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The Ramcoff Concert Society - Promoting live classical music. By Andrea Winterbottom. Gene Ramsbottom (co-founder and artistic director of the Ramcoff Concert Society) has been organizing concerts since 1967. At the age of 16, Gene and his peers of the Youth Concert Band put on an impromptu performance in the front passenger lounge of the ferry on their way to the Courtney Music Camp (Vancouver Island). Gene recalls: "There was a crowd of 40 - 50 musical teenagers on board so it was only natural to move chairs around and rehearse for the enjoyment of ourselves and the other passengers. We all shared a tremendous joy of performing music. In 1978, Gene and his wife, pianist Melinda Coffey, started to work on the concept of bringing music to the people and in 1982, they founded the Ramcoff Concert Society, a non-profit charitable organization, to promote live classical music. After present ing six seasons of evening concerts on the North Shore their 1989-1990 season now feature such Ramcoff-produced series as: "Lunch and Listen" at the B.C. Telephone Burnaby headquarters; "Out for Lunch" at the Vancouver Art Gallery; "Bach's Lunch" at the Hong Kong Bank of BC Building, and coming up, the second annual Whistler International Mozart Festival from august 10-15. "Music is a very peculiar business. The musicians' first and foremost obligation is to keep their performance calendar fdled up, then worry about how much money they make", says Gene in his home-based office in North Vancouver, which is fully equipped fax, computer and VCR equipment. "Have you seen the Festival's promotional video?" asks the vibrant performer dressed in for mal trousers and monogrammed shirt. He inserts the tape, which is currently shown on Canadian Airlines flights, in the VCR and moments later, the music of Mozart Divertisimo softly flows in the room. Gene speaks about the Festival 's success last year and mentions that it is already sold out this year. "Planning the Festival takes about all y ear. Hours of work are required by volun teers and friends, yet you can't make money on this dreams. It is truly amazing to dis cover how many people share our dream of uncommonly high quality performers de voted to the art of music." On screen, the Festival's ushers, costumed in Mozartean court dress, step off the horse drawn car riage. Gene turns off the video and shows me a picture of a brass quintet performing at Lost Lake during last summer's Festival. Apart from planning concerts. Gene plays a vital part as a performer. He has served for thirteen seasons as the principal clarinetist with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and twelve seasons with the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. During his spare time which, not surprisingly, occurs around 3 a.m. he reads books on the history of Van couver, Mozart, food and major institu tions' such as "Discord - The Story of the VSO". He disagrees in principal with the VSO's attempts over the past years to monopolize the classical music scene in Vancouver. He is puzzled by the cultural funding system in Canada and their unwill ingness to support his clearly popular series and Mozart Festival. Gene is already looking forward to the artistic success of the 1990 Mozart Festi val, especially to the presence of philoso pher John Grassi who will speak on "Gen ius: Creativity vs. Conformity." We shut ourselves off from the tremendous creativ ity within for fear of being perceived as nonconformist, of expressing individual ity. Security comes from a Latin root mean ing not having to pay attention. Improving one's performance involves paying atten tion, of taking risks with phrases, of search ing for better way to present masterworks. Security in music generally leads to boring performances, but audiences have no time for boredom and will vote very quickly with their feet. Just look at our sold-out festival last summer and the excitement created during the concerts." The NSAN thanks Gene Ramsbottom and wishes him and his wife Melinda Coffey coninued success with their Ramcoff Con cert Society. MUSIC Following the success of last year's WHIS TLER INTERNATIONAL Mozart FESTI VAL the Ramcoff Concert Society's Sec ond Annual Mozart Festival will be hosted by the Chateau Whistler August 6-19 with actual concerts starting on August 10. Tick ets will be available through the VTC/ Ticketmaster system or participating ho tels. The RAMCOFF CONCERT SOCIETY pres ents BACH'S LUNCH, a classical music series held at the Atrium, Hongkong Bank of Canada Building, Hornby at Georgia Street, Vancouver from 12 noon to 1 p.m. on April 3, May 1, June 5, & July 3. Admis sion is free. VANCOUVER ART GALLERY will host the following noon concerts presented by the Ramcoff Concert Society: April 27 music of Boccherini, Beethoven & Brahms; May 11 - Winners of the Kiwanis Music Festival; June 8 - Music of Dvorak, Bach & Mozart; July 13 - Guest Choir from the Pacific International Festival of Male Choirs.