September 25, 2023
No membership required, no agenda, no host: just an informal hang out for California Symphony concert-goers, musicians, guest artists, and staff. Attention all California Symphony concert-goers! Are you ready for an encore after the show? We’ve got the after party for you! What is it? Think of it as a backstage pass to mingle with
September 20, 2023
IT’S NOT OFTEN YOU HEAR OF AN ORCHESTRAL COMPOSER WITH EXPERIENCE TURNING TCHAIKOVSKY SCORES INTO HEAVY METAL! WE SAT DOWN WITH MECHICANO COMPOSER JUAN PABLO CONTRERAS TO ASK HIM ABOUT HIS JOURNEY TO BECOMING A MEXICAN AMERICAN CITIZEN, HIS INTRODUCTION TO ORCHESTRAL MUSIC THROUGH FAMILY AS WELL AS THROUGH SYMPHONIC METAL, AND HOW HIS EXPERIENCES HAVE INFORMED HIS UNIQUE
September 14, 2023
Former Broadway “Fiddler on the Roof” star Kelly Hall-Tompkins talks with us about performing Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto—a piece she considers to be one of the greatest violin concertos of the 21st century—and about bringing Music Kitchen: Food for the Soul to Walnut Creek. Also covered: wine-tasting in Napa, and how Warner Brothers Cartoons influenced her career choice.
September 13, 2023
Wynton Marsalis uses a drum kit, sousaphone, and other non-traditional orchestra instruments to evoke the spirit of Bourbon St and his native New Orleans in his genre-bending Violin Concerto. We got down to brass tacks with Principal Tuba Forrest Byram to understand the differences between the tuba and the sousaphone, and their less famous love-child,
September 13, 2023
In his career with California Symphony, it’s not common for Principal Percussionist Allen Biggs to play drum kit during concerts—let alone for two different pieces on the same program! In season opener COPLAND—AMERICAN TRADITIONS, Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto in D and Juan Pablo Contreras’ MeChicano both feature drum kits of various sizes and playing styles, reflecting