Shenson Foundation wishes to thank the California Historical Society, the University of California, Berkeley, and The Bancroft Library

Copyright 1998 by the California Historical Society and The Regents of the University of California

Childhood in San Francisco

Selected excerpts from 1997 Interview with A. Jess Shenson by Carol Crawford

Crawford: Would you mention your famous classmate from Lowell, Dr. Shenson?

Shenson: Yes, I graduated from Lowell with Carol Channing. I still see her and we’ve been lifelong friends. And even today, if she is interviewed in San Francisco, she loves to tell about the good old days. Inevitably, she will say, “You know, there was this fellow sitting next to me in Mr. Schwartz’ chemistry class and he was so helpful to me because I wasn’t the best student he’s a doctor today.” [laughter]

But I remember her vividly. On the back of the front cover of our yearbook there is a photo of Carol and I dancing in the courtyard after one of the rallies. I remember she would mimic the teachers she was absolutely great. Hand her a microphone and she could captivate any audience, even in those days. She said she wasn’t the best student and she really wasn’t. She won the debating contest, though, and she and her mother flew to Hawaii, which to me was like going to the other end of the rainbow. After we graduated she went back to Bennington, and when I was interning at the San Francisco County Hospital, Time magazine had Carol on the cover as “The Toast of Broadway in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” Soon after that I attended the AMA convention in Chicago and then went on to Washington with my mother. As the taxi was taking us to the Hilton Hotel, I passed the National Theater, where she was playing in hat show, and so I bought a pair of tickets, and afterwards we went backstage to see the “Toast of Broadway” I had left a note with the doorman before the theater, and when we went back the stage door was open and I could see Carol at the end of the corridor. She saw me and it was just like old times again!

Crawford: Want to say something about your piano lessons? Sergei Mihailoff was the piano teacher.

Shenson: He had a hard time with me because I just wasn&’t that adept, but he was a private teacher and he taught all of us. Ben was a very, very good student and a marvelous pianist. Many thought he would become professional, but once he went into medical school, he never touched the keyboard again. When he went to Stanford, Ben had a room on the ground floor in Encina Hall, and he had an upright piano he bought for fifty dollars. And for another fifty dollars, he bought a Model T Ford.

Crawford: He brought a piano to Stanford?

Shenson: He brought it down.

Crawford: You mentioned a piano contest that Ben entered?

Shenson: Do you remember the Call Bulletin?

Crawford: Yes.

Shenson: The Call Bulletin used to have piano contests. We were living on Ashbury Street at that time and my brother entered a contest. In those days we didn’t have refrigeration. Ice for the ice boxes was delivered by trucks and it was not uncommon for boys in particular to go out to the ice trucks and take some ice as the truck was moving slowly from house to house. Unfortunately, Ben slipped and he broke his arm. So Mr. Mihailoff said, “Well, you’re signed up. You’ve got to learn a piece with one hand only for the piano competition.”

Crawford: Did he win?

Shenson: He won!!! The local newspaper had an article, “The little fellow didn’t propose to let a broken arm interfere with his plans. He consulted with his teacher, was told that Capricioso in E flat for the right hand is the only right hand number in the whole library of piano music.” That is what Ben played and he came in first place.

Crawford: What a good story! Well, I know Yehudi Menuhin grew up in San Francisco about that time. Did your family have any contact with the Menuhin family?

Shenson: Yes. My mother always talked about them. Yehudi was not born in San Francisco but he was raised in San Francisco. Mother remembered when his father had Yehudi in the baby carriage and was wheeling him in front of Golden Gate Avenue where we lived. There was just one year difference in his and my brother’s age.

Crawford: They lived in that neighborhood as well?

Shenson: Yes. But his father was very religious: he wouldn’t permit Yehudi to go to public school; he [sent him] to Jewish schools --Yehudi, Hephzibah, and Yalta were the three children, and the parents were so strict. I have the program when he made his debut at the Civic Auditorium. In the front there is a photograph with a violin and the violin is bigger than he is. So we knew Yehudi Menuhin from afar, you might say. Then in 1989 the Asian Youth Orchestra was first formed, and Yehudi was the first conductor of the Asian Youth Orchestra and has continued as music director.

Famous Patients in San Francisco

Crawford: You said that your brother treated Herbert Hoover?

Shenson: Yes.

Crawford: Was that a Stanford connection again?

Shenson: Yes, it was through Dr. Dwight Wilbur. The Boss, as they called Herbert Hoover, would always stay at the Mark Hopkins Hotel during the Bohemian Grove sessions.

