Symphony Life

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a writer. As my musical career developed, it felt natural to write about music and the unique perspective that comes from being inside this performing world.

ICSOM is the national organization that represents all the major symphony orchestras in the US. Its Newsletter Senza Sordino includes articles about artistic and labor issues that are important to symphony musicians. I've been proud to be the San Francisco Symphony ICSOM Delegate, and a contributor to our publication with several personal stories about the SFS. 

In March, 2020, the San Francisco Symphony stopped performing and went into sustained hiatus, along with the rest of the country. The professional musician community was not able to meet our audiences in live performances for over a year. I wrote two humorous/serious articles as guest columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle about how this felt from my very personal point of view; the first one a few months after the lock down began, on May 25, 2020 and the second was over a year later, June 9, 2021 when live orchestra concerts were finally allowed to resume. I used the metaphor of my black concert dresses as a way of explaining the loss and anxiety many performing artists were going through, and as a point of access to the collective shared pain and rejuvenation of this challenging time. 

In August, 2020 San Francisco Symphony musicians began playing a series of intimate performances with one musician and one audience member at a time, outdoors on the terrace of Davies Symphony Hall. Listeners were chosen through a lottery for the free half-hour concerts, and musicians volunteered their talents to bring some musical joy to our audience members even within strict Covid protocols. 

Strings Magazine is a source of information and inspiration for professional, student, and amateur string players from all genres. I’ve written for them frequently about elements of life in a professional orchestra, as well as other musical adventures.