West Marin Music Festival began as a schoolgirl's dream on the sidewalks of San Francisco. Founder Carol Negro explained that her "lifelong" wish was to lead concerts in natural settings.

"Music is my compass," she said, adding that an ad for a conductor in Bolinas' Hearsay News pointed her towards West Marin nine years ago. "It was fate. I loved the beauty of this place." She stayed.

Her lyrical leanings were fostered at her San Francisco home near Twin Peaks and strengthened by summers spent at Interlochen's music camp.

"My parents took me with them to concerts," she said. "My mom had been a jazz singer, and my dad was a housepainter. He also washed the outside windows of the Mark Hopkins Hotel."

Besides exposing her to serenades and sonatas, Negro's parents treated her to lessons on the clarinet, which she played until her hands were big enough to play the bassoon.

The bassoon then became her constant companion. She studied under the San Francisco Symphony's principal bassoonist, Walter Green, and played with the All-City Orchestra, the Berkeley Symphony, and the Lamplighters at different times.

Meanwhile, she was fine-tuning her leadership skills. She managed the California Bach Society and in 1981 founded the San Francisco-based Baroque Arts Ensemble.

By then she'd started to conduct for the city's Community Music Center, which offered music lessons to young children of all socio-economic backgrounds.

"That was a big part of my development," she said, adding that making the transition from performer to conductor wasn't easy.

"The bassoon has always felt like an extension of my limbs, but now when I raise my arms to conduct, it feels like they're doing what they're supposed to...

"Conducting gives me the chance to open up a score, read it, take it apart, and reconstruct it. It's the ultimate way to pay homage to composers of the past."

The maestra promotes the music "egolessly," longtime fan Leslie Plant of Inverness told The Light. "She becomes a conduit, and her concerts are like watching sunsets. They're not just for an elite who can mumble certain musical vocabulary to each other."

Yet Negro waves a worldly baton, Plant added. "She's gives this tiny community some very sophisticated music. And she juxtaposes varied pieces within the same genre, such as Mass music, so the audience doesn't feel mired in only one style."

"High-brow music" needn't be stuffy, Negro noted. And concert-going should be a family event. "I think kids are just as able to perceive greatness as adults. They just need the opportunity to be exposed to music. For example, JS Bach's B-Minor Mass - the festival's finale this summer, was my favorite piece when I was a seven year old."

Negro keeps herself surrounded with young voices. She's led children's choral groups in West Marin and Fairfax - now combined as the Mount Tamalpais Children's Chorus - for several years. "They gave their US premiere of Richard Stilgoe's Brilliant The Dinosaur in May," she said proudly.

Ideally, she'd like to see these kids rub elbows with the seasoned musicians of the Festival Orchestra, most of whom live in West Marin.

"I know this sounds corny, but this collaboration might help to build a stronger community. Music involves a lot of sharing, and putting together a thing of beauty is a worthwhile endeavor."

Locals can listen to the fusion of musicians from West Marin and beyond from Aug. 9 to 24 when the West Marin Music Festival will celebrate its seventh season.

"The Baroque Arts Ensemble will open the festival with Music For The Birds, a collection of 30 pieces by about 11 composers all about birds. I chose the bird theme because birds are very musical and spiritual."

Bolinas artist Keith Hansen designed the festival's promotional poster, which highlights some of California's colorful birds.

This year's program is "all over the place," Negro said. Bach will be played in Olema, Vivaldi in Nicasio, Mozart in Point Reyes Station, and SoVoS— jazz ("a hot ticket") in Forest Knolls.

In January, Negro will assume leadership of East Marin's esteemed Winifred Baker Chorale. (Baker, who founded the group about 40 years ago, has resigned but will continue to teach at Dominican College.)

Asked if this new responsibility might break her bonds to the coast, Negro said, "I'm committed to West Marin. I'd like to create a strong musical friendship between the two organizations. They'll retain their separate identities but will do some joint work together, I hope."

Saturday, Aug. 9: Opening concert and gala; Music for the Birds, played by the Baroque Arts Ensemble and followed by a reception for Keith Hansen, the festival artist, at Stinson Beach Community Center at 8 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 10: Festival Orchestra Concert, Bach, Boccerini, Hindemith, Hsieh & Stravinsky, with cellist Jed Barahal, at Sacred Heart Church in Olema at 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 13: Festival Chamber Players' Concert, Musical Offering: Music by Bach, Zelenka & Vivaldi, Old St. Mary's in Nicasio at 8 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, Aug. 15 & 16: Opera performed by the Baroque Arts Ensemble, Cosi fan Tutte: Mozart, director David Otswald, in the Dance Palace at 7 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 17: Jazz a cappella by SoVoS—: From the Soul to the Voice to the Song, at the home of Henry and Kathleen Kelman in Forest Knolls at 1 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 23: Recital: Sonatas: Poulenc & Ginastera, with Jed Barahal and Christina Margotto in the Dance Palace at 8 p.m.

Friday and Sunday, Aug. 22 & 24: Choral finale, B Minor Mass: JS Bach, played by the Baroque Arts Ensemble, Festival Singers & Orchestra, at Sacred Heart Church in Olema, Friday 8 p.m. & Sunday 4 p.m.

Ticket information is available by calling 663-9560 or writing Box 728, Point Reyes Station, 94956.