What began as a six-person labor of love for music in 1972 has blossomed into a more than 40 person orchestra that puts on spectacular performances at some amazing local venues such as Guglielmo ’ s Winery and Gavilan College .

Board member Mary Anne Gruen was there at the beginning of its formation as her sister Laura Clawson was one of its founders . A musician who didn ’ t want to join the marching band , Laura tried to form an adult music class through the Morgan Hill Unified School District , but couldn ’ t gather the funds . She turned to local orchestra and choir teacher Kathleen Baraclough for help , and they opted instead to create something separate from the schools and set up their own non-profit organization . They officially became a 501 c ( 3 ) non-profit in 1979 .

“ When they started looking for a name my mom said ‘ Why don ’ t we call it South Valley Symphony ?’” Gruen said .

Baraclough called the name for the then six-member orchestra “ aspirational .” But those aspirations proved to be more than appropriate . Now in its 50th performing season , Gruen pointed out , “ We always fill our venues .”

Gruen has been playing violin in the symphony since its inception , when she was 15 . “ We ’ ve seen it grow . We ’ ve seen it go through some hard times . But we ’ ve always had great community support ,” she said . by Jordan Rosenfeld

A Bevy of Local Talent And why wouldn ’ t it have support , when it ’ s born of the community , with local talent who gives countless hours to their love of music . “ I don ’ t think people realize that we have some really talented musicians in the area . Most of them can play multiple styles of music . And then our conductor , Anthony Quartuccio , is so amazing . We are very lucky . He conducts symphonies at all levels , and we are not even the top of his level , but he meets us where we are ,” Gruen said .

According to Rob Howe , 2022-2023 Board President of the Symphony , and a cello player , he finds Quartuccio to be “ awesome to collaborate with ” and “ respectful of the musicians , because he ’ s always listening .” Quartuccio tries to incorporate as many of his musicians ’ suggestions as possible . Whether that ’ s bringing in more music composed by women , incorporating music with a Latino flair to honor the local community , or as he did at the Mother ’ s Day concert last year , incorporating the work of a young , local composer and musician .

Quartuccio is committed to playing symphonic music , but Howe said that he is “ careful about programming so that it is always enjoyable for the audience , which is a mix .”

Howe came to play the cello as an adult , unlike many musicians who began as children . “ I studied private lessons for about 13 years and got to the point where my cello teacher was like ‘ you ’ re a solid intermediate player and you know how to read music . Any symphony would be more than happy to have you join from that perspective .”

Youth Competition The symphony also prizes youth musical education and works hard to include local students in performances , whether as

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