Beginning Sept. 30

“Oak Scars No. 3, Orinda, California, 2023,” a series of photographs of oak trees by East Bay photographer Jeff Heyman, was selected to hang in The de Young Open 2023, an exhibit showcasing Bay Area artists at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. The exhibit runs from September 30, 2023 to January 7, 2024. There is a free public opening on Saturday, September 30. 

Heyman’s series of black and white photographs – presented together in a single 20-inch by 20-inch print – consists of nine closeup images of the “scars” on oak trees after their limbs have been removed. Each photograph captures the many unique scars left on these old growth oak trees from decades of serial delimbing. 

“A tree endures many scars during its lifetime, and I have documented a number of the sometimes-strange markings on oak trees in Orinda where I live,” said Heyman. “These oak scars, in many ways, mirror the scars we acquire over the course of our own lives,” he added. 

Heyman first took photography classes at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, CA during which time he learned Ansel Adams’s Zone System and met noted photographers, including Ruth Bernhard. He went on to earn a degree from San Francisco State University in Fine Art Photography, studying under photographers Catherine Wagner, Melanie Walker, Jack Welpott and Don Worth, as well as painters Paul Pratchenko and Robert Bechtle.

This is Heyman’s first piece to hang at the de Young Museum, a place he visited frequently with his parents while growing up in San Francisco. He has had his work exhibited in a number of solo and group shows. Heyman’s photographs are regularly featured in the Lamorinda Weekly, The Orinda News, and other publications. You can see his work, including “Oak Scars No. 3,” at https://heymanfoto.smugmug.com. More information about The de Young Open 2023, including exhibit hours, can be found at https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/de-young-open-2023

Geoffrey Gallegos to conduct the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra in Orinda May 21st

On May 21, conductor and music director Geoffrey Gallegos and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra will reprise a rousing concert following a late-February postponement due to a certain well-known virus. Unwilling to deprive concert-goers of such an enchanting and enriching musical experience, the orchestra offers an encore well worth the twelve-week wait.

The first discovery on the program is a spirited piece entitled Anniversary Overture by the accomplished composer Anthony Doherty, who is an Antioch resident. Doherty’s numerous compositions have been performed around the world and include two notable commissions by Bay Area orchestras.

Also on the program is Max Bruch’s opulently romantic and light-hearted Concerto for Clarinet, Viola, and Orchestra. This rarely performed composition will be a new discovery for some listeners and a revival for others.

The concert will close with Howard Hanson’s lyrical and uplifting Symphony No. 2, also called “Romantic.”  Since its premiere in 1930, this work has been performed many times in traditional orchestral settings and then rediscovered, revived, and reconfigured as part of the soundtracks for the films Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Boss Baby.

Sunday, May 21, 4:00 pm, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 66 St. Stephen’s Drive, Orinda

Tickets: ContraCostaChamberOrchestra.org or at the door (Adults, $20; Seniors, $15; Students, $7)

About the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra

The Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra is comprised of volunteer musicians ranging in age from teens through octogenarians. Among them are a scientist, lawyer, x-ray technician, engineer, plumber, CPA, physicist, and a graphic designer, as well as sales representatives, students, homemakers, teachers, and artists.

The orchestra’s mission is to provide multigenerational avocational musicians opportunities for lifelong learning, collaboration, and enjoyment while providing high-caliber, affordable entertainment and enrichment to their communities.

Formed in the late 1970s, the orchestra has established a robust presence in the county. The group plays familiar as well as uncommon musical works, often featuring a professional soloist. In addition to performing at the historic El Campanil Theatre in Antioch, the orchestra also plays at the gorgeously remodeled St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Orinda and at special events for residents in Rossmoor. The group also performs annually in a sing-along of Handel’s Messiah at various locations in the county.

The organization is a 501(3)c non-profit and is entirely financially reliant on ticket sales, grants, and contributions from players and audience members. To make a donation, go to www.ContraCostaChamberOrchestra.org/support.

About Geoffrey Gallegos

A San Francisco native and sixth generation Californian, Geoffrey Gallegos has been a fixture in the San Francisco Bay Area music community for over 30 years. From 1985 to 1990, Maestro Gallegos served as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Chamber Players Orchestra. In 1991 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra and continued in that capacity until 1993. He resumed his association with the SFCO from 2000 – ‘06 as Principal Guest Conductor. In 2003, he was engaged as Assistant Conductor of the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra (N. CA) and served in that position until 2008. It was also in 2003 that Maestro Gallegos made his debut with Golden Gate Opera in San Francisco conducting I Pagliacci and was subsequently invited to become Music Director and Principal Conductor. During this tenure he conducted the majority of GGO productions including Gianni Schicchi, The Telephone, Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Suor Angelica, Hansel and Gretel and the world premiere production of Lincoln & Booth. In 2004, following an extensive search, Maestro Gallegos was invited to become Music Director and Conductor of the Kensington (CA) Symphony Orchestra, only the third in the Orchestra’s 44 year history, a position he holds currently. In 2015, following a year long search, Maestro Gallegos was engaged to become Music Director and Conductor of West County Winds, a symphonic wind and percussion ensemble in residence at Contra Costa Community College and serving West Contra Costa County.  He was invited to guest conduct the opening of the 49th season of the Diablo Symphony Orchestra (CA) and has also guest conducted numerous ensembles throughout the Bay Area, US and in Europe.

Maestro Gallegos has a deep commitment to music education. In 2001, he was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Golden Gate Philharmonic, an all-city string youth orchestra in San Francisco that offers an integrated program of orchestral and chamber music performance as well as music theory. More recently, he has assumed the new titles of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor and Acting Executive Director of the GGP. From 2001-2010, he also participated in the Artist in Residence program at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (S.O.T.A.) where he served as guest conductor of the orchestra and wind ensembles, and taught music theory and sight singing. During the 2000-01 academic year, Maestro Gallegos was appointed Conductor of the San Francisco State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble. In the summer of 2002 he was invited as a Guest Conductor of the Orchestra at Cazadero Music Camp and was reengaged for the 2004 summer session. From 2007-2010, Maestro Gallegos served as Instrumental Music Coordinator and Liaison at The Nueva School in Hillsborough where, among many duties, he oversaw the prestigious Menuhin/Dowling instrumental music program and organized and managed the Menuhin/Dowling Competition for Young Musicians. Maestro Gallegos has served as an adjudicator for numerous youth competitions, masterclasses and workshops throughout the Bay Area, and was invited to participate as a jury member for the 2014 annual Parade of Orchestras Festival held in Honolulu.

Maestro Gallegos studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory School and San Francisco State University, completing, with honors, a Bachelor of Music degree in Instrumental Education and Conducting.  Advanced studies in orchestral and operatic conducting continued at the University of Iowa School of Music, where he received a Master of Arts degree with High Distinction and served as Conductor of the University Chamber Orchestra.  Four times he was awarded fellowships, chosen from a large international pool of applicants, to the prestigious Conductors Institute held at West Virginia University and the University of South Carolina. In 1991, Maestro Gallegos was nominated for the Annual Conductor’s Guild Thelma A. Robinson award. Since 2005, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Music Center in San Francisco where he began his music lessons on the trumpet at the age of nine.  He currently resides in San Francisco with his wife Julie.