Shenson: At the end of the day he wanted [one of us] to come up and just have a little visit and they always had martinis, [laughs] He had a lovely apartment in the Waldorf Towers in New York City. In fact, in my brother’s office is a photograph of the Boss, and behind him in a case are beautiful blue and white Chinese porcelains. Being interested in this sort of thing ourselves, we always admired them. Ben paid visits to Herbert Hoover several times at the Waldorf Towers. Downstairs we have a whole shelf full of memorabilia from Herbert Hoover.

Crawford: You mentioned the family that built the Mark Hopkins.

Shenson: Yes, it was George Smith. He and his wife Eleanor Smith built the Mark Hopkins Hotel, and it was shortly after my brother went into private practice of medicine that my father, who knew George Smith very well, said to George, “You know, George, Ben is now going to be in private practice our town. He’s by himself, and I’m sure that if you have any medical problems at the hotel and you need any help, you should feel free to call him.” So for the next fifty years we were called upon. I could tell you so many, many, many stories about some very pleasant, plain, lovely people and some very highly respected internationally known figures, but I guess we don’t go into too many details about that.

Crawford: That would be privileged information.

Shenson: But I’m sure it’s no secret Ben took care of Herbert Hoover many times fortunately no serious illness except on the very first visit there was a little problem, but nothing serious. The first famous personality I saw was Carmen Miranda, and she couldn’t have been nicer. Many of these people felt that if they had a vitamin injection it helped with their performances. So without any fanfare she raised her skirt and said, “Right here,” and pointed to her bottom. [laughter] She was onstage all the time. It was shortly after I joined Ben in the practice of medicine that my brother had gone out on a social engagement, and so when the phone rang at home I answered and then I had to go down to the Mark Hopkins Hotel to visit a patient who was here on a State Department visit by the name of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Crawford: The Lion of Judah.

Shenson: A charming gentleman. Immediately, he said, “Do you speak French” I told him no, so we spoke in English. He had a few medical problems; fortunately none of any great significance, but I did go back and see him the next day to make sure he was better and he was. He had his aide come over and hand me a gift, a 24-carat gold coin minted when he was crowned Emperor [shows the coin].

Crawford: Did people such as heads of state want to be looked over just as they were traveling? Or was it usually a real concern?

Shenson: Usually a real concern. Relative to that coin it was really very special. I thought we would put it on a bracelet and let my mother use it, but my uncle--who was in the jewelry business, when he saw it he said, “Don’t you dare. You just put this away. It’s too valuable to be dangling on a bracelet.” [laughs]

Crawford: It’s a beautiful thing.

Shenson: And unusual.

Crawford: Any others you can remember?

Shenson: In those days we did see many, many movie personalities. The list goes on and on. I think I might have mentioned that one night the phone rang at midnight, and the gentleman said that he was with this young lady who wasn’t well and that she needed some medical attention. I asked, naturally, what was the medical problem. It didn’t seem that serious, but he asked me, however, to kindly come over. So I got up, and when I knocked on the door Rex Harrison opened it.

Crawford: And [his fiancé] Kay Kendall?

Shenson: Yes. He was doing My Fair Lady in New York and she was doing a film in Hollywood. She was a beautiful young lady, and fortunately not too ill at that time. But we would sometimes be up more than once in the night. A few months later, [I] was planning to attend a medical meeting in New York [and] couldn’t get any tickets to ‘My Fair Lady,’ so I wrote Rex Harrison a letter, enclosing a check and asking for his assistance. [I] got two house seats -- fifth row, center. Seated close to [Ben] on the aisle were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Supporting the San Francisco Symphony: The 1987 Shenson Young Artist Debut Fund

Crawford: Do you want to say something about your symphony association?

Shenson: My brother always enjoyed the symphony almost- -almost --as much as I did the opera, but then he was won over to the opera also, and so we supported both. As a matter of fact, my mother had a box (Box W) every Thursday afternoon at the symphony. When it was announced that Davies Symphony Hall was being built, my brother and I felt that we wanted to participate and help funding for the building since we had enjoyed the symphony all of our lives and were San Franciscans. So we did contribute. When we wanted to pick our three seats, the management was kind enough to give us a tour of Davies Symphony Hall before it officially opened, and we picked out the three seats we wanted, which are very, very good, and I continue to have two of those seats today, ten years later. I should mention Mrs. Ralph K. Davies and the opera. We had our seats, and I still have all four of them in the Opera House, where I can remember Mrs. Davies so vividly. She was just the most lovely lady, and she had seats just behind us. Her husband always came to the opening night of the opera, but never again. He just wasn’t that interested in opera, I guess. Mrs. Davies would always tap my mother on the shoulder and say, “Oh, Mrs. Shenson, I’m so glad you’re in your seat, because if you weren’t I wouldn’t know where I belong.”

