Calliope must live in Castro Valley.
There have not been any actual sightings of the goddess of music, but evidence of her work is everywhere. She inspires an inordinate number of children to take up the pursuit, she drove music-minded voters to the polls to approve the bond measure for the new performing arts center and now she's given a cellist the idea that the town could have its very own orchestra.
"I didn't want to leave Castro Valley to play in an orchestra," said Dr. Laurie Chaikin, who like many musicians with full-time careers in other fields had reluctantly left her cello in the closet for a few-too-many years.
"When my son Aron won a Jenny Lin award I took him to CSUH to study with Allen Gove, an awesome teacher, cellist and wonderful guy," she said. "I went along to his lessons, and finally, I just couldn't stand it anymore and had to take lessons too."
With her technique polished up, she realized she would have to voyage to distant Oakland to play with Prometheus or (gasp) over the Dublin Grade to play with the Livermore-Amador Symphony. And so the vision of a Castro Valley chamber orchestra burned a hole in her mind.
"I was sitting next to Jack Luedders (the CVHS orchestra director) and he said he was thinking of retiring," she said. "And so I said, 'Jack, when you retire you can direct this orchestra.'"
Wondering what other talent might be on the loose, she found her neighbor Mark Spencer, a former assistant manager of the Rochester Philharmonic. He helped her look at the local resources and they zeroed in on the Castro Valley Adult School where an adult band of competent amateurs was already in full swing.
"The adult school's director Dobie Gelles was 1,000 percent sympathetic," said Chaikin. "It was something they wanted to do."
And so they set up the orchestra as a course with enrollement spaces for a specified number of intermediate/advanced players.
This solved certain organizational requirements, but there was the small problem of finding a director who would work for the meager fee the adult school could offer.
Enter Josh Cohen, a string player who produces chamber concerts in Alameda and was a founding director of the Alameda Pro Musica. He had studied conducting with Denis DeCoteau but was relegated to keeping the rust off his baton by conducting the CD player while marooned in a successful techno-career.
He came to Chaikin's attention when she attended one of his quarterly chamber music parties. Cohen had just been laid off from Lucent Technologies and was looking for more music opportunities. Through their conversation, she understood he was interested in creative programming, something she realized would be important in marketing the fledgling orchestra. They talked about Metallica, Blue Man Group, PDQ Bach, Bernstein-style educational performances, doing a concert in a fire station or one with the Rowell Ranch Rodeo.
"Somebody recently noticed that horses like music," said Chaikin.
But the horses might have to wait for a few months as the Castro Valley Adult School Chamber Orchestra gets going. Rehearsals began this week for the first concert, scheduled for mid-December, a program of Mozart, Hayden and Greig, but players are still needed, especially string players.
"We're looking for people who think culture is important in the world and in society," said Cohen, "- people who can produce results."
"We're also looking for music patrons, underwriters, patron saints, people who have talent in PR, fundraising and marketing," said Chaikin.
Rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings from 7:15 to 9:15 p.m. at Creekside Middle School, 19722 Center Street.
To enroll, call the Castro Valley Adult School at 510-886-1000. The registration fee is $15.
For more information, call Dr. Laurie Chaikin at 538-3937, check www.cvas-chamberensemble.org, or send e-mail to drchaikin@attbi.com.