International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), Philadelphia, PA (2026)

06/13/2026

Emeritus Principal Bassoon Bob Cochran of our featured orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, had some wonderful memories to share from his long career with the orchestra. He also had some sage pieces of advice for young musicians and taking care of their health!

•What is the biggest change you've seen in your orchestra over the course of your career?
People coming into the orchestra now are so more advanced than they were when I was in the orchestra from a technical standpoint. People coming out of schools and and conservatories seem to be much better prepared for an orchestral musician's life.

•What is your favorite piece or a piece you would have loved to play?
This is a tough one. I finally decided on Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. As a bassoonist, how can you not like that piece? I've played it several times.

•What is it like to experience your orchestra from the audience perspective?
As I sit and listen to the orchestra, most of the pieces are ones that I played or that I know, and that's quite a bit different than the average orchestra audience. So I'm listening to things that a person sitting beside me may not hear, whether it's a section of the orchestra or whatever that may be. And particularly from a conducting standpoint, different conductors interpret things differently.

•Knowing what you know now, what’s something you would have told yourself in the early stages of your career?
I would have told myself to take better care of my health. My hearing, my posture. Whether musicians want to admit it or not, they will have or already have hearing loss. And when I sat in front of trumpets for 40 years, that doesn't help. It's just one of those things that musicians don't think about early on.

📸: Columbus Symphony

06/09/2026

This week's featured orchestra has been around since the early 1950s and is soon to celebrate a big anniversary and they are the Columbus Symphony Orchestra!

Founded in 1951, the Columbus Symphony (CSO) has grown into one of Central Ohio's most important cultural institutions, presenting hundreds of concerts each year and playing a central role in the cultural life of the region. The CSO will launch its 75th anniversary season in 2026-27, celebrating 75 years of world-class artistry, meaningful collaboration, and a commitment to community. A centerpiece of the season will be the orchestra’s return to Carnegie Hall for the first time in 25 years, bringing a program that showcases the CSO’s commitment to contemporary voices alongside the great symphonic tradition. The October 28 Carnegie Hall program, under the leadership of Music Director Rossen Milanov, will feature the world premiere of the CSO-commissioned The Mysteries by Gregory Spears, as well as Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and acclaimed bass-baritone Davóne Tines performing his Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM.

We're thrilled for all the exciting things coming their way and encourage you all to see them either in Columbus, or New York at Carnegie Hall!

📸: Vivere Visuals

06/06/2026

Emeritus Principal Second Violin Virginia Price began her career with our featured orchestra, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, in 1976 and was witness to truly amazing growth in the organization. She shared some of those experiences, as well as advice in hindsight after a long, successful career.

- What is the biggest change you've seen in your orchestra over the course of your career?
When I first joined San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 1976 it was a seventeen week marathon from mid-August until mid-December. The General Director and a small musical staff had complete control of auditions and tenure. My audition had been announced fourteen days in advance with, "Bring a solo and be prepared to sight read." I played my first season and assumed I had won a position. However when the following summer rolled around, the personnel manager informed me that there was going to be another audition for my seat. You could only be considered for tenure after playing two consecutive seasons. The reason, I found out, was that the General Director liked to see if a better candidate might show up. I decided not to audition again and returned temporarily to the East Coast.

On the night before the first rehearsal of the season the personnel manager re-engaged me. The position paid well but it was per-service. In 1980 the San Francisco Symphony had a new hall and the Opera Orchestra had a lot of openings since we had shared players. It took time to shape our new orchestra. The biggest change was that we negotiated an Annual Compensation Guarantee, which unified us as an entity and gave us income security. Over time our season expanded to include a summer season, giving us 26 weeks with four weeks of paid vacation, personal days, a negotiating committee, orchestra committee, tenure review committee and guaranteed days off during the week.

