From the unique venues to the talented artists, innovative vision and dynamic approach, Orchestra Nova is transforming the way San Diego interacts with orchestra music.
Formerly San Diego Chamber Orchestra, the revamped Orchestra Nova came out with a bang for the 2009 – 2010 season, introducing a fresh new attitude and open approach to making classical music meaningful to all San Diegans – young and old, rich and poor, every culture and nationality.
To get an Insider look at the new face of Orchestra Nova, we went right to the source. Meet the passionate and inspired Beverly Lambert, Director of Marketing Strategy and Communications.
DiscoverSD: What makes Orchestra Nova shows different?
Beverly: As I heard someone say the other day, we’re certainly not “your grandmother’s orchestra.” That’s not to say that we trivialize classical music in any way – our musicians are very talented professionals, and our artistic director and conductor Jung-Ho is the best. Their performances are always stellar and the music is traditional and beautiful. What’s different is the connection with the audience. I have never heard of another professional orchestra whose musicians and conductor meet their guests before a concert or step off the stage immediately after the last note sounds to go down into the audience to “mix and mingle.” It simply astounds first-time guests.
Then there are Jung-Ho’s very interesting explanations about the music during the concert – people love them. It’s really education at its best. He supplements those with little surprises throughout the season. We always tell our concertgoers to “expect the unexpected.” There’s the time he introduced an unscheduled beautiful Baroque piece during a concert, asking the audience to guess which country the composer was from. He then proceeded to introduce the composer, a young mandolin/jazz player from Long Beach who loves Baroque music and had composed the piece on the Internet – he had never heard it played live before this concert. Needless to say, the audience was blown away! Nearly every concert has some of these little surprises.
DSD: Tell us about the social scene at Orchestra Nova.
B: We just want everyone to feel comfortable and welcome. And to feel special! We often have receptions for special groups to socialize before a concert or during intermission. We always try to make them feel welcome and to let them know how much we value their feedback. We’ve learned to become good listeners – something we think is very important.
DSD: Why does Orchestra Nova always seems to be moving around and introducing new guest artists?
B: Our three primary venues offer three totally different experiences – helping us reach our goal of reaching the most diverse audience possible. St. Paul’s downtown has a very diverse audience and we’re attracting a new young audience that easily mixes with our loyal (and appreciated) downtown supporters. La Jolla’s Sherwood audience is a more traditional venue, very popular with La Jolla residents – and becoming a magnet for students. We had 30+ college students at our last concert. Then there’s our new venue this year – the state-of-the-art Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall. We are so excited about this concert hall – we sold out for our first concert there. We’re getting guests of all generations there and there’s a very palpable excitement from those in attendance.
DSD: Who as your favorite guest artist in 2009?
B: We’ve only had two guest artists so far this season – Norman Krieger, a wonderful pianist, and Lindsay Deutsch, a fantastic young violinist. They were both very popular with our guests and we loved having them perform with us. I will always have a soft spot for Lindsay – we’ve even contracted with her to be our Principal Guest Artist so she will be performing with us more often. She has this magnetic personality and connects with the audience in a way that is totally unique – we love her!
DSD: What are the 3 top things we can always expect to see at an Orchestra Nova performance?
B: Beautiful music. Wonderful unexpected surprises. A connection between the orchestra and the guests.
DSD: What is your opinion of the growing arts and culture scene in San Diego?
B: As we all know, this is a tough time for the arts, but we’re very optimistic. We look upon these times as times of opportunity. We intend to take advantage of today’s technologies to get our music and messages out there and we’re focused very much on music education programs to ensure an exciting future for classical music in San Diego.
DSD: Where else can we find you in San Diego?
B: I have to be honest and say that right now my life is mostly Orchestra Nova. I love what we’re doing and where we’re headed – it’s very exciting. I spent 17 years marketing for IBM and 10 years as founder and CEO of my own software development company, but I have a Master’s Degree in Music Education and had taught music in junior and senior high schools (a thousand years ago). When they asked me to “help out for awhile” three years ago, it was the first time I had been able to marry my marketing skills with my music background. Three years later, I’m still “helping out” and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Q: What do we have to look forward to in 2010?
A: Oh, my gosh – there’s so much! Our Internet presence will be much greater, our reputation will become much more widely known – enabling us to continue to increase our audiences through Jung-Ho’s creative programming and the entire organization’s focus on “connecting” with the community. Our music education programs will expand well beyond the thousands of students that are now currently involved. We are all totally dedicated to music education in the schools.
See for yourself: Check out Orchestra Nova show photos.
Discover upcoming shows and events at OrchestraNova.com.
Pictured: Beverly Lambert with Jung-Ho
