The fourth annual A Toast to Music food and wine benefit helped raise money for the Camellia Symphony Orchestra at the Old Sugar Mill Saturday night. The event was sponsored by Carvalho Family Winery. Camellia Symphony Orchestra executive director Roberta McClellan said the money raised at the event will help fund the orchestra’s 2011-2012 season, although they won’t know the total amount raised at the event until Thursday or Friday. “(It will help pay for) brochures, production, purchasing music, rental space and concerts over the summer,” McClellan said. The orchestra provides free family concerts over the summer, and McClellan said the money will also help pay for all of the expenses

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Through Sunday, March 20th: 9 to 5 The Musical at The Sacramento Community Center Theatre on 1301 L Street in Sacramento. Shows at 8PM, 2PM, and 7:30PM depending on date. Tickets are $18.00 - $70.00. A Grand Night For Singing at Cosmopolitan Cabaret on 1000 K Street in Sacramento. Continues WED-SUN. Show times are at 8PM or 7:30PM with some 2PM matinees. Tickets are $33.00 - $48.00. Friday, March 18th - Saturday, March 19th: Sacramento Ballet In-Studio Celtic Experience at 1631

 The Mondavi Center hosted a benefit concert for the L17 Community Arts Foundation in Davis Sunday, providing American music and a silent auction whose proceeds went toward the Central Downtown Food Basket. The concert, “Celebrate America," had plenty of energy from the beginning, and although it slowed a little after intermission, it was a wonderful concert with some amazing talent. The two bookend pieces performed for the 659 attendees were "The Star-Spangled Banner and "God Bless America," both done with superior choral arrangements. The latter was performed by the entire ensemble of vocal talent. The vocal groups performing ranged from a cappella stylings to more ensemble work, goin

Americana music fans will be treated to an early Fourth of July concert, as "Celebrate America" premieres June 20. The event, put on by L17 Community Arts Foundation in conjunction with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra will benefit the Central Downtown Food Basket. The Sunday concert will feature the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, a Sacramento-based group in existence for 48 years, and a wide variety of local artists performing at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on the UC Davis campus. "We're really excited to perform and play with the other choirs," orchestra executive director Roberta McClellan said. "We're looking forward to the collaboration." L17 created the Celebrate Ameri

On Saturday November 21, 2009, Camellia Symphony Orchestra opened its 2009/2010 season with the program titled “Prodigies from St. Petersburg” featuring three Russian composers, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Sergey Prokofiev conducted by Music Director Allan Pollack. This was my first time listening to Camellia Symphony Orchestra. Being a community orchestra, the sound, harmony and overall quality of the musicianship were impressive. The night’s first piece was Overture on Three Russian Themes by Rimsky-Korsakov based on three Russian folk songs. The entrance of the first movement with the string section took us to a scene of pastoral and joyful Russian villages right

The Camellia Symphony Orchestra opens its 47th season with "Prodigies from St. Petersburg" at the Memorial Auditorium on Saturday.  The concert will feature the music of three composers from that city: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. “Everything ends on a high note in all three of the pieces and the sounds that the audience members are going to hear are just breathtaking,” said Allan Pollack, music director and conductor. “I think it was a great way to start off the season.” The performance also will feature local cellist Burke Schuchmann, who will perform during Shostakovich's “Cello Concerto No. 1.” Schuchmann said he was excited to work with such a