- What is your favorite piece or a piece you would have loved to play?
I love the opera repertoire so picking one favorite is daunting. Italian operas were my immediate favorite in the beginning. I vividly recall Tosca, Aida and La Bohème the first time I performed them. They are so dramatic and lyrical. Also, I performed with all three of the great “Three Tenors” during my first two seasons! I recall seeing men in the first row of the audience, handkerchiefs out and weeping. It seemed to me that people went to the opera to feel something.

But, if I had to pick one piece out as my favorite to perform it would be Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Yes, it’s very long. There are four operas and the total playing time is somewhere around nineteen hours. To me the length seems necessary to tell the tale, set the mood, allowing for great swaths of uninterrupted orchestral interludes and introductions to the huge number of characters. I always felt like I had earned the reward of the final glorious scene. It never gets old.

- What is it like to experience your orchestra from the audience perspective?

In 2018 I was already retired when I decided to see The Ring from the audience. San Francisco Opera was doing the cycle that summer. What I learned that I hadn’t expected was there is audience energy. As the cycle progressed so did the audience anticipation. We had enough time sitting together to start talking about the story we were witnessing. It was electric. It put into perspective how we as musicians are so self critical of every tiny perceived mishap. Seeing my former colleagues afterwards I gushed praises for how glorious it was. I think they didn’t believe me.

- Knowing what you know now, what’s something you would have told yourself in the early stages of your career?
To my younger self I would emphasize the importance of staying engaged in orchestra activities. Be on a committee, go to ICSOM, do whatever you can to contribute. If nothing else it will make you grateful for the colleagues who always seem to be serving.
Learn how to resolve problems, personal or musical. You will probably be with this group for a very long time and unresolved issues make it hard to work together in a productive manner.
Be aware of what repetitive stress can do to your body. If something hurts, find out why sooner rather than later and address it.
Finally, I would advise my younger self to leave for work earlier.

📸: Virginia Price

06/02/2026

Our featured orchestra of the week just began their season and they are the musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra!

They reconvened in May to launch the 2026 summer opera season, and performed a free concert at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for the third year in a row. These community concerts, called “Harmonic Interludes,” are organized entirely by members of the orchestra and the audience has grown with each iteration of the annual event. The performance was conducted by Robert Mollicone and featured Jesslyn Thomas, a member of the SF Opera Chorus.

At this year’s Harmonic Interlude, they partnered with By the Bay, a local independent nonprofit hospice provider. The musicians have volunteered their time to visit hospice locations and perform for patients and the concert provided an opportunity to raise awareness and support for the organization.

The summer opera season includes runs of Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Richard Strauss’ dark masterpiece, Elektra. They will also perform a second annual Pride Concert on stage at the War Memorial to wrap up Pride month at the end of June. They are entering negotiations with their contract expiring later in the summer.

In addition, the orchestra and Music Director Eun Sun Kim are preparing for Wagner's Ring Cycle in 2028. This summer they will present excerpts from of all four Ring operas to donors, as well as presenting a stand alone run of Das Rheingold next year. There are many newer members of the orchestra for whom this will be the first Ring, an exciting rite of passage!

An entire Ring Cycle is uncommon, so put it in your calendars to see them in 2028! We know it will be an incredible production by this accomplished group of musicians.

📸: Jose Gonzalez Granero (all photos)

05/29/2026

This week, our emeritus spotlight shines on Theresa Langdon, who joined the Indianapolis Symphony in 1979 under John Nelson and held the position of Associate Principal Viola of Indianapolis Symphony until 2002 when she elected to move into the viola section. She has always been an active chamber musician and educator in the arts community of Indianapolis, and she performs regularly at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Manchester (IN) Symphony Orchestra and at various churches throughout the city. In the summers, Theresa also participates in the Endless Mountain Music Festival in Mansfield, Pennsylvania and Corning, New York. Teaching affiliations include her home studio, the Quattro String Academy, and the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra. She served on the faculty of the MasterWorks Festival for fifteen years. Her students, mostly high school-aged, have gone on to be music majors or to continue playing as non-majors at excellent colleges and universities. She is a past president of Indianapolis Matinee Musicale. Theresa Langdon holds music performance degrees from Indiana University and Yale University.

