Our Birthday Serenade pays tribute to Wolfang Mozart in honor of his 250th birthday celebration.

Mozart and his contemporaries composed few pieces in minor keys. How do we account for a serenade in the minor mode? The serenade was traditionally a work for light, relaxed entertainment on ceremonial or civic occasions. Yet there is evidence that after he settled in Vienna in 1781, Mozart took the genre seriously.

Mozart told his father Leopold that he had taken particular care with this Serenade. He may have hoped to impress the Emperor Joseph II, who in the spring of 1782 had formed his own Harmoniemusik, the 18th century wind band.

Charles Ives was not yet twenty, still serving his musical apprenticeship under the tutelage of his father Edward, when he completed the first version of what has proven one of his most enduring works, the Variations on "America." Its status as something of a signature piece for the composer is a bit strange; although it gives clear evidence of the path the mature Ives would follow, Variations is a distinctly youthful work that also suggests the road he quickly abandoned.

From the perspective of Ives' later work, Variations on "America" stands out for its decorous, almost pedantic good behavior. This may seem a strange assertion, given its rather cavalier treatment of the main theme, a melody sacrosanct even in Ives' day. But compared to the boldly experimental approach to musical form characteristic of all of his mature work, this piece, with its clear invocation to the centuries-old structure of introduction, theme and variations seems positively reactionary.

For the first time, LARO will present a concerto arranged for recorder orchestra, Vivaldi's Concerto in C Major, P.79. Our soloist is Dieneke Kalsbeek, a new member of LARO and a newcomer to the United States. She grew up in the Netherlands and studied in Utrecht with Marion Verbruggen, one of the world's greatest recorder soloists. After passing her concert-exam, Kalsbeek taught recorder at "Musikschule Buende" in Germany. She came to the United States last April to marry Leon Broquiere and they are living in Alhambra, where she expects to teach.

The edition of the Vivaldi work was done by Dennis Bamforth. Mr. Bamforth, who died last year, was the founder of the recorder orchestra movement. We are pleased to present one of his musical works.

Triumph of the LARO-TONES is another venture into the repertoire of the Brown Brothers, a very popular saxophone quintet on the vaudeville stage. The original title was Triumph of the True-Tones, showing the Brown Brothers' respect for the Brilhart Saxophone company.

More information on LARO (especially concert directions) may be found on our website http://www.larohome.org/concerts.html