profile performance event. It is my privilege to introduce to you Mary's people who are in our business tonight, who are going to present you with a number of proclamations and commendations, and so let us begin. Our first presenter, field representative, Kim Teasley, who is representing State Center for the Indian Mellow, has a proclamation. Award right here, and as you may know, the arts are very important to Senator Mellow. He's a piano player himself, and he chairs the joint committee on the arts at the Sacramento, so he was especially proud to be able to honor you tonight, and I'd like to feel to read just the last paragraph of this resolution which talks about some of your accomplishments. Resolved by the Senate Rules Committee that the members present their heartiest congratulations to Mr. Barotti on his receipt of the 1988 Artist of the Year Award from the Santa Cruz County Art Commission in recognition of the tremendous growth that the Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestra have experienced under his baton, and for the unparalleled cultural enrichment he brought to the community, and the members extended the best wishes for his continued success in the future. Congratulations. State Center for the Santa Cruz Farms As vice-chair of that joint arts committee, the Senator Mellow chairs, but also as chair of the task force on education, art education at California School, much needed if we're going to have all uses of the future. But especially if you'd like to be here to present it and also a resolution from the other half of the state legislature, the state assembly, to Mark Leistrow tonight, in reading the back of the program about your background, and also the paper we got, it noted that his music director Honolulu, the theater concert hall at the Honolulu International Center has been called by Senator Inouye as the house that Barotti built. And when I read in the Pomeronian tonight about the, in the art section about the debate over wing spread, I just wanted whether the wing spread forces knew that you had such powers. Certainly the central coast in this county are excited about honoring very talented people. And on behalf of the California legislature, we would like to give you this resolution because of your enrichment, not only to the community here locally, but to the state, to the nation, and certainly to the world. Although you're a native of Hungary, we'd like to also recognize you as one of the Californians. Our next presenter is Supervisor of the Fifth District, chair of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, Joan Chia. On behalf of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, let me welcome you all here. This is a stunning turnout this evening. And I would like you to join me first in commending the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission, who is celebrating the fifth year of the award that we're here to present this evening to the maestro. And I think that that's a tremendous achievement for a half a decade of success in what has now become an institution in our community. So my commendations to the Arts Commission on behalf of the Board of Supervisors. The maestro this evening, I think, is very special to all of us because I think it is symbolic of the uniqueness of Santa Cruz County and the richness of the people that have made Santa Cruz the beautiful place that it is today. I thank for all of us who live in Santa Cruz and for the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. We must never forget that the arts and the performing arts and culture in our community are as vital to the quality of our life as any other aspect of the services and the essential elements that make living in Santa Cruz the special thing that it is to each of us. So on behalf of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors maestro, I would like to share with you a couple of the comments that we would like to pay tribute to you because I think it speaks highly of yourself and the commitment that you've made to our community. Whereas George Barotti, world-renowned cellist, conductor, and composer has been named 1988 Artist of the Year by the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission. And whereas a long-time resident of Soquel, George Barotti came to the area in 1971 to be music director and conductor of the Santa Cruz County Symphony, a post he held until 1980. And whereas under George Barotti's skilled guidance and leadership, the Santa Cruz County Symphony rose to greater musical heights. And whereas George Barotti's works have been honored and recognized by his excellence through his inclusion in who's who in the world, who's who in America, and who's who in music. And whereas now therefore I do hereby join with the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission in recognizing George Barotti for his vast contributions to the Santa Cruz County's musical, cultural, and distinguished musical events throughout the world. Congratulations, my friends. Jean Lerner. I do not have a certificate. On behalf of my fellow board members and the musicians of the symphony, I have the honor to present this gift to George in token of our thanks for his ten years as our Maestro in 1971-1980. This is simple. It's too open for you. