Sketching A Musical Portrait

As Modesto Symphony Orchestra's composer-in-residence, Berkeley's Gabriela Frank will write music inspired by the region

last updated: January 25, 2008 03:02:17 PM

On a recent chilly afternoon, Gabriela Frank visited a steer ranch near Knights Ferry and peppered the owner with questions.

What did it take to become a cowboy? What are their work hours? What do the animals eat?

The 35-year-old Berkeley resident wasn't interested in getting into the cattle business. She was doing research as part of her job as composer-in-residence for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. She has been hired to write music inspired by the region for the orchestra's May 9-10 concert at the Gallo Center for the Arts.

Since September, Frank has visited the Modesto area about once a month to get a feel for the region. She has visited the McHenry Museum and Oakdale Cowboy Museum, toured E.&J. Gallo Winery, checked out antique shops and local restaurants, met country singer Chester Smith and the Hispanic Leadership Council.

Friendly, curious and bursting with energy, Frank said she has enjoyed it all. She especially jumped at the chance to get out in the country and visit the steer ranch, Rancheria del Rio Estanislaus, which includes an abandoned winery. As a lifelong city dweller, that's not something she gets to do every day.

"I would pay for these experiences," she said. "I'm so blown away that I get to have these experiences while I'm working."

As far as anyone can remember, the Modesto Symphony Orchestra never before has had a composer-in-residence. Wanting to do something special in commemoration of the new Gallo Center, which opened in September, the orchestra applied for and received a $15,000 grant from the American Composer Forum's Continental Harmony program to pay the composer's fee.

Continental Harmony links composers with communities interested in getting new music to celebrate important local events. It has sent composers to commemorate the upcoming opening of the cultural center of the Chickasaw Nation near Ada, Okla., and the 25th anniversary of the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College in Keene, N.H.

The Modesto Symphony Orchestra applied for financial support from Continental Harmony first, then solicited proposals from composers.

Paul Jan Zdunek, the orchestra's chief executive officer and president, said the orchestra was looking for musical quality, style and accessibility to the public. Frank fit the bill.

"We wanted someone whose music would speak to this community," he said, explaining that the orchestra was interested in something melodic and not too experimental.

The orchestra liked that Frank was interested in exploring the Modesto area's many ethnic groups. She has a diverse ethnic heritage and is part Peruvian, Jewish and Chinese.

Petite with long, curly hair, Frank is easy to talk with and refreshingly down to earth. At the end of her ranch visit, she hugged owner Robert Brunker and thanked him by offering to cook him Peruvian dinner.

Her easygoing manner comes as a bit of a surprise considering her impressive credentials. She has a doctorate from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and has received rave reviews for her pieces from The Washington Post ("unselfconscious craft and mastery") and The New York Times ("brilliantly effective writing"). Her works have been performed by several major orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony.

Because of her Peruvian mother, she speaks Spanish and long has been interested in Latin America. She travels there frequently, collecting folk melodies in the tradition of Bela Bartok, who incorporated folk music from his native Hungary into classical music pieces.

Frank said she has enjoyed chatting with members of the Hispanic Leadership Council in Modesto. Balvino Irizarry, HLC president, returns the favor.

"She's very intelligent, she's very articulate, she's very passionate about what she does," he said. "She's very expressive. When she talks about creating music, she lights up like a light bulb. She's so enthusiastic about it, her enthusiasm draws you in."

Teen members of the Hispanic Youth Leadership Council loved meeting her, he added.

"They saw her as a mentor," He said. "She introduced something to them they had never thought about."

Frank has jumped many hurdles to making a living as a composer. She is a minority both as a Latina and a woman in the mostly white, male field of classical music composition. In addition, she has a hearing problem and must wear hearing aids in both ears. But she brushes that off as a minor difficulty, adding that she has perfect pitch.

"I'm just missing volume," she said. "I've never had trouble hearing music."

Interested in music since she was a child, Frank started fooling around with the piano at age 2 and wrote her first musical piece on paper as a teen. But for a long time, she didn't know it was possible to make a living in music. She initially considered majoring in Russian studies or pre-med before she took a composition class and everything clicked. "It was so immediate," she said. "I knew I had a special gift."

Frank is working on two pieces for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra — a symphonic piece titled "American Portraits" and an

unnamed choral work. Her goal is that both pieces will be strong enough that they can be performed outside of Modesto, too.

"American Portraits" will have nine to 12 movements that reflect the diverse ethnic makeup of the area. It will have a heavy presence of wind instruments to honor the legacy of the late Frank Mancini, a clarinet player and music teacher who founded the MSO.

Frank isn't sure yet about the focus of her choral piece. She is looking at poems that could provide the lyrics and is not sure if the song will mention Modesto specifically.

She's looking forward to debuting the piece in the Gallo Center's 1,252-seat Rogers Theater. "It's gorgeous," she said. "It's got a sweet sound."

Bee arts writer Lisa Millegan can be reached at 578-2313 or lmillegan@modbee.com.