Rossmoor News, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, page 13B

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Rossmoor News • September 30, 2026 13B

By Photography Club

At their Sept. 16 competition meeting, Rossmoor Photography Club members welcomed N4C judge Jane Postiglione for the print and projected competitions in Creative, Journalism, Nature and Travel. Postiglione has been with the Contra Costa Camera Club for 25 years, and has served as leader and judge for many of them.

She brings attention to how and when images are captured, and suggests other perspectives or editing techniques if the makers would wish to convey other “stories,” particularly with the Nature and Travel categories. Titles are critical, especially in Journalism, Travel and Nature, and have been shortened to meet stringent News requirements.

All images listed below, and others in each category, received anonymous discussion time, and members had the chance to ask questions at the end of the meeting if they wished.

Each week’s winning images and full titles, for all competitions, are shown at https:// tinyurl.com/rmphotoclub Congratulations to these winning makers and images.

Creative Prints Advanced, first place, Marsha Kirschbaum, “Ignition”

Journalism Prints Advanced, first and best, Sean McDonough, “Contra Costa Firefighters ventilate historic Kaiser Estate roof in 3-alarm fire, 8/1/26” Basic, first place, Ronald Douglas, “Salsa Dancing at Brooklyn Basin”

Nature Digital Images Master’s, first place, Dale Hasselfeld, “Bristlecone Pine, White Mountains”

Intermediate, first place and best, Ron Douglas, “A Female Anna’s Hummingbird pollinating a red cestrum plant”

Basic, first place, Wendy Markel, “Mountain meadow of Showy Golden Eye, Bear Valley CA”

Travel Digital Images Masters, first place, Richard Frank, “Savoca Historic hillside, Taormina Sicily”

Advanced, first place, Bruce Lescher, “People Flock to Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy”

Intermediate, first place and best, Jim Menard, “Neuschwanstein Castle, Southern Bavaria”

Basic, first place, Wendy Markel, “Oxford University’s 1694 Trinity College chapel” These and other winning images now move forward to compete at the monthly regional N4C level with 15 other participating camera clubs in Northern California.

Rossmoor residents can attend the Photography Club meetings at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays

in the Vista Room at Hillside Clubhouse, for social time and to observe the anonymous and friendly educational feedback from an experienced judge (monthly except for December).

The club always welcomes new members. Visit the club at

Photography Club members view a variety of Travel, Nature entries

a meeting or browse the club’s homepage (https://tinyurl.com/ rmphotoclub) or contact the club’s co-presidents, Vicky Richardson and Bruce Lescher, at pr esident@rossmo or photographyclub.org for more information.

“Neuschwanstein Castle, Southern Bavaria” by Jim Menard won best in Travel Digital Images.

“A Female Anna’s Hummingbird pollinating a red cestrum plant” by Ron Douglas won best in Nature Digital Images.

“Contra Costa Firefighters ventilate historic Kaiser Estate roof in 3-alarm fire, 8/1/26” by Sean McDonough won best in Journalism Prints.

“Ignition” by Marsha Kirschbaum won first place, Advanced, in Creative Prints.

‘A Celebration of Life’ for a

Divided Nation

If reading this article online, click on the links in the column to hear the music. By Robert Moon I

t was 1968, and America was bitterly divided by the Vietnam War. When conductor, composer and educator Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) left the New York Philharmonic a year later, Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy commissioned him to compose a Mass in commemoration of her late husband and the opening of the Kennedy Center. Even with unlimited funds, it took him three years to write it.

He collaborated with lyricist Stephen Schwartz to compose the ultimate summation of Bernstein’s diverse musical powers: a liturgy of opposites. It’s based on the structure of the traditional Catholic liturgy, but Bernstein injects classical music (Stravinsky, Orff and more) and Broadway (“Godspell” and “Hair”) into the score. It contains rock music, gospel music, the blues, Hebrew chants, operatic arias, and Broadway songs.

