The Sacramento Community Theatre was a full house providing a warm and enthusiastic welcome to Anthony and Joseph Paratore last night. There were many reasons I loved the concert and I am sure the audience could add many more. The concert was the third program of the Sacramento Community Concerts 2009-2010 season. The two brothers played four music pieces of wide varieties all composed for two pianos, the first half featured Russian composers and the second American. Both Anthony and Joseph were equally skillful and accomplished pianists with outstanding musicality. Yet, they showed contrasting personalities on stage and it made the concert even more interesting. Joseph with long and cu

On Saturday November 21, 2009, Camellia Symphony Orchestra opened its 2009/2010 season with the program titled “Prodigies from St. Petersburg” featuring three Russian composers, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Sergey Prokofiev conducted by Music Director Allan Pollack. This was my first time listening to Camellia Symphony Orchestra. Being a community orchestra, the sound, harmony and overall quality of the musicianship were impressive. The night’s first piece was Overture on Three Russian Themes by Rimsky-Korsakov based on three Russian folk songs. The entrance of the first movement with the string section took us to a scene of pastoral and joyful Russian villages right

Twitter has become a common and powerful tool, if not essential, to reach and communicate with customers for many businesses. I, as founder of Radee Wine, Inc., a start-up wine importer and marketer, also use Twitter to talk about our wines and to learn about customers and other players in the industry. While Twitter gives tremendous access to information about business and people, there is nothing like meeting those behind the profile photos in person. This Tuesday, owners of three wine companies, James David Cellars, MAS Wine Company, and Radee Wine will gather and showcase the wines at Sacramento’s first Vino Tweet Up at L Wine Lounge in Midtown Sacramento. What makes this event intere

Distance running is a metaphor for life. Imagine running a full marathon. Your physical strength, built by training, gives you the energy to push through the course. You feel energized until about mile 13. You start feeling pain, but it is within your expectations. Then you hit the wall at mile 20. You feel like there is no more fuel left in your body and your legs feel like steel. You start hearing a voice, saying, “You can’t go any further. You did enough. Quit and rest!” For the last six miles, you fight with this evil voice. But you also hear another voice, “No, no, don’t quit. You can do it. You have come this far and the goal is near.” This part of you miraculously pushes you to the

A cold and rainy Sunday afternoon seemed to brighten with the warm and transcendent music of Bach’s Goldberg Variations performed by Canadian virtuoso, Angela Hewitt. As I found my seat, an hour before the performance, at the beautiful concert hall at the Mondavi Center in Davis, I saw Hewitt standing on the stage discussing the monumental work she was about to perform. Her lecture demonstrated a deep respect for the composition and skill in translating the complex structure of the piece to a lay audience. Hewitt has played the Goldberg Variations thousands of times since age 16 and she is known worldwide for her performance and interpretation of Bach on the piano. Yet, she stressed she