- What is the biggest change you've seen in your orchestra over the course of your
career?
I joined the orchestra in 1979 and in the first several years of my tenure witnessed the commencement of several artistic endeavors which have helped to establish the reputation of the Indianapolis Symphony. We were in the process of moving into our new home at Hilbert Circle Theatre, which was an old movie palace that we renovated to fit our needs. Indianapolis Power & Light owned the building and actually sold it to us for $1! The Indianapolis Violin Competition began its inaugural season in 1982, and I have played every single competition since then. Our Yuletide celebration had its first performance in 1986. This was the first show of its kind and it was a huge risk that paid off - since then it has become an important tradition to
the people of Indianapolis. There are now thirty performances every December! We have been lucky to have premium quality conductors for Pops during my time at ISO. Erich Kunzel began our Pops Series in 1982, and was succeeded by Jack Everly and Enrico Lopez~Yañez. That same year, we began our Symphony on the Prairie residency at Connor Prairie, which is our outdoor summer season. I was lucky to be there for the inception of all these programs which have become integral to the identity of the orchestra.

John Nelson, who hired me in ‘79, was a notable music director in that he was American and also quite young compared to other conductors. He was a strong proponent of American repertoire and American guest conductors and soloists. His programming was dramatic and had great audience appeal. He would fill programs so densely with music that performances were executed at breakneck speed just so we wouldn’t go into overtime! I played with ISO with three more Music Directors, Raymond Leppard, Mario Venzago and Krzysztof Ubanski, all of whom had unique specialties and talents that they brought to our orchestra. Through my tenure, I have witnessed the personnel grow and change. It has been a pleasure to see the orchestra develop a very professional and respectful working environment where the standard is held high and music making is the most important part of the job.

- What is it like to experience your orchestra from the audience perspective?
I worked with Jun Märkl many times over the years before he became Music Director and have always appreciated both his clear baton technique and his collaborative spirit with the musicians. Now having transitioned into the audience in the last couple of seasons, it has been a joy to hear Jun bring out the orchestra’s many beautiful sound colors. I really enjoy experiencing this great repertoire from a new perspective and being able to appreciate my colleagues’ talents.

I am not surprised that we have such a talented pool of newcomers to the orchestra, since orchestral auditioning has become a prominent focus for training young classical musicians. It used to be that most of my classmates wanted to become soloists and usually held orchestra auditions as a Plan B! These days, auditions have become the sole focus of many of the conservatory students. That being said, the audition process since I joined the orchestra hasn’t changed much. Decades ago, the ISO began holding all auditions behind a screen through the final round. However, even before that we had a procedure in place to ensure that the audition
was fair and the hire merit-based.

- What is your favorite piece or a piece you would have loved to play?
I have always loved performing Brahms’ First Symphony. I believe that Brahms achieves the quintessential sound of the full orchestra, orchestrating the instruments in the most brilliant way. The richness of the harmonies, combined with the colors Brahms creates and the long, beautiful phrases makes this piece irresistible. And of course, it has a great viola part. Additionally, it makes great use of the contrabassoon!

- Knowing what you know now, what’s something you would have told yourself in the
early stages of your career?
My first thought is pretty logistical: When I began my career with Indianapolis, I was hired for Assistant Principal Viola (third chair). I won Associate Principal (second chair) shortly thereafter. I was in for a rude awakening! Sitting on the inside is much more physically demanding because the angle to the music stand is more awkward. Looking back, third chair was the best spot and I would have never moved up!

I very much appreciate the power and dedication of the Indianapolis Symphony’s audience. The city of Indianapolis has always cared so deeply about the symphony and showed up for us when we truly needed them, and I feel very touched by that. Sitting in the audience recently has reminded me of their fascination and love for the symphonic repertoire. I can sense their anticipation and the deep enrichment they feel when they see the orchestra perform and I am so glad to be a part of that audience now.