My mother, Ben and I were in Davies Symphony Hall on the opening night. We decided that we should do more than just contribute routinely, and in 1987 we established the Shenson Young Artists’ Debut Fund. We said we would sponsor any artist making a debut with the San Francisco Symphony- -and under the age of thirty because we wanted this to be for young artists. There was no specification beyond that, and so many of the young artists that we have sponsored since 1987 have been internationally known before they made their debut with the San Francisco Symphony, but this had to be their first appearance.

I can remember Victoria Mullova, a young Russian violinist the first year. She is very well known now, but those were the early days. I think that she had actually defected from Russia, and it was a very exciting evening with the San Francisco Symphony. Whenever these artists come back we always get to see them. Just as with the Merola Opera Program, we usually try to keep in touch with the young participants that we sponsor. The next young artist was Emile Naoumoff, and when Ben and I were in Paris one time he took us out to dinner with his wife. I keep in touch with him periodically. In 1988 it was Anne-Sophie Mutter. Even today we’re just the very closest of friends, and you know her reputation as one of the world’s finest violinists.

Crawford: So you do sponsorships for various organizations.

Shenson: Well, I’m on the board now of Ruth Felt’s San Francisco Performances, and my brother was on the board. In fact, I went to the very first meeting of Ruth Felt’s when she was establishing San Francisco Performances about eighteen years ago. But getting back to the story, it was through Ruth Felt’s San Francisco Performances that Anne-Sophie appeared, and we had supper at Act Four. Act Four, you know, the little restaurant around the corner from the Opera House.

Crawford: Is it in the Inn at the Opera?

Shenson: Yes. This was many years ago long before the present hotel was totally renovated. So I took Anne-Sophie there, and she always carried her violin, of course most of these artists do because they are so valuable. Well, the maitre d’ came to take her violin, and I said, “No, don’t touch that!” As she carried it off, I said to the maitre d’ “That is a very, very expensive violin!!!” And when she sat down she shook her head and sighed with relief. [laughter]

The next one that we sponsored in ‘89 was Midori. And the list goes on and on. Some really very, very important artists such as Joshua Bell, Evgeny Kissin, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Annie Chang, Matt Haimovitz, Andrea Lucchesini, Dang Thai Son, Gil Shahan, Gary Hoffman, Helene Grimaud, Alexander Shtarkman, Sarah Chang, Ming Chiel Lui, Chee-Yun, Corey Cerovsek, Valery Kuleshov, Benjamin Pasternak, Daniel Gaisford, Gustavo Romero, Anje Weithaas, Leila Josefowicz, Fabio Bidini, Michelle DeYoung, Andrea Haefliger, and Nikolai Lugansky.

Before last season, for about three or four years, we had the Shenson Young Artists’ Debut Series on a Sunday afternoon at two o’clock. It was a recital that these young people did, an individual recital, and then MTT (Michael Tilson Thomas) said the artists would get more exposure if he put them into the mainstream to appear with the full symphony for three or four performances because then they would get more reviews. That was started last season, and I will continue to sponsor this series.

Crawford: And Cal Performances?

Shenson: Robert Cole, the director, came to us four years ago, knowing of our interest in young artists and the fact that we were somewhat philanthropic, and asked if we would underwrite an artist that would be on his series. We gave it thought and fortunately were in a position to do so and sponsored Awadagin Pratt, a black pianist who is quite controversial because he sits on a little stool at the piano instead of a piano bench.

Crawford: And plays up?

Shenson: Yes. [laughter] He was the first artist, and then last year, it was Bryn Terfel, the great Welsh bass-baritone. Without any hesitation, I said “yes” and it was done in memory of my brother, whose birthday was November first. It was quite an experience, because this fellow is really so nice. They called and said that he was going to have his recital on a Saturday and asked if I could come over on a Friday morning because he loved to play golf. They had it all set up at the Claremont Country Club, and they wanted me to play golf with him. I said, “Well, I really don’t want to embarrass him because I don’t know how to play golf.” [laughs] So they asked me to lunch and, wanting to meet him, I said of course.

The Rose Shenson Opera Scholarship Fund: 1977

Crawford: When did you set up the Shenson Opera Scholarship Fund?

Shenson: That was ‘77.

Crawford: And that is in your mother’s name, of course.

Shenson: Yes. Originally it was just the Shenson Opera Scholarship Fund, but my mother passed away in 1983, fourteen years ago, and the name was changed to the Rose Shenson Opera Scholarship Fund.

Crawford: That was presented as a prize as I remember, wasn’t it?

Shenson: Not a prize, no. It was called the Rose Shenson Opera Scholarship Fund to sponsor two singers. Now, this year when you look at the program you will see that we also have a fund in my brother’s name for the Merola Program. So funds from that will be given as a grant.