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. You hold the bar. My music printed here. No. When it gets printed, I'll put it in tissue paper. The tissue paper is here. Oh, no. It's in gray. It's in gray. I love those things. Beautiful. Very special commendation to be read by the Cultural Affairs Specialist, Sander Smith. I found out that George Barotti had a special friend in James Mitch near the writer and tracked him down. And here's a letter from him. During the happy years when I was working in Hawaii, one of the recurring pleasures were the musical programs conducted by my friend George Barotti, who had both a fine ear for the classics and an interest in more modern music. I was one of the many faithful followers. And I enjoyed George as much personally as I did musically. He inspired the rest of us with his tireless dedication to art and his delight in bringing good things to Hawaii. It was a privilege to be with him. And I have, in subsequent years, followed his career with enthusiasm and approval. I am most pleased to hear that he is being honored, and I add my own congratulations. And it's signed warmly James A. Mitchner, his distinguished visiting professor at the University of Miami. May I say a few words, Mr. Branson? First of all, we have to build a new wall in our house to hang all these beautiful pieces. But I am very deeply touched and I feel truly honored, dear friends, speakers and friends who are here in the audience. Because this is a kind of honor I think every creative artist is very happy to accept. And it very seldom happens that it's such a complete occasion as this one is. And I think that the main point I want to raise that many of these are to tell you what I think we have wonderful musicians who will play for you, play my music, which is more important. But the one issue that keeps coming back to me is that one receives many honors in one's life, if one is lucky, may I be quite lucky, I must say. But very seldom does one get a gift that is truly honoring the creative part of one. And I'm speaking about the fact that this occasion has been arranged by the House Commission as part of the honoring this year's creative artist. To have an occasion where you can hear the music and can either appreciate it or not, as the case may be, but to be exposed to it is a very unique way of handling this. And I think this nation should learn something from Santa Cruz County to see how it should be done. Thank you very much. First of all, we at the Commission would like to make a very special thank you to Father Larry of Resurrection Church for being such a gracious host for us tonight. Now the program does state that there will be a slide presentation by Minister Barati. But before we start, we have one more competition for you. One very special one. It's like the Academy of Art, you know, and some of the special presenters cannot be there in person. They send themselves on tape or video tape. There's very special tape for you. My name is Barati from someone that you know from U.S. Senator Daniel Fooley. Today the State of Hawaii is the home of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, one of the finest symphony orchestras in the United States. The man who was involved in the process of developing the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is the distinguished gentleman you are honoring this evening, maestro George Barati. He was a maestro of our symphony at a time when dollars were scarce and when the symphony orchestra was performing in a high school auditorium. Through his persistence, his personality and his energy, he convinced the people of Honolulu to build a world-class symphony hall. Whenever I pass our beautiful concert hall, I salute it as the house that Barati built. Present generations may not have heard of maestro Barati, but we who were privileged to work with him, all well acquainted with his talent, his greatness, and his leadership. I'm pleased to join you in wishing George Barati a happy and memorable 75th birthday. Mahalo en aloha George. After this, only two choices are possible. I should run for senator, which I may not do, or give up. I may need some light though. May I just make a couple of remarks about the music itself. The first piece on the program you may have noticed in the program notes is a chant through Pele, Pele being the goddess of fire and volcano of Hawaii and you may have noticed or may have noticed that she appeared in person in the form of a sign of fire from outside. If you didn't believe it, that was Pele. Some of us believe it. Then you know it and I do, I'm sure. Secondly, the program, this is Sunday concert and celebration. I thought that each of you present should get some kind of music that you may like. So we tried to put together a program that is varied in my styles and the world styles from quasi-popular to quasi-serious. So whatever you get is what you get. And about the slide, before we start the slide we are saying that Ruth and I, by the way, I think Ruth, you should stand up. My wife Ruth, my daughters are here too, Lauren and I are right here. But before we play, Ruth and I never believed that we ought to invite important friends to our house and take pictures of theirs. So I find today, to my amazement and somewhat embarrassment that some of the most important people I've known quite well are not presented on this picture. And the list I'm going to read to you in a minute is a very small part of the list. All of these people I've known either well or slightly, but at least I had a one-time, one-to-one conversation with them is much more. And these names include Bela Bartholk, Kodai, and Doc Nani, professors in the Concertary in Hungary and a known Bartholk in America as well. My professor in Princeton, Sessions and Kotlin, Einstein, old friend of mine in Princeton, Aldous Huxley, Joseph Sigetti, Stoklowski, Leonard Bernstein, Menanti, Heifetz, Rubinstein, all of whom came to our house for dinner, by the way. We have known them quite well, many ways, and what they didn't like we ate. Clarke Woos and Loos, Prince, Crown Prince, Akihito and