I miss music. I miss going to the concert hall. I miss the anticipation, seeing the artists come onstage and get ready to play. I miss the upbeat, the intake of breath, the communal exhalation as the concert begins. I miss immersing into the sound, feeling all the molecules in the air and in my body vibrating together, resonant in rhythm and harmony and in tune with the musical mind of the players and the composer. I miss the musical…
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…
I had such a great experience at the Awesöme Orchestra reading that I just can’t resist telling you about it. Awesöme is a collective that presents open readings for local musicians. It’s all about people having fun playing orchestra music – how is that not great??? The reading I attended was of the Kyrie movement of Requiem without Words, a beautiful new work by local composer Arturo Rodriguez that was written in response to the Ghost Ship tragedy in 2016. Which made…