The first concert of the Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts (SCFPA) Benderly Concert Series took place at the Santa Fe Ranch House Sunday, November 22, with a performance by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Wind Quintet. One of the attractions of this series is the beautiful homes you get to visit, and the Santa Fe Ranch House was no exception. Built in the 1950s along the Santa Cruz River (which flowed year round back then), it is a wonderful example of southwestern architecture and is filled with interesting art.

The concert took place in the spacious living room which brings me to another great thing about this series – the intimacy of the experience you get by being so close to the musicians in a casual setting. The musicians were all members of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra but seeing them play a few feet away in someone’s living room is a whole different experience then seeing them on stage in a concert hall.

As they kicked off the first song – Trois Pieces Breves by Jacques Ibert – I was fascinated by watching the clarinet player sway to the music like a snake charmer! There’s also interaction between the artists and the audience at these concerts. At this one, following intermission, the quintet answered audience questions.

However, the best part of this series is clearly the music. One thing I’ve learned about Christina Wilhelm (director of SCFPA) is that she has impeccable taste in music. When she brings artists to town, you can be sure they are going to be well worth your time. I also love her definition of “classical” music which she refers to as any music which is “authentic” whether it be a piece by Mozart or a traditional song from the Appalachians.

This group was no exception, a wind quintet made up of flute, oboe, horn, bassoon and clarinet they played a diverse selection of music ranging from a piece by Mozart (The Hunt) to a beautiful pastoral piece entitled Pastorale, written during the Second World War. All of the musicians were excellent and their love for their music was infectious. I especially enjoyed watching the bassoon player. The bassoon is the bass instrument of a wind quintet. Unlike a string bass, the bassoonist created a bass line with her breath and the amazing wind instrument. According to her bio she is also a motorcycle rider.

At the end of the concert our attention shifted to the smells of Emily Riney’s (Happy Cookers) cooking that wafted into the living room, letting us know it was time for food and drink and socializing!

Since arriving in Patagonia 11 years ago, I’ve thought of Patagonia as a magic town and as magic towns do, it seems to increase its magic by drawing people like Christina and Fred Wilhelm to the community. They have enriched us with the music and culture they bring and share. Along those lines, one of the things that Fred talked about at the beginning of the concert was the plans for the new music hall to be built on SPFCA’s property this spring. At first the Wilhelms thought the building would be constrained by the size of the lot, but as Fred researched acoustics and music halls, they learned that one of the ideal shapes for a music hall, one which provides optimum acoustics, is what is known as a “shoebox,” where the length is double that of the width and height basically forming a double cube. This matches the size of their building lot and the new hall will be built in this style. Apparently the music room of Felix Mendelssohn in Leipzig, Germany has almost the exact dimensions that the new hall will have. Fred also mentioned that after reviewing 11 bids for the construction they decided on Ted Piper as the builder along with Jeff Latham as the architect.

The next Benderly concert will be Sunday, Jan 17, featuring The Merling Trio, www.merlingtrio.com.