The Conjeo Valley is home to a one-of-a-kind orchestra, in which professional musicians help the next generation of performers.
The Thousand Oaks Philharmonic wants to entertain audiences with classical music. But it was founded nearly three decades ago with a much different mission: To allow aspiring young musicians to learn from and perform with professional musicians.
"It's an orchestra that's specifically designed to provide performance opportunities for very talented youngsters to play with a live, professional orchestra in front of a live audience," said Al Baker, President of the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic.
"For the kids, this is really an opportunity of a lifetime. They're playing concertos," said Baker. "It just blows my socks off every time I hear it. The kids are so talented. This is our 26th year. We're on Opus 71, so we've done 71 concerts over those 26 years."
The orchestra was founded by a music teacher nearly three decades ago.
"This orchestra was started by a very close friend of mine, who has since passed away, Edward Francis. He started this to support his students who were going away to major competitions, and had to perform concertos with an orchestra, but they had never had that experience," said Julia Heinen. "His whole goal was to serve his students."
Diane Rammon is a violinist and the orchestra’s concertmaster. She’s one of the Philharmonic’s original members and is retiring at the end of this season.
"It's an honor. Many of our musicians have become professional musicians and have gone on to places like Juilliard," said Rammon. The Juilliard School is considered to be one of the world's top performing arts schools.
"I think I'm very fortunate to be able to play with these people," said Andrew Huang, one of the seven students learning from and performing with the Philharmonic this weekend. "It's very rare, and I think it's going to allow me to be expressive and show what I can do."
Even though this is just a rehearsal, the 12-year-old is dressed for a performance. The Thousand Oaks seventh grader looks snappy in a tux. Is playing with a professional orchestra a bit intimidating?
"I think I'm definitely a little nervous, but I'm also kind of excited," Huang confirmed.
Some of the Philharmonic’s three dozen members are music teachers. Some play with other orchestras. And, a number of them also work as studio musicians. Caroline Osborn is a violinist who says she finds herself reinvigorated working with the kids.
"They are so open to learning," said Osborn. "They're so prepared. But, they're also so 'wowed' by the experience. The orchestra sound behind them is a very powerful experience for them."
The Thousand Oaks Philharmonic performs three weekends a year. This weekend, it will feature its Opus 71 with shows at 7:30 p.m. Friday (April 10) and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. It features seven young musicians performing works by Chopin, Mozart, Liszt, Brahms, and other composers.
The performances are at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks. The Philharmonic relies on grants and donations to pay the professional musicians.
