January 3, 2025 :: From enduring extreme poverty and personal hardship to creating a piece that would captivate audiences around the world (and beyond!), Joaquín Rodrigo’s life and work are an inspiring testament to the power of music. Read on for six fast facts about the composer of the iconic Concierto de Aranjuez. 1. He Turned Adversity Into Art ...
:: Carlos Simon (b. 1986) Breathe (2021) Anyone who has practiced meditation knows the centrality of the breath. Many traditions teach basic breath practices—focusing on nostrils or diaphragm or belly, counting breaths, etc. Breath is central to our very existence as living beings; we all breathe in one way or another, whether we are people, penguins,...
October 16, 2024 :: 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. California Symphony Orchestra:...
:: By Mason Bates An orchestra tunes and immediately, a sense of anticipation and wonder ripples through the room. As this super-instrument brings its marvels of engineering together into a single pitch, we are witnessing both art and science. The same orchestra that explores our emotional depths is also our finest example of interactive technology. The...
October 9, 2024 :: Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34 (1945) Compositions that teach the instruments of the orchestra make up a lively sub-genre of the literature, including beloved mainstays as Camille Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animalsand Serge Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra stands tall...
September 4, 2024 :: In our 2024/25 season opener, four internationally acclaimed singers with Bay Area connections – Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Sidney Outlaw, baritone – join the California Symphony and the 100-member strong San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Chorus for a powerful performance of BEETHOVEN’S NINTH. We asked our four soloists...
August 7, 2024 :: Louise Farrenc (1804–1875) Overture No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 24 (1834) Isabelle Vengerova. Rosina Lhevinne. Adele Marcus. Yvonne Loriod. All major-league piano teachers at major-league conservatories, and all women. They shared an unheralded predecessor in 19th century composer and pianist Louise Farrenc, mainstay piano faculty at the Paris Conservatoire for decades. She concertized in...
March 18, 2024 :: With an impressive list of commissions and accolades to his name, Saad Haddad makes his California Symphony premiere as the 2023-2026 Young American Composer-in-Residence during BRAHMS OBSESSIONS. We talked to Saad to learn more about how he got here, his musical inspirations, and what he’s excited for as our newest resident composer. Welcome, Saad! Please...
January 16, 2024 :: GERSHWIN IN NEW YORK guest artist Marcus Roberts has been called "the genius of the modern piano" and has the honors to show for it—he's been a recipient of the Helen Keller Award for Personal Achievement, Artist-in-Residence for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, commissioned composer for Chamber Music America, and Grammy nominee for his 1996 album Portraits in Blue. We talked to Marcus to learn more about his music history and what it's like to improvise classics such as Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
:: New York Times music critic Olin Downes described the opening passage of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue as "an outrageous cadenza of the clarinet" after the piece's premiere in 1924. 100 years later, this passage is considered an iconic orchestral excerpt for professional and amateur clarinetists alike. We talked to California Symphony principal clarinetist Cory Tiffin about his history with the piece ahead of his solo in GERSHWIN IN NEW YORK.