📸: Katherine Langdon

05/26/2026

This week in Indianapolis, the musicians of the Indianapolis Symphony have lots of news to share as they wrap up their indoor season while navigating some pivotal changes.

Jun Märkl just finished his second season as Music Director and has already hired twenty-two musicians, including five Principals. CEO James Johnson will depart in June, with Jonathan Martin stepping in as interim COO. They hope to emerge in a stronger position both to provide for the future of the organization and to serve their community.

Concert attendance has grown in the past few seasons, but they have not reached pre-pandemic numbers. Their Pops series is specifically undergoing some changes as they welcomed Enrico Lopez-Yañez as Principal Guest Pops Conductor in the 2024-25 season (Jack Everly remains Principal Pops Conductor) and they are eager to see how Enrico’s programming and arrangement resonates with their audiences.

The Indianapolis Symphony musicians are in a unique position right now. They have an abundance of new talent, a strong relationship with their Music Director, a new leader in management and are located in a metropolitan area that is one of the fastest-growing in the Midwest. They hope this intersection opportunity will bring sustainability and growth in the future.

We hope this for them too and are backing them all the way. If you find yourself in Indianapolis, you can help increase attendance by catching a concert and being one of those audience members!

📸: Indianapolis Symphony

05/22/2026

Former Associate Principal Bassoon of the Boston Symphony, Richard Ranti, is our featured emeritus musician this week. Hear what he has to say about his long career with the BSO and beyond!

- What is the biggest change you've seen in your orchestra over the course of your career?
My career started in the late 80s in the Philadelphia Orchestra, then I shifted to the Boston Symphony a few years later. Those were bustling times. Every seat in the Academy of Music was sold out before the season started. We recorded every week in what was a final ten-year flourish as we digitally re-recorded the oft-recorded great repertoire, and the Boston Pops was still riding a wave of TV, John Williams, and excited audiences. Over the next 50 years, there has been a slow and steady attenuation. Good music education is not a given, the media market is fractured and impossible to monetize, attention spans are short, and the world bombards us with hyperstimulation. It’s harder for classical musicians to make their way in this “attention economy." But it is very wrong to apologize for bringing to life the greatest artistic achievements humankind has produced. Great is great; all people can recognize that. They just need to quiet the noise in their heads, get in our seats, and listen. When they do this, they are transported. In an increasingly artificial and ugly world, great musicians have a vital role to keep something real, powerful, great, and beautiful alive. The selling of us seems obvious. To all managements and boards: say it loud, say it proud. If you don’t believe in great music, get another gig.

- What is your favorite piece or a piece you would have loved to play?
Mozart Piano Concerti were my life-blood as an associate bassoonist. Love the music, love the collaboration with great pianists, and loved my parts!

- What is it like to experience your orchestra from the audience perspective?
The BSO is thrilling on stage and from the audience! I love the artistry, the expressiveness, the dedication, the expertise. I know very well how hard everyone is working - how much it means to them, how much they love the music and their jobs, and I am so very grateful for it because their efforts blow me away. I am moved and in awe. I am also grateful to just sit back and enjoy the performances without the distraction of trying to do what they are doing!

- Knowing what you know now, what’s something you would have told yourself in the early stages of your career?
I wouldn’t have listened to me. I was laser-focused on getting my instrument to say what I wanted to say, come hell or high water. After I became a seasoned musician, I struggled a bit with the restrictions in my life. I love learning, and I regret a little bit my narrow Curtis education (although I am also grateful for it, and it suited what I wanted at the time). I would have liked to have been an astrophysicist, a doctor, to have been a great cellist, pianist, and tenor, to have read every great book, and to have had much more time giving back to the community. Retirement allows me to whittle away at the last two items on that list, and it is very gratifying. I am thankful for my career and thankful I could step away with a decent pension and good health.