Michiko, who gave me a beautiful pair of cufflinks, by the way, for the concert. Betty Goodman, Earther Kid, Isaacine Casals, then President Eisenhower, President Nixon, Adley Stevenson, Ambassador McConaughey in Korea, Rosemary Clooney, Melcher, Sinatra, Deborah Carr, just to mention the very few. There are many others, but as I said, I never thought that they'd be pictures. Actually there were some pictures, some of these people, but not by me, and I don't own them, newspapers and so on. Now as to the slides, as you know, even conductors and composers have to be born, so they start right there. And they start growing and do many things, my father, who was a corporal in the Hungarian Army, my vengeance was later I became a sergeant in the American Army, by choice, my mother and my older brother and I were with Nürburgring. This is a sport club, I'm in the middle of a sitting position, the closest friends who were athletes, not for the teachers only. When I was a cellist already, and I think it looks like King Kamehameha more than a cellist. This is the France List Conservatory in Budapest, a side view of the main entrance. This is the List Square, and if you look hard on the middle upper portion, there's a sitting sculpture of lists you're going to see in a moment. This is List sitting up on top. This is the mentor of the conservatory, still around. I played on this piano on the top floor of the conservatory. I'm very bad, he understands that. This is the Royal Palace in Hungary, and there was a villa above it where we played many of the Sinkwater concerts, and one side over there, it has a different function now than it used to be there. Another detail from the conservatory was very elegant, very elegant inside all red marble, gold and red and glorious. Same picture, only moved over about two inches since I last played it. This I believe is the other concert hall in Budapest, downtown in the Danube, called the Bigado, or the Pleasure Place, where you can enjoy yourself. This is the US Army on the corporal, and as you see I was a conductor, I was very important to be drawn by another military man. This is in Louisiana, by the way. This is Piano 1-2, under whom I played in San Francisco Symphony for three and a half years, and his birthday is one day after mine. If the picture were complete, he would see me on his left, he was giving me a slice of cake in about a minute because he shared the birthday party. The Chamber Orchestra I formed in San Francisco from 1946 to 50. Actually, it survived my departure from Honolulu, and I came back for two or three years to continue. It was the first Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco in fact on the west coast except Los Angeles, and those of you who go to France know that today there are probably eight of them in San Francisco alone fighting each other. I was the one who wrote the Union Rules because at that time, they didn't know what the Chamber Orchestra meant. Now they know. In the Army suffering Luzi Luziana box. When I was invited to Hawaii, I knew nothing about Hawaii. I said, I'm going to come under one condition for the guest conductor in January after 50. If I can't meet the one person I know in Hawaii, I used to be a streaming champion when I was a kid, and I said, I only know the name of Duke Kahanamoku who became a Olympic champion. So the first week we were there dinner party was arranged. That is Duke Kahanamoku is live and my wife was left off this picture. The original has her. I apologize. It was not my intention. Then the youth culture began. As you heard from various sources of this tonight we built immediately upon my arrival. The idea was that you must develop audiences for the future. True in every place, every time, it's true today in this county as you already heard. So we got into schools and this is one of the arrivals to the council. The Catholic schools send two or three buses each time and as you see I am the inspiration for this place but anyway I said it for a moment. Hansel Adams came to Thailand limitation of official bank to do a anniversary picture book and I was selected one of the six or eight human beings in the picture. Let's go out, nature seems wonderful, Hansel Adams. This is Hansel's one of two pictures. This is the other one. The left right has small king holding a cigarette is should be cut out. This is the Honolulu symphony in its first performance of the Beethoven 9th symphony. The chorus in the back shows you this is one of the most important moments. It was about the first or second sold out house in about my third or fourth season until then we grew step by step from almost nothing to sold out houses. Captain Kangaroo on the right standing did a pop concert with us in the outdoor place in Alanguano center. It's about 20,000 people gathered. They expected six or seven or eight thousand. 