Monterey Symphony goes to ‘Balcony’
Since March, Monterey Symphony Executive Director Nicola Reilly has guided the organization through the abrupt end of their 2019-2020 season, an abridged farewell to conductor and music director Max BragadoDarman, the cancelation of their 2020-21 season and another farewell to longtime board president Lee Rosen.
But it was the recent move of offices that has inspired a new way to share their music in a safe environment.
“We moved our offices during the pandemic,” Reilly said. “We found this wonderful place at Hampton Court on the corner of 7th and San Carlos, which has a lovely balcony that overlooks the courtyard — quintessential Carmel.”
The office balcony inspired a new series of musical performances featuring Symphony musicians, which continues Friday with a performance by violinist Genie Wie and cellist Adelle Akiko-Kearns. The Balcony Sessions are live-streamed (https:// vimeo.com/452928433) and seats are available for a small audience of 12 in the courtyard.
“The idea of the solo performer is a pretty spot-on image of the time we’re living in,” Reilly says. “And we so seldom have an opportunity to showcase our individual players, since we focus on the big orchestra. It’s great to use our office space, and we’re so grateful to the city of Carmel for getting involved and excited about this project.
“We wanted to find a way to support our artists, as well as the creative people behind the cameras — videographers, graphic designers, backstage crew.”
The two women have put together a 30-minute program, which will be streamed at 4 p.m. Friday. In addition to the small audience of sponsors and donors in the courtyard, the music can be heard from both the Scheid and Silvestri Tasting rooms, also located in the 7th and San Carlos quadrangle.
Cellist Kearns serves as the assistant principal cellist of the Monterey Symphony. She received the prestigious Artists International Award and made her New York recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall in 2008. As a chamber musician, she has performed at leading music festivals internationally and has performed widely as a soloist. She holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School.
Wie made her radio debut on Chicago Public Radio at the age of 9. She has performed in solo and chamber music across North and South America, Asia and Europe and has appeared with many world-renowned music festivals. In 2000, she won the Frank Huntington Beebe Grant, allowing her to continue her studies abroad in Cologne, Germany. She has served on the violin and chamber music faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago where she also acted as program director of chamber music.
Kearns and Wie will play works by Scott Joplin, Mozart, Carlos Gardel and Jacob Gade. All of the artists of the Balcony Sessions are creating their own programs.
“We asked them to play what they want to play,” Reilly says. “We want them to feel free to put together a program that works for them.” She says the duo has been performing together in the Bay Area and has established themselves as “COVID safe.”
For more information on the Balcony Concerts visit www.montereysymphony. org.
In July, the Symphony
Board elected Bruce Lindsey to a one-year term as board president. A Chicago native, Lindsey is a former Monterey County Deputy district attorney. He has been a Monterey Symphony subscriber since 1972 and a Board member since 2006.
An addition to the Symphony’s music and education programs is the appointment of three-time Emmy award winner John Wineglass as composer in residence. Wineglass collaborated with the Symphony in 2016 for the acclaimed “Big Sur: The Night Sun,” a massive symphonic work featuring a drum made from a redwood tree. He has been a recipient of the artist-in-residence program of the Glen Deven Ranch in Big Sur, thanks to the Big Sur Land Trust, where he will return to work on a violin concerto for the Symphony, to feature the popular Canadian violinist Edwin Huizinga.
“We want John to continue the Big Sur theme. The idea of creating new art and new music during this complicated time of shelter-inplace seemed really important,” says Reilly. “This concerto is part of a series,” said Reilly. “We want him to document this moment in time musically, and we want to be essential in supporting that.“
The Symphony is hoping it will be able to resume its regular subscription series for the 2022 season, but Reilly concedes this depends on how the pandemic unfolds. In the meantime, music is happening, their youth education program is continuing and the search for a new conductor is underway. Four candidates have been selected to audition for the post. For more information call 831-646-8511, or visit www.montereysymphony.org.