The San Francisco Youth Orchestra and Asian Youth Orchestra: 1989

Crawford: Good. Do you want to talk now about the San Francisco Youth Orchestra?

Shenson: Yes. The San Francisco Youth Orchestra, of course, is well established. Paul Bissinger, who has really been terribly involved over the years and worked very hard, has stepped down. Do you know Ann McWilliams? Ann McWilliams’s son, Keith McWilliams, is now chairman of the San Francisco Youth Orchestra. The San Francisco Youth Orchestra does a great job and has an international reputation. They travel to Europe and the Orient. Again, I’m on that board and I support them. In fact last year in memory of my brother I gave them funds to help underwrite the “titled violin chairs,” and also additional money so they could buy the necessary tickets so some of these young people could go to the regular symphony.

Crawford: Oh, that’s a wonderful idea. Well, let’s move on then and talk about the Asian Youth Orchestra. You have told me a good bit about the Asian Youth Orchestra. That’s been such a big part of your life these last years.

Shenson: Yes. It’s just incredible how it has happened. Of course, it all started when a gentleman by the name of Richard Pontzious called me. Richard, as you may remember, was music critic for the San Francisco Examiner, and prior to that for many years he taught music in Japan and spoke the language. He taught music at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and learned the language there as well, and he was anxious to bring together Asian musicians, similar to Tanglewood. Many of the artists that he knew and worked with said that was a marvelous idea, so he tried to pursue it. However, he was in need of money that eternal problem that all organizations, music or otherwise, have. I had met him once or twice but really didn’t know Richard, but he called and said that mutual friends had suggested he talk to Ben and myself because he knew that we had many good friends in Hong Kong. He told us what his thoughts were and that people like Yehudi Menuhin thought it would be a very good idea. We had one friend whom we first met in 1961 in Hong Kong, Sally Aw Sian, a very interesting young woman, single, and interested in young people. Since Ben and I were going to Hong Kong, we contacted her. We showed Sally the brochure and told her that this was something we felt that she would be interested in, and the bottom line is that yes, she was interested.

Crawford: What is her name?

Shenson: Sally Aw Sian. We met her, as 1 said, in 1961. So we had known her for quite some time when this first came up. So she said yes, she would help Richard in 1989. She gave him an apartment and office in Hong Kong and enough money to start the Asian Youth Orchestra. So Sally is the “godmother” who really got the Asian Youth Orchestra started and has helped every year. Fortunately, every year except the year my brother was ill we always traveled with the Asian Youth Orchestra for one or two weeks.

Crawford: Is Richard the conductor?

Shenson: No. He is a conductor, but he acts as the general director of the entire project. This is the fourth year that Sergio Commissiona, who is based in Vancouver now, has conducted. As I told you, Yehudi Menuhin was the first conductor and music director when we met in 1990 in Kumamoto, Japan. It’s the most marvelous opportunity for these young people. If you can imagine, from the moment they leave their front door until they return home there is no expense involved to the family or to the young musicians, and they have an experience that will never be equalled.

Crawford: What percentage of them do you guess will become professional musicians?

Shenson: It’s hard to say, but some of them are very good. A few of them are so good that some of the coaches will see that they get to music academies, particularly those on the East Coast. This year, as I might have mentioned already, Yo-Yo Ma is the soloist . Crawford: You might talk about this. Shenson: Yes. Yo-Yo Ma had indicated in recent years to Richard his interest in the Asian Youth Orchestra and said that he would be the soloist for half the tour this year. They’re in Japan today. Tan Dun, a young Chinese composer and good friend of Yo-Yo Ma, had been commissioned by the Chinese government to compose a symphony that he called “Symphony 1997,” specifically for the changeover. Tan Dun was born in 1957 in China.

Crawford: You had said how charming Yo-Yo was and how energetic. So let’s talk about what he did at the AYO camp this year.

Shenson: I tell you that I should go to a dictionary, Caroline, and see if there are any more adjectives to find, because I run out of adjectives trying to describe Yo-Yo Ma. He has energy you cannot believe, enthusiasm, camaraderie he related to these young musicians so well, and was always smiling, always cheerful. And everywhere we went, when we were leaving the backstage, there are fans--he must have a fan club everywhere in the world.

Crawford: He’s one of those shining lights that comes along.

Shenson: Oh, absolutely.

Crawford: Does Yo-Yo Ma relax?

Shenson: Yes. Totally. He’s always smiling. On one of the last nights in Seoul Yo-Yo gave an ice cream social for all of the musicians. And I tell you, there were tears in these youngsters’ eyes when they played the last encore in Seoul because they knew that was the last night they would be with Yo-Yo Ma.