A Morning At The Symphony

On a cold and rainy morning in May, I had the privilege of attending a rehearsal of the San Diego Symphony.  My friend Barbara is a patron of the symphony, and arranged for a group of us to attend.  What a treat.  We sat up close and not only heard great music, but got to actually see the musicians and conductor up close and personal.  There were two large school groups in attendance, in addition to about 100 others, so there was a nice audience.  It was fun to see all the musicians in jeans and tee shirts rather than their normal formal attire.  I'm not a regular at the symphony, so I thoroughly enjoyed this.  I especially enjoyed seeing and listening to the guest violinist, 26 year old Ray Chen.

Ray Chen is a 26 year old Taiwanese-Australian violinish.  He was the first prize winner in the 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and the 2009 Queen Elizabeth Music Competition and now records on the Sony Masterworks label.  He began playing violin at the age of four, studying the Suzuki Method, while in Queensland, Australia.  He was invited to play solo with the Queensland Philharmonic at the age of eight.  He also performed at the opening celebration concert of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.  He has too many other awards to enumerate here, but in 2006 he came to the U.S. and studied with some of the finest American teachers.  In 20100 Chen was signed by Sony Classical.  Additionally, he was invited to perform at the annual Nobel Prize Concert in 2012.  At the  rehearsal I attended, he was so gracious to the audience.  He spent about 15 minutes talking to the audience.  What a treat for the school kids.  Maybe he will inspire one of them to greatness.  In addition, he's not hard on the eyes.  He is movie star handsome.

Conductor Jahja Ling was just as much of a treat to see.  He is a world class conductor, who will be stepping down as musical director of the San Diego Symphony next year.  Mr. Ling holds one of the longest continuous relationships with one of the world's greatest orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra.  He has had a relationship with them, in various capacities, for 30 years.  What I appreciate is his strong commitment to working with young musicians.  He has conducted the orchestras of the Julliard School, the Curtis Institute and the Aspen Music Festival.  Over his years with San Diego musicians, he has brought the San Diego Symphony to a tier 1 level.  He was also most gracious with the audience on the morning we heard the rehearsal.  He chatted with both school groups and any other adults that wanted to talk.  Truly a great morning.  Thank you, Barbara, for arranging this special trip for our group.