20,000 people, you wouldn't believe this art. And I think I'm conducting. This is an old friend of yours of mine, Jack Benny. And this is in Hawaii. This was before Jack came here to perform and raised money for us. And he became instant friends. He and Ruth became instant friends to the extent that the phone would ring at 7 a.m. anytime and this rough voice would say his root's there. At 7 a.m. I think the husband has a right to ask the strange voice, who is it, please? And he would say, that was like a roof. I said, who is this, please? This is Jack. Jack who? Jack Benny, Jack what to say so. What's the problem? I have a call at Las Vegas. And I'm happy with what to say. This was the mentor of Jack Benny to the end of his life as to what violence to take. This is a white-icky shell that I also have to build even though I didn't approve the size of the shell itself, which was enormous. It could cover at least 2,000 people on the shell on the stage without any problem. And if you can see and you cannot see on the conductor's left on your right is George Shearing playing the piano playing the Mozart concert playing the second hand of the concert. But the audience is probably 10-12,000 and they even made money on these concerts but they don't have any real money. On the left is Isaac Stern and Symphony Functionaries and I'm pointing an ice design of I think a violin Jack Benny, the previous picture was made about 2 weeks or 3 weeks prior to this concert with Isaac Stern as soloist and the remains of that slowly melting violin that we made for Jack about the size of a large human being like 6 or 7 feet is still there so this was the event that Isaac enjoyed and very important for Isaac Stern and Jack Benny. Carmen Dragon who was very well known in those years as the standard R Symphony conductor came to Hawaii, this is our house looking out to the side the front was toward the ocean to the right was Pearl Harbor and left was the beautiful Manoa Valley. Ruth and I appeared many times in many functions this was one of the very important local monthly magazines and we were featured young kids was about 2 years ago the family was about 5 years ago Donna, the younger one next to me and Lorna with her mother both born in Hawaii by the way this is Daddy the cellist Lorna is a larger one the baby Donna what does laugh if you believe it as my son holding the flute with Lorna in between diamond in the back and my son from a first marriage liked music and wanted to know what the flute was like how to play a flute this was not in Hawaii in most ways the western flute like this is a MacDowell colony and the picture doesn't show very much but I always love to be so this is the truth to you MacDowell colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire is for creative artists that's all I have from there another right of the show concert Verdi concert scenes from Aida and it's a very beautiful sight you can see now how large that ship is there must be on the stage a chorus of 500 an orchestra of about 100 and just disappeared you could see 2000 more it's just bad, it's too big for that purpose this is the Kaiser dome aluminum dome the first geodesic dome in this country in five days and he told me one morning and said what need you and how please at your convenience make a very short story and my covenants became immediately come down and help me build the acoustics the stage which I did and when we finished he said now what do you want and I said I want to perform in it so he arranged a post to post show for us this is the first singer I think ever lived Daria Beria and we arranged, I arranged this program of Park, Hawaii and Park symphonic alternating and on the last piece he would come over walk over from a special stage was it done for him to our stage and sing with the orchestra the very glorious moment of fusion of East and West each time this was a sold out house probably 6 or 8 times the same program opening the stage to thank me and gave the audience a minute to thank himself as to how it was done he promised for 25 days for like 4 and a half days this is a better picture of Apaka singing with us and the sold out house this is when Kaiser first came on stage and asked Ruth to join us and I am very fond of the story that I tell to people how to understand this man and how to remember him and what he did and during the war he got hundreds of bone chips and he did whatever he wanted to do he achieved and once at dinner I said to him Mr. Kaiser how do you do this I mean this particular thing was built but my standing there the power was not built yet it was just walls were going up and he said now what do you want my boy I said I want raise the platform cut out these steps actually over there turn out the front is curved light should be there and there and I kept on saying things and suddenly behind me kept writing this was late afternoon the next morning the next morning it was all finished so I said to Kaiser Mr. Kaiser just how do you do this he said my boy I just lean like an elephant so I told Dan in no way but he was young this is in Washington where I was performing opera conducting opera this is opera in Hawaii and I don't remember the names but Harujo is the seventh score opera stage director on the right and Ruth can you remember Foreka on the left isn't he Frank Foreka who is very famous today on the left and the rest I'm sorry to say John Browning one of the big piano names today he was a young kid he just won a competition he became very well known in those years and Rikao sitting with us in the big picture window in the foggy day I guess don't see the background this was in 1964 but by which time I became both very well known quite long and also quite notorious and this was a time that we were finishing the concert hall just building it and the controversy was enormous in fact Mr. Khrushchev reminded me to enjoy the fact he said that I people do they know by carefully taking the building called concert hall the concert hall we tried for 20 years or 15 years to build one that were unable to get either the land or the money or both finally we lost the last chance for this particular space that was the final space open in the middle of downtown Honolulu keeping order from the Academy and the editor of the paper George we lost I'm going to try one more little editorial tomorrow have a look at it so we chatted for an hour I hope there are no neighbors in this room we chatted for an hour and I said many things to him our director discussing how to approach this