[From www.sfcv.org]

Richard Grant's Pacific Mozart Ensemble will perform in San Quentin
State Prison on Halloween and All Saints Day afternoons (before the
evening lockdown begins), Oct.  31 and Nov.  1.  Lest you wonder about
the authenticity of this item, SFCV will have a review of the performance
there next week.  The price of admission: clearance after providing full
identification and signing an agreement that acknowledges the prison's
policy of not negotiating for hostages.

Ten inmates, preparing for months and rehearsing with Pacific Mozart for
the first time on Sunday night, will be the soloists in Stephen Vincent
Benet 1930 Pulitzer-Prize winning drama, "John Brown's Body," with Walter
Schumann's music, conducted by Arthur Rubinstein.  The two performances,
for invited guests, will be videotaped for future broadcast.  The event
is part of a two-year project by Academy- and Emmy-Award winning editor
Joseph DeFrancesco.  He calls San Quentin "a high-profile prison in
America's high-profile prison system," and says that just as the venue
is unusual, so is "the success of the inmate-actors and the daunting
commitment to perform `off-book,' something never done before with this
work."

Pacific Mozart got involved the last minute, when the originally invited
Chanticleer declined.  "As worthy as the project is, unfortunately the
ensemble's schedule would not permit us to participate," Chanticleer
marketing director Nancy Roberts said.  "Nov.  1, the second performance,
is the date of our Youth Choral Festival and concert."

Janos Gereben/SF
[log in to unmask]