Sierra Nevada Winds to play in Yuba City

Featuring several musicians from the Yuba-Sutter area, the Sierra Nevada Winds Orchestra, conducted by Robert Halseth, opens its 22nd season with a performance at 8 p.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Yuba City.

The orchestra has performed its annual fall concert in Yuba City since 1996.

Judy Toyoda Coe of Wheatland is one of the orchestra's founding members, principal flute and president of the SNW board of directors. The orchestra is a family affair for Toyoda Coe, with her husband, David, also a founding member, and two of their sons — Aaron and Casey — among its 50 current members.

"We started in Yuba City because I grew up in Yuba City and went to Yuba City High School," Toyoda Coe said. "We wanted to do a concert at the same time of year in the same location so people would get used to looking for us at that time of year."

Toyoda Coe said the orchestra also performs in April at Sierra College in Rocklin and does a children's concert in Roseville where the organizers bring in busloads of students from area schools.

"We originally held our rehearsals in Grass Valley and Nevada City, so that's where Sierra Nevada comes from in our name. But we have musicians from all over — we have people from the foothills, from the Yuba-Sutter region and from Sacramento. We have a member who comes from Elk Grove, and even one who comes from the Apple Hill area," Toyoda Coe said.

"So we have a lot of people who come from far away who are very dedicated. I think that's one part that is so nice about our group: When a person comes to our concert, they not only hear the music, but they also can relate to how we feel about the music. They can see that we are enjoying ourselves and that we love what we're doing," she said.

The concert's full-length program features a wide range of contemporary and traditional literature, including "Second Suite in F" by Gustav Holst; "Sleep" by Eric Whitacre; "Sleepers Wake" by J.S. Bach; "Pageant" by Vincent Persichetti; and "Essay for Band" by Brent Heisinger. Conductor laureate William "Bill" Hill will lead "Tam O'Shanter" by Malcolm Arnold.

Soprano soloist Kathryn Donavan of Lincoln, who recently performed as Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro" with the Borgamaria Lyric Opera Company in Marysville, will sing "Angels in the Architecture" by Frank Ticheli.

"She is an amazing soprano. Her singing will just add to the whole piece. It will just be magical," Toyoda Coe said.

Toyoda Coe pointed out a fun fact that illustrates how deep the roots are among the musicians in the group: "Kathryn actually started learning to play the flute when my husband, David, was teaching music at Franklin Elementary School" in Yuba City. David Coe currently teaches junior high band at Riverside Meadows Elementary School in Plumas Lake; Toyoda Coe works at Buttes Insurance Agency.

Orchestra members from Yuba-Sutter include David Bole, Doug Joksch, Kim Malato, Brent Mitchell, Jerry Reiersen and Karner Trethewey.

"Definitely, it would be worth one's time to make the effort to come listen to the concert. It should be an uplifting experience," Toyoda Coe said, adding that her son, Casey, encouraged people to attend by saying: "The Winds play great music. It is affordable entertainment — and a cheap date! The musicians are talented, and it is a rich form of entertainment within easy distance. The Winds are the best-kept secret in the region."

CONTACT Susan Benitez at 749-4773.