"Please permit me to say something about the past, present, and future of SoCal.

I believe I am the longest still-active participant in the workshop (Don Spuehler and Jack Clausen were among the originals, but they have not attended the workshop for many years). My first year was 1978, the San Diego Chamber Music Workshop's second year of existence after its founding by Ron.

In the late 50's and early 60's I lived on Canyon Drive in Hollywood, directly across the street from the Clausen's. Their father, Leslie Clausen, was the head of the music department at LACC, and there was a lot of chamber music going on in that house, with the three kids Jack, Meredith, and Jeanie playing viola, cello, and violin. A frequent visitor was Jack’s Hollywood High School classmate, Ron Goldman, although I never met him at the time. 

Later on, while a student at Harvey Mudd majoring in Math, I ran into Meredith who was a student at Scripps. Her boyfriend, and later husband, Peter Kissin, was an excellent violinist and swimmer, and also was a math major at HMC. We three formed a trio under the tutelage of Jasha Veissi at Scripps, and the first piece we chose to work on was the Schubert E-flat. Sure -- why not start with one of the hardest and best!? 

So back to the workshop -- Meredith contacted me in 1978 saying Ron was in need of some piano players for his workshop that summer. Not knowing really what I was getting into, I decided to try it out. It was then taking place on the campus of the University of San Diego. In later years it moved to UCSD and SDSU before eventually ending up in its current home at Scripps. Back to Scripps for me!

The truth is, I don't remember a lot about Ron in those early days. What I do remember -- and can still feel! -- was the thrill of playing for the first time some of the great, great pieces of chamber music: Brahms A major quartet and first piano trio, Faure C minor quartet, Mendelssohn first trio, Reger piano trio, Elgar Quintet -- suddenly finding yourself face to face with some unknown, very powerful, emotions, and becoming instantly addicted to the thrill – a lifelong addiction! And I attended the workshop just about every summer since then.

Previous to living across from the Clausen's, I lived down the block from the Mysior family, and was friends with Bernie Mysior, a kid my age.

Little did I know at that time that some 25 years later I would be coached by his big sister Ilana (a piano coach) at my first visit to San Diego Chamber Music Workshop. She was a tall woman with large hands and a large smile. She was a professor at the University of San Diego and played with Ron in their Gennaro Trio. I remember her coaching me on Faure Quartet #1.  I had not experienced such music previously -- what a thrill! I think that one piece, at that stage in my life, would have been enough to make me a lifetime SoCal’er! 

There were many coaches from the early days who indeed played a more hands-on role in the internal workings of the workshop beyond just coaching. For example, the (in-) famous "board" on the wall  -- where the coaches would actually form the daily groups -- when the whole workshop was pool only (except for Linda's group). And then there were the hilarious evening skit/concerts, planned and executed by some of the wackiest and least inhibited of the coaches!

Besides coach Ilana Mysior, there were Susan Bates, David Dalton, the Pro Arte  Quartet (two of their current members, Sally Chisholm and Parry Karp, were members when the whole quartet was at SoCal), Stephen Harrison, the Daedalus Quartet, Trio Solisti (two of their current members, Maria Bachmann and Jon Klibonoff, were members at the time), and many more. SoCal has been successful over the years following Ron's model of enlisting excellent coaches who are themselves performers and excited about the workshop's mission.

Ron and his wife Wynnona (with occasional other family members and friends) essentially organized and ran the workshop singlehandedly. One of the perennial helpers from those days was Barbara Green, wife of violin/viola participant David.

Finally, during the 2013 session, with a sudden realization of guilt and responsibility, a group of us participants awakened to stage a “friendly coup” to relieve Ron and family from sole responsibility for running SoCal. Among the friendly plotters -- Amy Anderson, Adam Birnbaum, Patty Hicks, Linda Owen, Christine Schunemann, and George Valley. 

Surveying the SoCal landscape, we realized the amount of effort and the multitude of individual tasks that it would take to make the workshop function. We formed a board with defined volunteer tasks for different stages of workshop preparation and execution. The above named "co-conspirators" were joined by Heather Katz, Jana Jae Owens, and others to try to fill the shoes of Ron and Wynnona.

We were soon joined by Edie van Huss as treasurer and risk manager. Sam Kissee joined as a non-playing volunteer (accompanying cellist Robert Zadra) and facilitated much of the day-to-day operation of the workshop. Another important non-playing volunteer was Sharon Allen (accompanying cellist Jordan Horwich).

Skipping to the more recent past, the Board began to think about succession procedure. We more or less concluded that it would be good to have a candidate for a specific role “look over the shoulder” of the current person in that position for a year or so, and then take over at the next annual Board meeting. Ingrid Burger was chosen to be the president/successor to take over in 2022. What was particularly impressive about Ingrid’s candidacy was that she was not a many-year veteran of SoCal, with a long history of our particular brand of chamber music immersion, but a relative newbie. Nevertheless, she felt she was ready to take on the position. 

However, complications arose in 2020 with the workshop being canceled because of COVID, and then my illness forced Ingrid to jump right in and become president in 2021, a year ahead of schedule. She rose to the challenge magnificently, streamlining the extraneous and focusing on the essentials. One of the highlights was a successful Week of the Woman Composer in 2021. The period of her leadership continued to be stressful with continuing challenges from COVID. Ingrid maintained her clear vision and managed to guide us to the best result possible, under the circumstances. I am personally very grateful to Ingrid for her clear vision and efficient management during this difficult time. 

In her final actions as president, Ingrid has steered us to a new president, new board members, and new advisory board members. SoCal continues to be blessed with an enthusiastic, talented, and dedicated group of new leaders --- starting with Carol Osborne, president as of January 2024 – whose energy, dedication, and understanding will pave the way for a vibrant and thrilling future for SoCal.

Ron would be very happy that the workshop is alive and well!"
--

Leo Marcus, SoCal Board Member