This is the time of year when we pause for our various holiday traditions and take time to reflect on the past year while looking ahead to the New Year. Yuba-Sutter is blessed to have an incredibly active community with so many remarkable arts organizations that enrich our lives in so many ways. I have been looking back on an incredible year in the performing arts. We’ve had several weeks of live holiday music and related theatrical performances, but it’s important to remember that we can enjoy these arts and artists throughout the year.
I have been privileged to have represented Yuba Sutter Arts in a collective called the Arts Consortia. Founded and chaired by Teresa Aronson, Public Events Coordinator for Yuba College, the consortia represents just about every performance group in the area and meets several times a year to discuss new and better ways to promote the arts in Yuba-Sutter.
Here’s a brief recap of local performing arts organizations. Some may even come as a surprise to you. And if I’ve overlooked anyone, please contact me so we can keep in touch.
The Acting Company: Our own award winning community theater has been “sharing the magic of live theater with Yuba-Sutter” for decades. With a full main stage and children’s theater season, The Acting Company produces plays for everyone from Shakespeare to modern day farce, to musicals to holiday classics. www.theactingcompany.org.
The Sierra Nevada Winds Orchestra was formed in 1990 and is known for its broad musical repertoire. The “Winds” recently received the Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Silver Scroll Award, North America’s most prestigious community band award. Look for more great concerts by the Orchestra in 2017. www.sierranevadawinds.org.
The Sutter Buttes Brass Quintet plays a wide repertoire spanning classical, jazz, and contemporary music. The Brass often performs with other ensembles, such as the Yuba Sutter Orchestra. Sutter Buttes Brass performances in 2017 will include some “fun loving, foot tapping and mind-expanding brass music!” msarrigar@gmail.com.
The Sutter Performing Arts Association has been working for over 10 years to bring a world-class theater to the community providing another venue for performing arts, theater, dance and music in Yuba-Sutter. Currently, the group’s focus is to restore the original 1950s era movie theater into a modern 299 seat theater and to create a “black box” for smaller innovative works or to serve as a dinner theater. www.suttertheater.org.
The Veridian Symphony was founded with the mission of bringing a high level of musicianship and making music accessible to all people. It aims to add to the budding music scene and support the other music groups active in the area. Watch for news about its 2017 season including a concert in conjunction with the Yuba Sutter Youth Symphony. www.veridiansymphony.org.
The Yuba Sutter Master Chorale, founded in 2004 by legendary Yuba College music professor Joaquina Calvo Johnson, has earned a region-wide reputation for professional-quality performances of choral music. The legacy continues with newly appointed Artistic Director, Adrian Mora, and the current Interim Artistic Director, Dean Estabrook. The Chorale presents three major concerts a year. www.ysmasterchorale.org.
The Yuba Sutter Oratorio Society supports both the Yuba Sutter Symphony and the Yuba Sutter Oratorio Chorus. The Oratorio Society has played a significant role in the musical life of the Yuba-Sutter area for more than 70 years back to when a Yuba College instructor first presented Handel’s Messiah. This formed the basis for the organization which continues to this day. The Oratorio Society regularly sponsors other concerts throughout the year. www.ysos.org.
Yuba College expanded its diverse cultural arts performances for the Yuba-Sutter community in 2016. This year, Yuba College was host to over 30 events which included student music and theater productions, community performances and professional musicians under the umbrella of the Public Events Series. Yuba College will continue to bring professional and highly talented performers to the community. Yuba College also actively works with local organizations, promoting arts events and working collaboratively to foster the success of joint performances. visit: yc.yccd.edu.
The Yuba Sutter Youth Symphony is made up of students age 20 and younger from the greater Yuba-Sutter area and has been directed by Ted Zalkind since 2014. One of the goals of this organization is to complement, not replace, the area’s school music programs. Students perform music for full orchestra that is at a challenging level for all students. www.ysys.webs.com.
The Yuba Sutter Youth Symphony String Orchestra is a new branch of the organization which was started in September of 2014. The orchestra is for students who are new to orchestra playing and would like to gain experience playing in a classical group setting. www.ysys.webs.com.
We certainly do not want to leave out the excellent theater and music performances by our schools in both Sutter and Yuba County. And what about all the local independent musicians and bands that perform for us year-round? Yuba Sutter Arts hosts an online, community wide arts calendar available to all our local arts organizations at www.yubasutterarts.org. Yes, our community is alive with the “sound of music” and live theater. Support the arts in 2017 by getting out to hear music and see live theater!