📸: Rebecca Gitter

05/19/2026

We are pleased to feature our wonderful colleagues of the Boston Symphony Orchestra this week, where they are working hard to improve their relationship with management and their board.

They are currently in contract negotiations and this is happening amidst a backdrop of turmoil since the announcement on March 6 that the Board of Trustees had terminated BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons' "evergreen" contract. Shortly prior to this controversial announcement, three other artistic leadership vacancies arose: VP of Artistic Planning, Director of Artistic Planning for the Boston Pops, and Conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The post of Principal Guest Conductor remains unfilled for many years. Of six artistic leadership positions only Conductor of Pops remains filled. Negotiations center around proposals prioritizing the musicians’ stake in artistic decision-making.

Since March, the members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra have been wearing red flowers during performances as a visible symbol of orchestra unity. This visual show of solidarity represents the BSO Musicians' commitment to maintaining the highest level of artistry for their audiences, and support for the Players Committee as it negotiates a fair contract which advocates for a stronger artistic voice in the artistic future of the orchestra.

We wish them all the best in their pursuits!

📸: Winslow Townson

05/15/2026

From our esteemed featured orchestra's cello section is Robert Hausmann, who spent 43 years with the Buffalo Philharmonic! Recently retired, we asked what it has been like to go from a full-time orchestral career, to this new pace of life as a musician.

•What's the biggest change you've experienced since retirement?
"Are you still playing the cello?" This is a frequent question when I tell others I have retired from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The inquiry stings a bit. Perhaps a mail carrier may not walk their route after retirement, but to quote Pablo Casals on why he continued to practice hours a day, he said, “because I think I’m improving.”

I feel fortunate that my passion for the cello has only grown throughout my 43 years with the BPO.

•What is your favorite piece or a piece you would have loved to play?
I capped off my orchestra career by performing Ernest Bloch’s Prayer with the BPO last July—what a thrill to perform for family and so many friends in our devoted BPO community.

•What is it like to experience orchestral music from the audience perspective?
I do miss my cello family. As we all know, we often spend more time with our fellow musicians than almost anyone else. I recently moved to Boulder, Colorado, this past January to enjoy hiking, skiing, and biking with family, and I have very much enjoyed attending concerts of the Colorado Symphony. As much as I enjoy listening from the audience, I find myself wishing at times to be on stage again—especially for works like Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

•Knowing what you know now, what’s something you would have told yourself to expect throughout your career?

Still, this new chapter is only a few months old. In June, I will perform a cello duo recital with a new cellist friend in Boulder. I continue to love practicing, and over the years I have developed a deep passion for performing works by Jewish composers—a repertoire rich with pieces that deserve to be heard.

I’m eager to discover what opportunities lie ahead.

📸: Sean Kirst

05/12/2026

Our featured orchestra of the week are our esteemed colleagues of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and they are currently moving through a landmark year, balancing a powerful conclusion to its 2025–2026 season.

Under the direction of JoAnn Falletta, the BPO continues to serve as Western New York’s cultural anchor, blending professional artistry with deep community integration through its education programs. Looking ahead to the 2026–2027 season, the BPO will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States with programs that feature American composers.

Of note, the organization is entering a pivotal transition period. After years of leadership and stability, Executive Director Daniel Hart has announced his departure effective December 31, 2026. Hart’s tenure saw the tripling of youth concert attendance and the orchestra’s first international European tour in decades. Jennifer Barbee will step in as interim Executive Director in September 2026, ensuring the BPO’s momentum remains steady during the search for permanent leadership. The musicians will also be entering into their final year of the current contract and are optimistic that a fair new contract can be easily reached alongside finding a new executive director.

We wish them all the best in their Executive Director search, and look forward to all the wonderful things they will continue to do for their community!

📸: Enid Bloch

International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM)

06/13/2026

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