May 12, 2023 :: More Timpani! William Walton’s Symphony No. 1 features not one but two sets of timpani—a first for timpanist Alex Orfaly in his career with California Symphony. Donato says you’re really looking forward to FRESH INSPIRATIONS because Walton’s Symphony No. 1 features two sets of timpani and two timpanists, and because you’ve never played this piece...
December 4, 2022 :: Mozart’s true life story needs no Hollywood-style embellishments, says Music Director Donato Cabrera. Tom Hulce as Wolgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1984 hit movie “Amadeus”. By California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera. A murderously jealous rival. A mysterious commission from a “gray messenger.” Rumors of poisoning… If the circumstances of Mozart’s death at 35 read like...
October 19, 2022 :: Elizabeth Dorman on her musical beginnings, fostering cats, and performing while pregnant. Where did you grow up and where do you live now? I grew up in the heart of San Francisco at Castro and 15th and where my mom Anne still lives. I spent 8 years living in various places around New York City...
October 5, 2022 :: In June of this year, Sam Weiser was one of 24 violinists auditioning for a spot with the orchestra. Fast forward three months and after winning the Assistant Concertmaster position, Sam found himself fast-tracked for the top job for season opener INTERSECTIONS, as Concertmaster Jennifer Cho sat it out due to a scheduling conflict. We...
August 24, 2022 :: In June of this year, Sam Weiser was one of 24 violinists auditioning for a spot with the orchestra. Fast forward three months and after winning the Assistant Concertmaster position, Sam finds himself fast-tracked for the top job for season opener INTERSECTIONS, as Concertmaster Jennifer Cho sits it out due to a scheduling conflict. We...
February 24, 2022 :: Katherine Balch connects texts to celebrate women in Illuminate, the final commission and world premiere of her three-year tenure as California Symphony Young American Composer-in-Residence. By Katherine Balch This article was originally posted in February 2020. This summer, I had a few days in between projects to do some hiking in Swiss Alps. During these few...
August 3, 2021 :: Even the legendary Russian Romantic composer struggled with writer’s block, self-doubt, and the occasional lack of inspiration. By California Symphony I am written out, my head is empty, my time is past…”—Tchaikovsky While composing his Fifth Symphony, Tchaikovsky consistently doubted his ability to write. He began working on the piece in the spring of 1888...
:: Behind every great composer is… a great patron. Without the financial and emotional support of Nadezhda Von Meck—the woman Tchaikovsky corresponded with for 14 years and yet never met—the first Russian composer to achieve international acclaim might never have made it. By California Symphony Nadezhda von Meck was the widow of a wealthy railroad magnate,...
:: Hindsight has a funny way of making past successes seem effortlessly inevitable. (Kind of like fate?) But when Tchaikovsky wrote his Fifth Symphony, he had no way of knowing whether the work would be popularly received at its premiere (it was), or that it would still be performed over a hundred years later and adored...
March 9, 2021 :: Principal Bassist Andy Butler loves to cook traditional dishes from his wife’s Peruvian heritage. Andy was kind enough to share one of he and his wife’s favorite recipes to prepare together—chupe de habas or fava bean chowder. What You’ll Need… 2 tbsp. of olive oil 2 red onions, very finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, very finely...
