Eileen Wingard

Seated on my right were two fifth-grade girls from Carlsbad who were studying violin. On my left was a 98-year-old woman and her 100-year-old gentleman friend, both long time symphony attendees. The audience was a mixture of youthful faces and elderly patrons.  [Eileen Wingard]

The tuba soloist, William Nakamura, did a fine job making the tuba, that elephant of the orchestra, sound beautiful and negotiating the hopping, kangaroo-like leaps with agility. As the printed program notes explained, the work was inspired by the kangaroo-rat of Death Valley. [Eileen Wingard]

The December 8 San Diego Symphony Orchestra’s high voltage program under the direction of SDSO Music Director, Raphael Payare, took off with the dazzling opening of Richard Strauss’ tone poem, Don Juan. [Eileen Wingard]

Assistant Conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO), Robert Zelickman, opened the matinee All-Mozart Concert at the Garfield Theater of the Lawrence Family JCC Sunday, Nov. 24, conducting, the Overture to “The Impresario,” one of Mozart’s comic operas in which a director is auditioning two singers for a role and each is trying to outdo the other. The wave after wave of sequences in the rapid-fire overture reflected that competition. Zelickman sustained the orchestral energy of the overture throughout the five-minute work. [Eileen Wingard]

With precise gestures and total command, guest conductor, Elena Schwarz led the San Diego Symphony Sunday, Nov. 17, in a concert that included contemporary music in the first half and a familiar, beloved symphony after intermission. [Eileen Wingard]