May 18, 2022
This weekend’s EPIC FINALE concert was a fitting exclamation point on the season, as audiences got to hear Viet Cuong’s Next Week’s Trees (live and in-person, not on a screen!), Nathan Chan’s beautiful rendition of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s triumphant Symphony No. 5.
April 29, 2022
Principal horn Meredith Brown reflects on the return to live performances, stepping off the hamster wheel, and finding renewed purpose. Way back in 2020, while we were all reeling and horrified by suddenly being plunged into a pandemic, a part of me was learning about life. It turns out that even when you “do what
April 21, 2022
Viet Cuong (b. 1990) Next Week’s Trees (2021) “Light is an invitation to happiness,” wrote beloved poet Mary Oliver in “Poppies”. We could all use such an invitation about now. We’ve been through a period of darkness, of present dread and future fear, a time of foreboding and separation. But such things don’t last. The
March 30, 2022
From a foreign national anthem, to a groundbreaking world premiere that was immediately heralded by critics as “a masterpiece,” and unusual intermission on Sunday afternoon, this weekend’s concerts were almost as drama-filled as the Oscars. #WeStandWithUkraine Both concerts this weekend opened with a rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, in solidarity with the people of
March 21, 2022
Everyone loves a good fairy tale, featuring dashing heroes and heroines, evil villains, and imperiled protagonists, navigating their way towards a hoped-for happy ending. Shared from one generation to the next, these cautionary tales occupy a special place in popular culture and they have inspired some of the most appealing and memorable music ever written.
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
February 15, 2022
Thomas Adès (b. 1971) Three Studies from Couperin (2006) Thomas Adès loathed ‘sports days’—i.e., gym class—in school. (It’s a rare musician who can’t relate to that.) “I’d invent phantom tummy aches and stay at home and listen to records,” he recalls. Those records, collected by his poet/translator father, ranged from folk music to Stravinsky, and
February 1, 2022
Against a background of programming modifications and cancellations by other Bay Area performing arts orgs, California Symphony staff and musicians worked together to give wings to January concerts, TAKE FLIGHT. When All Negatives Add Up to a Positive Over four days of rehearsals and performances and after many dozens of COVID tests, musicians, staff, and
December 23, 2021
The “English horn” becomes the voice of the swan in Sibelius’ haunting tone poem Swan of Tuonela, in one of the best-known solos in the repertoire for the instrument. California Symphony’s James Moore tells us more about this enigmatically-named cousin of the oboe.
December 21, 2021
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) The Lark Ascending (1914/1921) Nostalgic longing permeates The Lark Ascending. Not a cozy nostalgia that looks back to a rose-tinted past, but rather a spiritual fervor for an idyllic paradise, expressed as the song of a soaring skylark and, on the earth below, human life—a poignant metaphor for our collective yearning
November 9, 2021
By California Symphony staff—Tuesday, November 9, 2021 You had so many great questions and comments! Here are a few things you may—or may not—have noticed as everything came together for FOUR SEASONS, the second concert set of the 2021-22 live and in-person California Symphony season. Your number one question was… What’s the thing that soloist
November 5, 2021
By popular request, California Symphony concert signature cocktails are back! Adding a taste of autumn to your FOUR SEASONS concert this weekend, Apple Cinnamon Sangria will be available at lobby bars inside the Lesher Center. (Price: $12) Here’s what’s inside this seasonal sipper: Diced apples & pears Red wine Cinnamon liquor A hint of spiced rum Apple
November 5, 2021
Soloist Alexi Kenney gives us the low down on playing the role of conductor in the first half of the upcoming FOUR SEASONS concerts, his Bay Area roots (and favorite eats), and the story behind his new body art. Your last performance in person with the California Symphony was for the Bruch Violin Concerto No.
October 28, 2021
—By Music Director Donato Cabrera The music of the Baroque is the music of the Age of Reason and The Enlightenment. It is ordered in that the instruments used are essentially always stringed instruments with occasional winds thrown in. It is balanced in that the soloists aren’t any more prominent or important than the group,
October 27, 2021
Anonymous (18th century) Italian English La Primavera Spring AllegroGiunt’ è la Primavera e festosettiLa Salutan gl’ Augei con lieto canto,E i fonti allo Spirar de’ ZeffirettiCon dolce mormorio Scorrono intanto:Vengon’ coprendo l’ aer di nero amantoE Lampi, e tuoni ad annuntiarla elettiIndi tacendo questi, gl’ Augelletti;Tornan’ di nuovo al lor canoro incanto: LargoE quindi sul
October 25, 2021
You might be thinking: “A 16th century instrument featured in modern day pop songs? No plucking way.” But it’s true! Here are our top 5 picks of pop songs that feature this unique keyboard instrument. 1. Scarborough Fair—Simon & Garfunkel Parsley, sage, rosemary and… harpsichord? Who remembers this? 2. Monday, Monday—Mamas & the Papas It
October 19, 2021
George Walker (1922–2018) Lyric for Strings (1946) “One finds something … that provides the genesis to motivate the direction in which you want to go.” That’s George Walker speaking in 1987, encapsulating the wisdom of a career that embodied American music at its most aspirational and accomplished. Lyric for Strings provides an ideal entry point
October 19, 2021
FOUR SEASONS harpsichordist Derek Tam explains how playing the harpsichord is different from playing a piano, and similar to being a drummer in a jazz combo. Are you a harpsichord specialist or do you play other keyboard instruments? I’m a keyboard omnivore. I specialize on historical instruments such as the harpsichord and fortepiano (that is,
February 21, 2020
Katherine Balch, California Symphony Young American Composer-in-Residence 2017-2020, sits down with Illuminate soloists artists Kelly Guerra and Alexandra Smither to talk about vocal music, their shared history, and their weirdest performance moments. This article was originally posted in February 2020. Kelly Guerra (mezzo-soprano), Molly Netter (soprano), and Alexandra Smither (soprano) are each incredible interpreters of music old
August 10, 2022
Zoltan Kodály (1882–1967) Dances of Galánta (1933) If Zoltan Kodály ever resented his chronic second-banana status to friend and colleague Béla Bartók, he never let on. But it must have rankled. Bartók biographies invariably describe how, in his salad days, he traipsed through the backwaters of Eastern Europe, Edison cylinder recorder in tow, in search
August 9, 2022
Inbal Segev on YouTube Musings, Adding Virtuosity, and an Unexpected Connection to Resident Composer Viet Cuong. We last saw you in Walnut Creek in May 2017, in the days before this blog existed. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I am very much looking forward to returning to play with the California Symphony!
April 29, 2022
SOLOIST NATHAN CHAN SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON REUNITING WITH MENTOR DONATO CABRERA, PERFORMING ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO AT EPIC FINALE, GROWING UP AS A MUSICAL PRODIGY, AND HOW TO GO VIRAL ON TIKTOK. What’s it like to come home and perform in the Bay Area with your former mentor, Donato Cabrera? It is with great excitement