I have a very well-founded love for the Stockton Symphony because of my participation in the Symphony League for some 20 years. When this opportunity presented itself I said to myself, “I just have to be a part of this 80th anniversary celebration. The Symphony is such an important part of my life here in Stockton.”

When I looked at the violin as it was handed to me, I was stunned at the beauty of the form and almost immediately felt that I could not and would not dismember it to create an alternative form no matter how creative that approach could be. The violin as form is just simply elegant. For this very reason I chose to enhance the form and set about to make a personal statement that would justify my feeling about the joy that reaches me through the Symphony.

I hope you can relate the broad strokes as well as the subtle nuances on the violin's surface to the broad strokes and subtle nuances carried out so well by the Symphony in concert, and appreciate the corporate skill of the Symphony orchestra as it molds each composer's work presenting it to the audience. I hope this is seen through the rendering of this piece. I hope that rhythm is represented, that organization, feeling and purpose is represented. I hope that passion and restraint are represented, that love and compassion and nurturing are represented. I hope that sympathy and empathy are represented in this rendering. And, I hope above all that after all conflict resolution is reached that peace is represented and made to glow in our souls, for that is what I believe music is all about. It is the affirmation of peace that we seek within ourselves. It seeks and answers all questions and presents us with the answer to the all of living.