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HIGH NOTES: SONOMA COUNTY MOVES CLOSER TO WORLD-CLASS MUSIC VENUE

Published on July 11, 2005
© 2005- The Press Democrat

PAGE: B6

The Fourth of July pops concert at Sonoma State University has become one of those events that make us all proud of where we live. Last week, more than 2,800 people gathered on the lawn at Sonoma State University.

There, families and friends picnicked, celebrated their nation's birthday and shared an affection for great music -- from Sousa to Copland to Jelly Roll Morton.

The annual performance by the Santa Rosa Symphony kicked off the sixth annual Green Music Festival, a month-long series of concerts, combined with education programs offered under the auspices of Greenfarm. (For more information, check out http://www.sonoma.edu/greenmusicfestival.)

Three years from now, if all goes well, these events and many more will move to the Green Music Center, a world-class arts venue only a few steps away.

The $63.1 million complex -- combining a 1,400-seat concert hall, a 300-seat recital hall, practice rooms, a conference center and offices -- would be the culmination of more than a decade of planning and fund-raising.

This is what comes of hometown generosity and an appreciation for all the ways that art inspires the human spirit.

There remain a few critics who grumble that the costs of operating the complex might some day become a drag on the university's other educational programs.

No one, of course, can guarantee that the naysayers are wrong. Not every dream comes true.
But more than 1,200 local folks have been willing to match their love for music with $40 million of their own money -- cash that is a very tangible expression of their aspirations for their hometown.

There is not space here to list all the ways that the success of the Donald and Maureen Green Music Center would enhance the quality of life in Sonoma County and grow the educational opportunities available at the university.

In choosing between great aspirations and the security of common practice, surely the generosity of so many private donors provides the necessary incentive to dream of what might be.