That’s Canon Bruce Linsenmayer of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles on Friday evening at the Pasadena Community Orchestra concert at First Church of the Nazarene, aka PazNaz, passing out programs and orienting first-time concertgoers.
I was among them as Bethany Pflueger, PCO’s conductor since 2013 and Bruce’s beloved, led her players through a delightful program featuring Torrance Buntyn Jr. as the soloist in Allan Gordon Bell’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra. Buntyn’s parts required mastery of a dozen instruments, from vibes to the kazoo. Born in Jackson, Tennessee, he’s a member of the Alliance of Black Orchestral Percussionists and studies with Raynor Carroll, the L.A. Phil’s former principal percussionist.
Among those awarding Buntyn and the orchestra a standing ovation, and also enjoying works by Haydn, Mahler, and pioneering American female composer Amy Beach, were several of Canon Bruce’s friends from Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church – Altadena CA, including the Rev. Joseph Lane. A retired law enforcement officer and a longtime member of the diocesan Commission on Ministry, Bruce has twice accompanied Kathy and me to Israel and Palestine. A flutist who won a Grammy with her fellow members of the Southwest Chamber Music Ensemble, Bethany also chairs the music department at Glendale Community College.
Read more about the PCO here. The orchestra was founded in 1983 by violinist Wayne Reinecke, longtime member of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Arcadia and father of Canon Janet Reinecke Kawamoto. In one of those rare instances where passing the baton isn’t merely a metaphor, Janet’s late brother Alan, a percussionist, became conductor in 2008 and served for five years.