editorial and next morning every radio station TV station called me for dinner 6 or 4 in the morning and I said what's going on somebody said I mean you just get a morning paper go out get it call you back in half an hour go out and I think it's time to read the editorial page for me the drunk page Boran quote the mayor and the city council are culturally ignorant quote and the mayor placed there for me and I later said George we have a supervisor meeting today be my guest come down come down the scene for the lawyer was there he said George no guns no guns and the mayor took me to this wall the blueprint of the resting arena where it is built today large complete center of this large two city block area and underneath this completely finished blueprint under that kind of a hand scratched blue pencil a rectangle and he says council power the mayor says you see George and the lawyer said it's freshly built isn't it we have to but we built the council power at that spot because of this editorial the true story you can see it in the paper that's George Shearing you can see it much better now there on my left here from the other side in 1962 we decided our two growing doctors could go to school somewhere as much as in Hawaii which might be a little bit far in the middle of the city and the pigeon English might be the best English to learn although they didn't learn the English so we went to Europe to live for a couple of years and this was my final concert prior to the departure and as you see I couldn't see or breathe I had to be let out by the sponsors on two sides it was a wonderful honor farewell by the governor of Hawaii Bill Quinn who was a personal friend and he sang with the orchestra a number of times I wonder if you could get Mr. Goodman if you can sing with us but he was a very wonderful Irish tenor and this was a farewell in his office the concert hall rather sad front but very lovely inside Stravinsky one of our guest conductors when I left for Europe for the couple of years I arranged guest conductors on the first course Stravinsky and he called me from Los Angeles his wife and he and Robert Kraft his assistant came and he said she said he's not feeling well he may not be able to walk so please nobody should come on to the airport just you and one photographer so we did that and I drove him around it was a wonderful two or three days it was very open and we had a great time private discussion his wife was doing things that wives would view this is in Heidelberg the German-American music festival one summer this is a conductor this is in Korea in a glorious spot there may be another picture in the beautiful building on this side behind the orchestra there is a large audience in this wonderful court very lovely design the obvious lines of the Southeast Asian architecture this is I think in a geisha house the far better picture where my wife and I are the only westerners but I am between two geishas and my wife is sitting on the right and you can see how the Japanese women behave with this lovely wife of mine pushed her to the side Japan orchestra Tokyo Symphony conducting just in detail this is the Tokyo Philharmonic which I took on a coast to coast two or once in Japan which is about six concerts not like in America and took them once on a southern tour to Osaka and Kyoto and very brilliant orchestra very able, very brilliant one of seven in Tokyo alone and I was the only American at least for many years but now who was allowed to conduct all of them on one tour because the system in Japan was at that time that one orchestra had a guest conductor no other orchestra talked to that person why he was there complete monopoly for the moment Busan, Korea reception committee of orchestra members we had a concert with a terrible terrible piano that kept collapsing under the pianist's hands and kept pushing me back I don't mean a pitch, I mean a leg kept collapsing the pitch wasn't there to be doing Taeko Fujiri a Japanese soprano opera singer my Berlin debut before the concert they pressed my tailbone and gave me coffee tea or beer and I had to wait in this dressing room and I might tell you it was beautifully lit as you see and when I got out I expected to go through various ancient rooms untrained places before I got to the stage instead they opened the door and I was on the stage that was a real honest to goodness charm to me because you expect people to do certain things to yourself and they take a deep breath ready instead I was on stage doing the stage there we did mental hand with daughter Donna and Lorna and a friend same discussing his program for San Francisco I advised him and he wanted for the change the program of my recommendation and he learned the sport my heart gloriously six months later very grateful to be in fact his father's honor to be his guest this is the Honolulu Symphony tour orchestra when I arrived the orchestra played in Honolulu about six concerts a year and nothing else when I left we played 106 concerts a season and going up around on every island we played 60 to 80 youth concerts a year and I formed in my first year a 36 piece tour orchestra it flew two planes one plane flew the equipment and this plane flew past and one double bass that is your idea and the orchestra was 36 because there were 37 seats on the DC3 one for the bass same picture this is a detail with Jack many in Santa Cruz at least the concert was over the other side of the mountain but this is Jack playing it was my first concert with this orchestra and you raised enough money for the first two or three years of deficits which were inevitable to come John Cage two young men and one of the programs in Santa Cruz and thank you very much