SAMOSO Woodwind Quintet | Elemental Strings






Elemental Strings

The Symphony is proud to be official partners with Elemental Strings, a youth orchestra for Santa Monica’s fourth and fifth grade students. The partnership represents both organizations’ commitment to promoting the enjoyment of music throughout our community.

Founded in 2004 as a small orchestra for Santa Monica elementary schoolers, Elemental Strings has worked with over 275 young musicians in the past seven seasons. The program now boasts two separate orchestras, Sinfonia and Chamber, and a teaching staff that includes educators and professional musicians from throughout the Los Angeles Area. Students rehearse weekly at John Adams Middle School and enjoy many music-related opportunities, including concert visits, field trips, and free weekly lessons with program alumni.

Elemental Strings’ orchestras have entertained the Symphony’s audiences before numerous concerts in past years. “We’ve been thrilled to be invited to open for the Santa Monica Symphony,” said Elemental Strings Executive and Artistic Director Josephine Liu Moerschel. “I hope that by bringing our students to the concerts, we can also help the Symphony grow their audience base.”

For more information on Elemental Strings’ programs, visit their official website at www.elementalstrings.com.

Elemental Strings youth orchestra performing in the Civic Auditorium before a 2010 Symphony concert



Founded in 1998, Vista Winds, which also performs in the schools as the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra (SAMOSO) Woodwind Quintet and Golden State Pops Orchestra Woodwind Quintet, provides live music programs to schools, local churches, and neighborhood organizations. “We are most fortunate to have the SAMOSO Quintet as the educational arm of the orchestra. They do the community and symphony a tremendous service,” says Santa Monica Symphony Maestro Allen Robert Gross. Last season, the group performed "Music From Around the World" for students at Franklin Elementary, Will Rogers Elementary, St. Anne, John Muir, Santa Monica Alternative School House, Venice Lutheran School and Grant Elementary This season, they will perform "Music From Around the World" at schools in the San Pedro school district and "Classical Music in the Movies and on TV" in the Santa Monica school district. Past school programs include the Nielsen Quintet for Wind Quintet, selections from Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Peter and the Wolf, and Carnival of the Animals. The quintet’s mission is to introduce young audiences to wind music and to present a wide variety of chamber music for the enjoyment of all audiences. The quintet achieves this goal by incorporating instructive talks into all of its performances to enhance the educational experience for younger audiences and also to introduce new or unfamiliar music to adults.

Quintet members Emily Senchuk (flute), Dana Sundene (oboe), Lisa Kohorn (clarinet), Emily Reppun (horn) and Anthony Parnther (bassoon) perform with the Santa Monica Symphony, Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO) and various other Southern California orchestras. Along with the school programs, the quintet regularly performs chamber concerts with GSPO for it small ensemble series at the Warner Grand Annex. The Quintet has also performed at the South Bay Symposium, the Santa Monica Festival, the Miles Playhouse Theatre and many other churches and halls. This season, their GSPO Small Ensemble program includes Maslanka Quintet no 3 and Reicha Quintet No2 in Eb major, op 88, 2. Quintet members will also play in mixed chamber pieces, including Francaix Octet and Gabriela Lena Frank's Inkarri: Escaramuza.

In addition to standard quintet literature, Vista Winds is dedicated to introducing new works by living composers. Recent premieres include "Storytelling" by film composer Austin Wintory and "Three Psyanky" by film composer Peter Senchuk. In the fall, Vista Winds will premier a woodwind quintet composed for it by Golden State Pops Orchestra conductor Steve Fox. Members of Vista Winds will also premier a new composition by film composer Austin Wintory in the spring. For additional information please contact Lisa Kohorn at 310.941.0447 or samoso@smsymphony.org


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