December 29, 2018
Sensual, seductive, and evocative. We get in the mood for A TANGO WITH MOZART, featuring the tango-infused Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, with our all-time favorite big screen interpretations of the dance. 1. El Tango de Roxanne – from Moulin Rouge The ’80’s Police hit gets a tango-flavored, gravelly-voiced makeover in the 2001 movie starring Nicole
December 29, 2018
Concertmaster and soloist in January’s A TANGO WITH MOZART Jennifer Cho talks with us about stepping up to lead her Symphony colleagues in a tango, about her life outside of music (with feathery friends Buggy, Buffy and Boo Boo), and why performing over a swamp isn’t necessarily the greatest idea. As Concertmaster, the audience is used to seeing
January 1, 2019
PROGRAM: A TANGO WITH MOZART Saturday, January 19 at 8PM and Sunday, January 20 at 4PM, at the Lesher Center in Walnut Creek Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917) (orch. Ravel, 1919)–by Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (arr. Leonid Desyatnikov)–by Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543 (1788)–by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
December 5, 2018
Bow a violin or a cello, pucker up to a trumpet, clack a castanet, or see if you can get a note out of the clarinet that doesn’t summon a flock of Canada Geese: The California Symphony’s Instrument Petting Zoo offers the chance to get up close and personal with instruments you can see on
November 20, 2018
An animated holiday classic, a Grammy-winning choir, mulled wine & cocoa to sip at your seat… Get the scoop on what to expect when you come to one of the California Symphony’s holiday concerts. There’s nothing quite like the buzzing atmosphere of the California Symphony’s holiday concerts, with the aroma of mulled wine in the
November 20, 2018
From Sesame Street to the Simpsons and rubber chickens, Tchaikovsky’s classic has been given some interesting treatments through the years. Here’s our pick of 11 of the best (and the worst.) 1. The Simpsons — Cause Christmas Eve is Here “Why should I care it’s all humbug.” — Montgomery Burns 2. Sesame Street Elmo gets down with Jamie
November 20, 2018
Cadence Strange, 12, gets up at 5:30 a.m. to make the two-hour commute from Pittsburg by bus and BART to Oakland, where he attends the Pacific Boychoir Academy. In addition to taking regular classes, Cadence spends three hours a day studying music theory, learning to sight-read, and rehearsing choral works in Latin and German. California Symphony
November 20, 2018
Tavian Roberts, 12, is a student at the Pacific Boychoir Academy in Oakland, the only full-time boys’ chorus school on the west coast of North America. The choir school integrates a full academic curriculum with daily musical instruction for boys in grades 4–8. Tavian sings with the choir for the California Symphony’s ’Tis the Symphony
November 20, 2018
Rich, satisfying, and smooth. That’s not just the sound that California Symphony’s Catherine Matovich makes when she plays her viola. Here, Catherine shares her recipe for mulled wine—the perfect, warming, spiced beverage of the season. What You’ll Need… 2 bottles of red wine, preferably Cabernet 1 bottle Muscat Canelli or similar wine 1 orange studded with
November 20, 2018
Kim Rooker is the Bay Area’s go-to expert in productions featuring movies with the soundtrack played by a live orchestra for over a decade. We go behind the scenes with Kim to learn how the orchestral, live movie magic comes together—so the images you see on screen stay in time with the music. Walking in the