Published in the October 25 – November 7 issue of Morgan Hill Life

Prayers go out for our fellow Californians in the North Bay and Santa Cruz County region who are now facing the devastation of one of the worst wildfire seasons in Northern California’s history. As of this writing, the various Northern California fires have brought a death toll of 42 people and the destruction of 6,700 homes and other structures. The more recent Santa Cruz Mountain fire near Boulder Creek has destroyed at least five buildings and left residents shaken.

Many of our men and women who work for CalFire in the South Valley traveled north and bravely faced the inferno that so far has devastated more than 220,000 acres and forced emergency evacuations of thousands of people in several counties. Also, notable for their bravery are the local PG&E employees from Morgan Hill and Gilroy who put their lives on the line by traveling to the fire areas to help with power issues.

It is good to see so many people pitching in to help the folks up in Sonoma and Napa counties with donations to help those that lost everything in the fires including pets and livestock. Here’s to David Fent of Freaking Frogs Productions who along with Renee Carillo, owner of the popular GVA Café, have united to create a musical fundraiser concert with proceeds going to benefit the Sonoma Humane Society.

The Sonoma Humane Society Music Fundraiser will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, at the GVA Café located in downtown Morgan Hill on the corner of Second Street and Monterey Road. Included in the line-up will be Santa Rosa’s The Easy Leaves Duo, blues guitar great AC Myles, San Martin’s Tina Starr and the Wild West Show country band, and resident artist and singer-songwriter David Krase.

This is a family-friendly show with a suggested donation at the door of $20. It also includes lunch cuisine catered by GVA. There will also be a Doggy Halloween Costume Contest at 3 p.m. so bring your pooch in fun attire.

For more information contact David Fent at [email protected] or find them on FaceBook by searching for Freaking Frog. This will really be a freakin’ cool show!

The evening before this fund raiser GVA will be throwing a Halloween Party with live music from The Michael Cosin Group at 8 p.m.

  • •             •

On another note, The Longhouse Bar and Restaurant in Gilroy is about ready to open. Yay! Patty Kistner and her excellent band will be playing Oct. 27 and 28 for Halloween. Get your costumes ready! They will have a soft opening in the bar only Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 25 and 26, so come down for The Patty Kistner Band.

Wine and music is always a good combination and now that The Grapevine has opened their doors in Morgan Hill I have heard they have plans for live music.

  • •             •

Finally, the South Valley Symphony and Music Director, Maestro Anthony Quartuccio, will continue the symphony’s 44th season with “Peace Around the World” to be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, at Gavilan Community College Theater.

In addition to music to celebrate the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, the orchestra will perform the following key pieces:

Symphony No. 2 — the “Romantic” by Howard Hanson. Hanson was commissioned to write this symphony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It premiered Nov. 28, 1930 and is one of Hanson’s best known works.

“Behind Me Dips Eternity,” by local Saratoga-based composer, Henry Mollicone, was written in 1994 for strings and harp and is a musical representation of the poem by Emily Dickinson of the same name. (Words to the poem).

“Stille Nacht” (Silent Night) based on the mesmerizing version by Mannheim Steamroller.

Tickets are on sale now through Brown Paper Tickets.  This holiday concert is very popular with local families who make it an annual tradition to celebrate with symphonic music — buy your tickets now and be sure of a seat!

Tickets for the concert are also available at local outlets and will be sold at the door the evening of the performance.

Please note that the 2018 Mothers Day Concert will not be held at the Mission San Juan Bautista due to refurbishment of the Mission Church. A new venue will be posted soon.

Got a music tip? Send it to [email protected].