A celebration of cellos will honor former Pleasanton cellist Larry Granger
- October 20, 2010
Lawrence Granger is a celloist who died last year. A memorial cello concert will be held Sunday...
Musician Larry Granger liked performing in his hometown of Pleasanton and was hoping to put together a local concert of a complex piece featuring a cello octet and a soprano.
But Granger, 57, a cellist with the San Francisco Symphony for 30 years, died June 14, 2009 while recovering from a brain tumor operation.
To honor his legacy, his former colleagues and his wife Priscilla Carter Granger, a pianist, will perform that work in a memorial concert entitled "A Ceremony of Cellos" at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Firehouse Arts Center.
The concert will feature works by Antonio Vivaldi, David Popper, Emanuel Moor and the complicated piece by Heitor Villa-Lobos' — "Bachianas Brasileiras" No. 5 — which Granger desired to execute.
"When he passed away, I felt I should hold it up for him, the last wish of his," said Dominique Piani, curator of the arts center's classical series. "We decided to make a whole program around it."
Granger also taught cello at ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥, East Bay, his alma mater, for the past 20 years.
"He was very knowledgeable about many styles," said Peter Bedrossian, who played with Granger many times over the last 15 years. "He always seemed to have insight. He was enthusiastic and always seemed to bring it alive — whatever styles we worked on."
Granger performed solos with various orchestras throughout Northern California and lent his skills to small and non-profit groups to help out where needed.
"He was a pleasure to work with and he always treated musicians such as myself as equals," said Gay Dunn, a fellow cellist in the Pleasanton Chamber Players quartet Granger played in. "He just enjoyed collaborating with lots of people and just made things work, regardless of your education and your experience."
Both Dunn and Bedrossian will perform Sunday along with Paul Hale, Paul Rhodes, Elizabeth Vandervennet, Tamara Bohlin and Rebecca Roudman. The ensemble will be led by Dan Reiter, principal cellist of the Oakland East Bay Symphony, a post Granger held prior to playing in the San Francisco Symphony.
Alison Collins, who Granger discussed performing Villa-Lobos' piece with, will sing soprano and Conductor John Kendall Bailey will direct the octets.
For his wife, who described her late husband as outgoing and friendly, seeing his plan come to fruition will be fulfilling.
"I think it was something he really wanted to do, something he would have enjoyed putting together," she said. "I thought it was a great idea."
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