Formally called “Mass, A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers,” it employs 200 performers – a children’s choir, soloists, a rock combo, street singers, altar servers, marching bands, a full symphony orchestra and the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe.

The theme was Bernstein’s life story: the loss of faith. The libretto is the tale of a young male celebrant, dressed in jeans with an electric guitar, who celebrates God. He journeys through doubt, anger (hurling the sacraments on the floor in a fit of rage), and finally affirms his faith. Conductor Marin Alsop called it Bernstein’s Mahler’s Eighth Symphony: conflict and resolution tied into a complete package. Bernstein ends the work by stating the traditional benediction: “Go in Peace.”

At the end of the 1971 premiere, the audience sat silent for three minutes, and then erupted into wild applause. Rose Kennedy (JFK’s mother), a devout Catholic, sat stunned at the composer’s brazen dissection of the traditional liturgy. Bernstein cried, and a reporter commented that, “The handful of men who’d lingered at the VIP reception stiffened …”

The work was a popular success, especially with the young, selling over 200,000 albums. Productions ensued in Los Angeles and Cincinnati. But The Catholic Standard called it a “perversion of the liturgical act” and “a sacrilege.” Critics were divided. Paul Hume called it “the greatest music Bernstein has ever written,” but John Simon said it was “derivative and attitudinizing drivel.”

Listening to the Mass 55 years after its premiere, the diversity of musical styles would fit comfortably into today’s musical world. The eclectic combination of the formal Latin Mass and Steven Schwartz’s hip language fits the radical political era of the 1960s. His libretto has some gems: the rock singer’s words of doubt: “What I say, I don’t feel. What I feel, I don’t show. What I show isn’t real. What is real, Lord, I don’t know.”

Paul Simon’s trope in the Gloria: “Half the people are stoned. The other half are waiting for the next election” is still irreverently famous. Here it is: https://tinyurl. com/6brerdre However, Stephen Sondheim criticized the libretto, saying to the composer, “Have you ever thought of translating it into Latin? So you won’t have to listen to the words.”

The Mass lacks the dramatic coherence of “West Side Story.” The celebrant’s angry rant (his disbelief in God) and desecration of the altar feels overly dramatic. But the celebrant is Bernstein, and many were very angry about the Vietnam War. Perhaps some of the rock segments have lost their shock value, but the lyrical moments are touching. There are great musical moments.

There’s an innocent joy to the “Kyrie eleison.” Here it is: https://tinyurl.com/mfxcyuc3 The “First Orchestral Meditation” brilliantly creates a mood of doubt and anger. Here it is: https://tinyurl.com/4z6294tm

The “Lord’s Prayer” and the “Sanctus” are stunningly beautiful. “A Simple Song” is one of the composer’s best. Here it is: https://tinyurl.com/325m3eys

There is also a wistful sadness that predicts Bernstein’s later years. Today, America is looking for more than a simple song to heal our divided nation.

Robert Moon can be reached at moon2780@comcast.net

Modern Classical CDs

Bernstein – Mass–Jubilant Sykes Baritone – Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop. Naxos 8.559622-23

Photos on this page

Portrait of Robert Moon.
Abstract swirl of warm orange and yellow light surrounded by textured cool tones. Caption: “Ignition” by Marsha Kirschbaum won first place, Advanced, in Creative Prints.
Firefighters on a shingled roof cutting ventilation holes while heavy smoke billows. Caption: “Contra Costa Firefighters ventilate historic Kaiser Estate roof in 3-alarm fire, 8/1/26” by Sean McDonough won best in Journalism Prints.
A female Anna’s hummingbird hovering mid-air next to clusters of red cestrum flowers. Caption: “A Female Anna’s Hummingbird pollinating a red cestrum plant” by Ron Douglas won best in Nature Digital Images.
Neuschwanstein Castle standing above dense green trees under a blue and cloudy sky. Caption: “Neuschwanstein Castle, Southern Bavaria” by Jim Menard won best in Travel Digital Images.