May 22, 2021
Nicholas Phan, tenor, and Meredith Brown, horn, are featured in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, in the May 22 episode of Poetry in Motion. The lyrics for the piece are from works by six English poets on the subject of night. Courtesy of Wikipedia Pastoral The day’s grown old; the fainting sunHas but…
May 12, 2021
Our final original poem of Symphony Gives Week celebrates YOU and all that we achieve when we RISE TOGETHER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Want to donate to the campaign? We are still accepting your gifts… “To this year & the next & the next after that, if we hold each other up, we’ll feel…
May 6, 2021
Wonderful… Soul-refreshing…”—Kathryn Juneau, Viola This article was first published in May, 2021 When 30 California Symphony musicians came together last month to record the Poetry in Motion season finale series, it was the largest gathering of California Symphony musicians in one place since the February 2020 BRAHMS FEST concerts. We asked how it felt to…
May 3, 2021
It’s been hailed as “a model for residency programs across the country” (Mercury News), and former resident composer Dan Visconti calls it simply the best residency program in the country. California Symphony’s groundbreaking Young American Composer-in-Residence program turns 30 this year, helping to launch the careers of ten composers to date. We checked in with…
April 29, 2021
Trevor Thompson joined the California Symphony team earlier this year to amp up focus on the Sound Minds music education program, which provides intensive music lessons at no cost to students at Downer Elementary School in San Pablo. We checked in with him at the end of his first three months on the job. Q:…
April 29, 2021
Anyone else looking forward to a night at the Symphony? Thanks to your support, it’s something we can soon all look forward to again, perhaps with a renewed sense of appreciation for the awe inspiring experience that is live performance. (Does today’s Symphony Gives Week campaign original poem capture some of the thrill and anticipation…
April 29, 2021
This poem for Symphony Gives Week was inspired by a photo of Sound Minds student Stephanie, reunited with her beautiful, blue cello. When you give during the Symphony Gives Week campaign through May 8 you give opportunity and boost the futures of at-risk local students, as well as supporting the future of the orchestra and…
April 28, 2021
On Saturday, May 8, Next Week’s Trees, the first commission for the resident composer Viet Cuong, receives a world premiere like no other in the 30 year history of the California Symphony’s Young American Composer-in-Residence program. Viet’s piece was inspired by a Mary Oliver poem, and so we commissioned a poem celebrating him and all…
April 28, 2021
We’re feeling inspired by the upcoming Poetry in Motion season finale video series, and fittingly, the first custom poem we commissioned for in our poetry-themed Symphony Gives Week fundraising sprint, is dedicated to YOU. Give $100 or more through May 8 and in addition to supporting the future of the orchestra, our acclaimed resident composer…
April 21, 2021
Nicholas Phan, tenor, and Meredith Brown, horn, are featured in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, in the May 22 episode of Poetry in Motion. They talked with us about their careers as musicians, and the experience of being part of this special recording project for California Symphony. Nicholas, you made your 2009 Carnegie…
