THE HIDDEN JEWEL OF CYPRESS
The Cypress Pops Orchestra,
a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization providing world class programs of
“Pops” musical entertainment and education in the City of Cypress for
over 20 years, prides itself in hosting concerts to the general public
free of charge on the Cypress Civic Center Green. Our jewel is attended
by over 10,000 patrons per season, not only from Cypress but from other
Orange County communities as well as Los Angeles, Riverside, and San
Bernardino counties.
At times we feature
prominent soloist collaborating with the Pops performing American
traditional, musical theater, TV & movie scores, and light classical &
operetta works. Aaron Copland's composition titled "Fanfare for the
Common Man" describes part of our mission when delivering these quality
music programs. That translates to musical
entertainment the contemporary person can enjoy, with their families,
while living with the day-to-day needs of our American culture impacting
our city, state, country, & world.
But, that's only part of
the story. Our Cypress Pops Orchestra is developing new out reach
programs to the community.
Our service goals to the community includes programs, like the
Junior Pops, for transitioning
local high school and university music students
into professional musicians, performing with the Pops' established
seasoned professionals and world class artists. In addition, for some
of those students seeking other professions outside of
music, we hope they continue to see the value in practicing and
performing music as engineers, doctors, lawyers,
police, fire, and teachers.
We are also taking
applications for corporations to sponsors our children's program. This
program is to provide, at no cost, orchestral and band instruments with
lessons for under privilege children within the community. Our hope is
to give those less fortunate a chance to learn how Pops and classical
music can help them grow into pillars of the
community.
Who is the
Cypress Pops Orchestra?
Our
organization:
Besides the professional
music personnel of the Cypress Pops Orchestra,
we are made up of a volunteer board of directors and guild. The Board
membership includes prominent members of Cypress and surrounding
communities. Our Guild provides social gatherings and sponsors
fundraisers in support of the Pops performances and programs.
Key figures
administrating the Pops are:
Rick Bemis -
President of the Board of Directors
Rick's loyalty to the Pops comes from
being one of the original performing members over twenty years
ago. His love for music was developed
in the Long Beach school's music
programs led by Fred Ohlendorf, a pioneer in
music education creating Arrowbear
Music Camp.
Although Rick never attended Arrowbear,
he is forever thankful for "Mr. O's" Honor Orchestra for which
Rick performed in junior high school. After majoring in
music at Long Beach City College, Rick
joined the ranks of professional music
performing freelance with Opera a la Carte, Garden Grove
Symphony, Cypress Pops and recording with Universal/Motown. But
Rick has another side, a professional career in information
technology as a senior executive.
Rick’s
professional career spans over twenty eight years in information
technology, business management consulting, and professional
services organizations. He has led multi-million dollar programs
utilizing highly skilled consulting groups and software packages
in the consumer goods, telecommunication, public utilities,
healthcare, air transportation, insurance, and financial
business verticals.
Rick is a
proven leader, expanding his company, Counterpoint Solutions &
Associates, LLC, into a world class consulting group
specializing in optimizing management oversight of technology
investments using its Orchestrate Methodology, allowing
companies to focus on their core business competency. Because of
Rick's experience leading people he was asked to be board
president of the Cypress Pops Orchestra in August 2008.
Rick
has an degree in Computer Science & Engineering
from California State University, Long Beach
Steven K Mauss - Vice President
Mr. Mauss' addition to the board in 2010 brings local business
management experience as President and COO of his Cypress based company,
Knowledge Relay. As original founder and architect, Steven has
directly managed all facets of Knowledge Relay’s business since its
inception. He has direct experience dealing with large enterprises in
the aerospace, nuclear power, engineering & construction, automotive,
and government/defense industries. Before founding Knowledge Relay, Mr.
Mauss served for 3 years as VP General Manager of American NETRONIC,
Inc., a project management graphics software company. From 1982 to 1989,
he worked as a Senior Systems Analyst for Rockwell International,
Satellite Systems Division and Rockwell’s corporate offices. While
employed at Rockwell, Mr. Mauss designed and oversaw deployment of a
comprehensive business automation system, including hardware and
software, to improve Operational Business Intelligence gathering,
analysis, and visualization. Later, Mr. Mauss would use his experience
in OBI to help Rockwell win multi-billion dollar defense contracts at
the corporate level. Since becoming President of Knowledge Relay, Inc.
(the precursor to Knowledge Relay LLC) in 1992, Mr. Mauss has guided the
company through many technology transformations and has positioned the
company for growth and profitability. Mr. Mauss maintains affiliations
with various non-profit organizations, including Boy Scouts of America.
He is a member of the Software Council of Southern California and the
Project Management Institute (PMI). He earned a bachelor’s of science
degree in Business Computer Methods from CSULB. Mr. Mauss is also a
recipient of the Malcolm Baldridge Quality award for OBI work performed
in partnership with IBM, and was awarded special recognition by Northrop
Grumman for OBI work performed at their Military Aircraft Division.
David Gilman
- Treasurer
David is a native of Los
Angeles who grew up in Van Nuys and La Habra. He is a certified public
accountant, licensed in California. He has worked in public accounting,
auditing and reviewing financial statements in a variety of different
industries. He also worked as an insurance examiner for the California
Department of Insurance, conducting financial examinations of insurance
companies. He served as an assistant controller for a local real estate
management firm in Whittier.
When not working as an
accountant, David is an avid musician. He has played in a variety of
musical groups, including the Harvard Wind Ensemble, the Northwestern
Univ. Symphonic Band, the Huntington Beach Concert Band, the Los Feliz
Woodwind Ensemble (Los Angeles), the Aeolian Chamber Players (Orange),
the IVC Emeritus Orchestra (Irvine), and several other chamber groups,
theatrical productions, plus klezmer and popular ensembles as well as
synagogue services. He performed Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet and
Ludwig Spohr's Second Concerto for Clarinet with the JCC Classical
Orchestra and Weber’s Concertino for Clarinet with the Huntington Beach
Concert Band. He has studied clarinet with Kalman Bloch, late solo
clarinetist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; flute with Trix
Kout of the Longy School of Music in Cambridge,
Mass.; and voice with Georganne Gould, renowned opera singer and
teacher, of Huntington Beach. In addition to performing, David also
arranges music for any instrumentation, from
small ensembles to full orchestras. He served as principal arranger for
the “Portraits of Voice” concert featuring Ms. Gould in October 2008.
Dan Schlesinger -
Talent Coordinator
Daniel Schlesinger was born in Los Angeles and raised in
Long Beach. He is a licensed real estate broker and Certified Apartment
Manager. Since 1979, he has been the broker/owner of Schlesinger Realty,
as well as President and CEO of Mercury Property Management Company.
Previously, he was the Managing General Partner for Oceanside Developers
Associates, LTD, from 1980 until 1998. His credentials include a
Bachelor of Science in Finance and Real Estate from Long Beach State
University and a Certified Apartment Manager designation from the
Apartment Association of Southern California. For three decades, his
focus has been to provide safe, sanitary housing for hundreds of
tenants. He was also recognized as a member of the Multi-Million Dollar
Club for his real estate sales volume.
We are
currently reviewing several candidates for Board Secretary & Guild
leadership
We are excited about our
season and opportunity to serve the Cypress community.
Thank you for supporting our orchestra.
