The small orchestra with a big sound  ~  Bringing fine music to the Carson Valley.

Music Director and Conductor  :|:  Danny Yale

VIOLIN  /:  CECILIA YALE, CONCERTMASTER

Cecilia Yale grew up in El Cerrito, California. At the age of three she started telling her parents, “I want to play the iolin.” Yes, “iolin” as she was not yet able to say violin. In an effort to satisfy their toddler’s request, they presented Cecilia with a plastic yellow saxophone, a hand-me-down from her sister. Cecilia was not tricked or appeased! She would not even go near their next offering which was a plastic ukulele. Finally, on her seventh birthday, Cecilia was thrilled to receive a Neal violin. That same year she began private study on her new violin with Danny Yale.  However, the lessons were short-lived as Danny moved out of the area leaving the seven-year-old Cecilia without a teacher or the motivation to continue playing her violin.

At age 12, Cecilia started playing the Plectrum Banjo with her mother, Georgette Twain. The mother-daughter team made several appearances on the Bill Rose T.V. Show (KCRA).  Recently they appeared together at the July 3, 2004 concert of the Carson Valley Pops Orchestra and at the Genoa Renaissance Fair on July 24, 2004.

Cecilia’s desire to return to the violin grew stronger every year. “At age 20, I finally resumed my violin studies with Leon Sieff, then with Nathan Rubin who was concertmaster of the Oakland Symphony,” says Cecilia.

Her advanced education was at California State University at Hayward where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music.

Cecilia appeared extensively in a variety of chamber and symphony orchestras and shows around the San Francisco Bay area. Most notably, she played with Danny Yale’s Regency Strings© at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco from 1982 until 1989, where she made significant advancement in her musical education under the direction of Danny Yale, who, many years later, became her husband.

Since moving to Minden, Nevada in 1995, Cecilia has performed regularly in the pit orchestra for the Western Nevada Musical Theater Company musicals. She remains active as a strolling violinist at the Sterling Restaurant inside The Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino in Reno (see photo lower left).

More prominently, she has been concertmaster of the Carson Valley Pops Orchestra since its inception. “I am so proud to be playing with the Orchestra,” says Cecilia.  “Danny and I have worked so hard to make it happen.”

Cecilia’s other creative outlets include drawing, and painting in watercolors.

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The Orchestra wishes to acknowledge and thank those who have made generous donations which keep our concerts free!  Please patronize their businesses and events whenever possible.

* Martha Williams ~ Antiques Plus in Genoa and Genoa Events * The Carson Valley Inn  *

* RE/MAX Realty Affiliates (John Fisher and Brad Spires) * The Smallwood Foundation  * 

* The Oakmead Foundation *  Douglas County Board of Commissioners *

©2004-2008 The Carson Valley Pops Orchestra, a non-profit organization. All Rights Reserved.

PO Box 512 ~ Minden, NV  89423

About the VIOLIN:  Most simply described, the violin is a four-stringed musical instrument tuned in fifths, played with a bow, and held between the shoulder and the chin. It is the highest pitched of the string family. Agile and clear toned, it is the leading instrument of the modern orchestra. The violin is capable of great agility and violinists like to show off their technique, so most violin concertos and other violin compositions give opportunity for virtuosity to delight the violinist and audience. Besides playing with the bow and with the fingers, and also double and triple stopping, the string player has one or two other tricks at his fingertips which composers will occasionally use for special effects, such as playing with the back of the bow - col legno. The most commonly used special effect is muting - con sordino. A mute is a device which dampens down some of the vibrations and softens the sound of the instrument giving a soft and distant effect. A mute is a piece of shaped wood or rubber which clamps onto the bridge, lessening the power of the vibrations transmitted through the bridge to the sounding body of the instrument.

To find out more about the violin, how it is made, and its history, click here.