SouthPas Float Update:

With Pint-Sized Orchestra, Hearing is Believing

The phenomenal South Pasadena Children’s Orchestra -  fresh from its triumphant performance on Christmas Eve at the 50th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration (see links below) -  is now preparing to appear in the Tournament of Roses Parade, on the South Pasadena Float.

Last spring, the group became the youngest orchestra ever recorded to perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. They earned a gold medal there in a competition for high-school level ensembles.

The children, and their director, are available for interviews and recording before and after the January 1 parade. To see and hear more, go to http://www.stringsprogram.com/media.htm

Links:

YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ncjmvcLnY
ESPN AM RADIO & RADIO DISNEY: http://www.youtube.com/user/LaFernCusack#p/a/u/2/QLng67eSVfc

We’re ‘A Cut Above’

STRINGS PLAYERS TO REPRESENT CHILDREN OF SOUTH PASADENA ON ROSE PARADE FLOAT

When South Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses float heads down Colorado Boulevard next January 1, it will carry the pride of the town: flower-covered representations of the city’s historic landmarks, like the Rialto Theatre, the water tower, and the Fair Oaks Pharmacy.

But even more important, the float will carry eight South Pasadena children. The eight are members of Susan Pascale’s South Pasadena Strings Program Children’s Orchestra, which was selected by the city’s Tournament of Roses Committee to represent all the children of South Pasadena.

The float was designed by South Pasadena residents Eugenia Chen and Richard Carlow. The parade theme this year is ‘A Cut Above.’ Chen and Carlow’s design is a diorama of South Pasadena’s unique landmarks. [More about the Float.]

When their design went to the city’s Tournament of Roses committee, explains committee member Ted Shaw, they decided it needed something more. “It shows the buildings we’re so proud of, but the thought process was that other communities can do the same thing.  When you ask yourself, ‘What is South Pasadena about, what really is most important to us?’ it’s always our kids,” says Shaw. “Everything we do in South Pasadena leads back to our kids.”

So the committee decided that the float theme would be ‘Our Kids,’ and that children would ride the float. The next question: Which children? “With a parade theme of ‘A Cut Above, and a float theme of ‘Our Kids,’ the Strings Program just popped out at us,” says Shaw. “Music and the arts seemed to work right in with the Rialto Theatre, the old historical buildings. It was a good fit and it was a unanimous decision.”

Contributing to the decision was the fact that the orchestra, conducted by Pascale, had recently performed at Carnegie Hall, where they won a gold medal in a high school-level competition. They became the youngest orchestra on record to perform at Carnegie.

“Our Strings kids have been to Carnegie Hall, they’re a travelling group, they are truly ‘a cut above,’” says Shaw.

The orchestra will also be featured on the 44th annual LA County Holiday Celebration, which will be televised on PBS/KCET on Christmas Eve.

Since the entire 48-member orchestra wouldn’t fit on the float, orchestra director Susan Pascale faced the difficult task of selecting eight children to ride. She looked for a diversity of children and instruments. The minimum age allowed to ride a Rose Parade float is 8.  “It wasn’t easy picking them, but we remind everyone that they are representing the whole orchestra, and all the children of South Pasadena,” says Pascale.

The young riders include

• Violinist - a Marengo second grader who can whistle a flawless rendition of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
• Violinist - an Arroyo Vista fourth grader who enjoys playing ‘Smoke on the Water’ with her father.
• Violinist - a fourth grade Monterey Hills student who is in the 4th generation of violinists in his family.
• Cellist - a Marengo fourth grader whose father marched in the 1976 Rose Parade with the UCLA Marching Band.
• Violist - a Holy Family fifth grader who was 4 years old when he started telling his parents the notes of songs on the radio.
• Cellist - an Arroyo Vista second grader who, at her first recital at age 3, bowed backwards.
• Violinist - a Monterey Hills third-grader who hums her classical pieces everywhere she goes.
• Bass - a third grader at the Judson International School, who switched from cello to bass to be able to play Latin Jazz music with his Dad.

None of the children plays a full size instrument yet, and child-size instruments aren’t as resonant as the adult sizes, but fortunately, the children won’t have to worry about playing loudly enough for the crowds to hear them. The float will carry a speaker system which will play Brian Balmages’ ‘Hey Fiddle Fiddle,’ prerecorded in a professional studio by the entire Children’s Orchestra. Balmages, a Baltimore composer, had to consent. “I tracked him down, and called him for permission to have his piece played on national television,” notes Strings Program director Susan Pascale. “He was really tickled.”

Riding on a float isn’t all glory. The children will have to wake up “in the wee hours of the morning,” says South Pasadena Tournament Committee member Alan Vlacich and be taken by special shuttle bus to the float lineup on Orange Grove Boulevard. Pascale, and her husband AJ, co-director of the Strings Program, will also be on the float, Susan conducting the children, and AJ as a chaperone. All the riders will wear their finest Carnegie Hall attire; lacy black dresses for the girls, and tuxedos for the boys. The riders will be strapped in for safety.

The Children’s Orchestra, for its part, wants to give back to the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Committee. They raised $125 for the float at ArtFest on October 3, and for the rest of their public performances this year will continue to  set out cases to encourage audiences to donate to the float. “This is a great cause,” says Pascale. “I’m so impressed with the dedication of the Tournament volunteers.” She notes that South Pasadena has the oldest volunteer-built float in the parade – represented since 1910.

South Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Committee’s fundraising goal this year is $85,000, to pay for the float; and the Tournament Committee hopes to raise more to eventually buy their own building. Along with Children’s Orchestra performances, the major fundraisers include a golf tournament on November 7 at the Arroyo Seco; a ‘crunch time’ party on New Year’s Eve, and sales of raffle tickets, which is ongoing. For information about any of these fundraisers, contact Alan Vlacich, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; information and a drawing of the float is at http://www.sptor.com. More information about the South Pasadena Strings Program, and videos of the Children’s Orchestra at Carnegie Hall are at  www.stringsprogram.com. For more about the Float design on this website, click here.

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