Named in memory of the three brothers (William, Lew and Harold Christensen), whose artistic vision pioneered the San Francisco Ballet, the Christensen Society is comprised of the many donors who so generously support the company.

Each year, the Christensen Society chooses to recognize a particular individual who has made a significant contribution (artistic or otherwise) to the San Francisco Ballet.  This year’s honoree was longtime Concertmaster, Roy Malan.  (The ceremony was held during the annual Chairman’s Council Dinner at the Four Season’s Hotel Ballroom in San Francisco, CA on Thursday, October 30, 2014.)

Following a warm introduction by Music Director and Principal Conductor, Martin West, Roy walked onstage to accept the honor.  Ever gracious and endearingly funny, he gave a wonderful speech in which he thanked the company for such a tremendous honor.  Then, in true Roy Malan fashion, he credited his longstanding affiliation with the San Francisco Ballet as being his best kept secret for staying so young after all of these years.

Congratulations, Roy, for such a well-deserved and distinguished honor!!

Program notes: 

Roy Malan will take his final bow as the concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra in December 2014.  His 40-year first chair tenure with the orchestra sets a record for any major orchestra in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Ballet is pleased to honor Malan’s artistic contributions and dedication to the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.

Malan’s contribution to Bay Area music life is unusually wide-ranging.  His violin playing represents a distillation of his links to the Golden Age of romantic performers, combined with a hands-on knowledge of contemporary performance techniques.  During the San Francisco Ballet’s season, Malan has been heard by thousands every evening in the grand ballet solos of the literature, which include most of the major violin concertos. Herb Caen wrote that these solos alone were worth the price of admission.  Colleagues have described him as the last of the romantics, whose sound alone could identify him.

As the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players’ premier violinist for as many years, Malan has performed standard cornerstone, as well as hot, off-the-press new music, collaborating with such luminaries as Olivier Messiaen, Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Lou Harrison, John Adams, Dave e and Frank Zappa.

His training at the Curtis Institute under Efrem Zimbalist (from the legendary virtuoso stable of the fabled Leopold Auer in St. Petersburg) and at Julliard, as a product of the 20th-century’s celebrated star producer Ivan Galamian, has provided Malan with the necessary wherewithal.  Additional mentors included Yehudi Menuhin and Oscar Shumsky.

As a teacher, he has placed students in most of the Bay Area’s orchestras and chamber groups.  In addition, he directs a summer chamber music festival in Telluride, Colorado, and is the author of an acclaimed biography of his teacher Zimbalist, who bequeathed Malan his favorite French concert bows.

Christensen Society – Past Honorees 

1990    Lucy Jewett

1991    Gisella Christensen

1992    Anna Logan Upton

1993    Donald F. Houghton

1994    Ruby Asquith Christensen

1995    Jocelyn Vollmar

1996    L. Jay Tannenbaum

1997    George B. James

1998    Maestro Denis de Coteau

1999    Evelyn Cisneros and Sabina Allemann

2000    Phyllis C. Wattis

2001    Ingrid von Mangoldt Hills

2002    Joanna Berman

2003    Sally Hambrecht

2004    Patricia A. TeRoller

2005    Helgi Tomasson

2006    James J. Ludwig

2007    Chris Hellman

2008    Glen McCoy

2009    Kathleen Scutchfield

2010    Sonia H. Evers

2011    Jola Anderson

2012    Richard Gibbs, M.D.

2013    Ann and Robert S. Fisher

2014    Roy Malan

2015    Richard C. Barker