Sat November 22, 2025
7:30 pm concert
6:45 pm pre-concert talk
4200 Farm Hill Blvd, Redwood City, CA 94061
- Eric Kujawsky, conductor
- Karen Bentley Pollick, violin
- Mason Bates, electronica
- Emmanuel Chabrier España
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
- Mason Bates Alternative Energy
From Music Director Eric Kujawsky:
I founded Redwood Symphony in October 1985 and here I am, forty years later, looking forward to many more years with my dear friends and colleagues! I programmed this anniversary concert especially because: the Chabrier is one of my favorite concert openers, the chance to work again with friend, Palo Alto native and magnetic soloist Karen Bentley Pollick and, most importantly, the performance of one of my favorite pieces, Mason Bates’ Alternative Energy. This four-movement symphony incorporates car parts in the percussion and also a huge solo part for electronica, ie the use of synthetic, processed sounds.
When I last performed Alternative Energy, we used electronica supplied by the composer, to be played automatically on a laptop. For this very special anniversary occasion, Redwood Symphony is honored to have Mason Bates himself, appearing as our guest and guest soloist and playing in his capacity as “DJ Masonic.”
Mason Bates
Mason Bates is a Grammy award-winning American composer of symphonic music and DJ of electronic dance music. He is the first composer-in-residence of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and he has also been in…Read more →
This concert is sold out!
Thank you for your interest, and apologies for any inconvenience. We hope to see you at our upcoming concerts this season!
Karen Bentley Pollick
A native of Palo Alto, California Karen Bentley Pollick studied with Camilla Wicks in San Francisco and with Josef Gingold at Indiana University, earning BM…Read more →
From Karen Bentley Pollick:
I am thrilled to return to Cañada College to perform the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Redwood Symphony in celebration of their 40th Anniversary. Maestro Eric Kujawsky has forged a substantial legacy of dynamic performances and world premieres during his 40 years on the podium. We have premiered violin concertos by Swedish composer Ole Saxe and Berkeley based David A. Jaffe, and performed many of the Romantic and Contemporary violin concertos together over the decades. Now bringing all back full circle to my hometown with Tchaikovsky after my adventures with Azerbaijani and Georgian violin concertos featured on my recent recording Concertos from the Caucasus, recorded in Vilnius in October 2024.