AMN mentors

Meet Dee Spencer, Jazz Professor and Music Director

August 3, 2020
Lolly Lewis
AMN mentors, Jazz and Beyond - Non-Classical Music, Piano
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This is a guest post by Nancy Friedman, an AMN volunteer. On August 15, the multitalented Dee Spencer—teacher, performer, music director—will offer an online workshop in jazz-piano improvisation through our Amateur Music Network at Home series. We caught up with her by phone just before she headed out to an evening gig at San Francisco’s Catch restaurant, which had recently reopened for outdoor dining. What was your early musical life like? I grew up in a musical family in Wilmington,…

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Jerry Simas: Home-Grown Musician

March 23, 2020
Lolly Lewis
AMN mentors, Talking about Music, Woodwinds
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This is a guest post by Jerome Simas, clarinetist with the San Francisco Symphony and a founding AMN board member. I’ve been a professional musician for so many years now that I’m not even sure I could figure out how long. I grew up in a family that was so passionate about music. Metropolitan Opera broadcasts blaring throughout the house during weekend chores, Boston Pops on PBS, folk singers visiting our house when my sister was a 1970s high school…

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Side By Side

April 18, 2019
Lolly Lewis
AMN mentors, Orchestra and Symphonic Music, Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Workshops
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Amateur Music Network’s Lolly Lewis spoke with SF Chamber Orchestra Music Director Benjamin Simon about AMN’S Third Annual Side by Side partnership with the SFCO: what drew him to this music and why he keeps coming back to working with amateurs. Ben Simon has successfully made the transition to conductor following twenty-five years as a violist performing in several of the United States’ most elite ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Naumburg award-winning New World String…

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Learning Medieval Singing

April 16, 2019
Lolly Lewis
AMN mentors, Vocal and Choral Music, Workshops
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Medieval Singing Workshop mentor Phoebe Jevtović Rosquist AMN’s Lolly Lewis asked mentor Phoebe Jevtović Rosquist about what drew her to Medieval music and how she approaches this repertoire, music that can sound so alien to modern ears. Here is a sample of her thinking. Amateur Music Network (AMN): I’ve always been really fascinated by the rhythms in medieval music. How is the meter structured, and why does it sound so different from music we’re used to? Phoebe (PRJ): There is so…

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