We're going to need more shelves...

The other day, Paige let me know that she and Ryan - the orchestra's librarian - had secured a huge donation of music for our library. Orchestra Nova would be receiving 20 bankers’ boxes of music, from full symphonies and ballets to operas and a bunch of full scores. For any orchestra this is a fantastic gift and we were over the moon.
The only hitch is that we now needed some place to store all of these pieces and our storage room doesn't have enough room on our bookshelves (already bursting at capacity with our current library). We turned to our fantastic horn player John Lorge who, in addition to being an excellent musician, is also a carpenter. John gave us a quote on new shelves that was very friendly, but we still needed to come up with the money (we have a policy of not spending money on anything that isn't already budgeted).
A very generous volunteer and supporter said she would donate half the cost if we were able to come up with the rest. At our Board meeting on Monday evening, I raised this issue and how we needed some extra funds to pay for this project and quickly seven folks at the meeting (two staff members and five board members) each donated for the shelves.
This is the power of giving in any amount - you can effect real change, really fast. Eight generous folks donated towards our shelves, and so next year we will be able to choose pieces from our expanded library for our performances - saving us money and using this great resource. I'm always gladdened when a generous donor gives anything at all to the orchestra, because it will always be appreciated and ALWAYS be used.

After about an hour of rummaging through a thesaurus on a wild goose chase for the perfect way to describe our orchestra and my experience here thus far, I realized there is only one way to put it; one of a kind. Playing classical music with several youth symphony orchestras led me to believe that I knew what an orchestra was. Boy was I wrong. No cummerbunds or bow ties here, folks!

I am now beginning my second season with Orchestra Nova, where I get to talk to audience members, help to promote the orchestra, sell tickets at each of our venues and a whole lot more. My responsibilities on and off of concert nights are varied, never dull, and always a learning experience. I consider myself very lucky to have a job I can honestly say that I love.

P.S. no picture necessary, I am on the bottom of the page with the vacuum.

Name that Tune

Imagine sitting on your couch watching a rerun of Apocalypse Now. All of a sudden you hear Ride of the Valkyries (remember "Kill the Wabbit"??). If you knew the name of the piece and that it was composed by Richard Wagner, then you're as smart as a fifth grader.

Music Memory, Orchestra Nova's listening-based music education program, continues to grow. Kids in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 are learning 16 pieces of classical music each year and it's EASY! Just this week, we signed up schools in La Mesa and National City - bringing our count to 25 schools and 27 awesome teachers throughout San Diego County.

All year, kids will be learning the music and getting ready for the May 20th County-wide competition. Yes, classical music is cool again.

Jung-Ho's First Nova Blog Entry

Welcome everyone to the debut or the Orchestra Nova blog! We're definitely breaking new ground for an orchestra conductor communicating with an audience and fans in such a direct and informal way. I would like to invite you to express your thoughts and ideas about our concert "experiences" and website, or feel free to ask questions about classical music in general or about the revolutionary vision for our wonderful orchestra. We are your orchestra; we are an orchestra of joy and imagination; we are Orchestra Nova San Diego.

Meanwhile, we're having a whale of a good time with our opening Mozart concerts along with our soloist Lindsay Deutsch. Let us know what you think!

Jung-Ho

So what do you play?

Whenever I am introduced to new people outside of the Orchestra Nova world and I tell them who I am and what I do, they invariably ask: "So what do you play?" - assuming that I am a member of the actual orchestra.
I am always flattered when folks ask me this - but alas, I am not one of our very talented musicians - rather, I am an administrator. I handle legal and financial issues for the orchestra as well as working with our incredible team in the office to produce the concerts, plan the seasons and raise the money to keep everything humming around here. It is a very challenging but rewarding gig and one that I enjoy very, very much. It is exciting to go to one of our concerts and listen to the beautiful music and know that I was a part of helping get that on stage.

So, when folks ask me what I play, I say the check book.

The INTERNal

Hello everyone of the Orchestra Nova community!

I am Chad and I am the current Marketing Intern for Orchestra Nova San Diego. I have had the fantastic opportunity to work with the Orchestra Nova team and especially the incredible Beverly Lambert.

I have learned a lot from working here and I have, hopefully, made a positive impact for the entire organization. I did manage to make this blog. I think that's an accomplishment. Likewise, I hope to hear from some of the other members of the Nova community.

With that. I am currently working on editing down a movie for Orchestra Nova and when it is finished I will post it on our blog and other websites!

Take care.







Chad - The Intern

Wow! After nine months of "behind-the-scenes" glimpses of scenarios with guests, staff, musicians and board members, setting up cameras for videotaping concerts, getting the lighting just right - all of the things that go into producing a documetary - we have given birth to our brand new documentary, "Orchestra Nova: Celebrations," produced by the truly professional (and fantastic!) UCSD-TV team, led by John Menier, Producer.


Part of our agreement with UCSD-TV was that we wouldn't have editorial rights - so we held our breath - set up all of the interviews, gave them access backstage during concerts, to staff meetings and to all of the "behind-the-scenes" activities that go into producing our "extraordinary experiences" - and hoped for the best!I invite you to decide if it was worth the effort.

Check it out. http://www.ucsd.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=15100 and let us know what you think.