Walnut Creek Tutors

About Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek is the home of the “California Symphony Orchestra” founded by Barry Jekowsky in 1986. The California Symphony is well known for always playing a piece by an American composer in every one of their performances.

The California Symphony actively engages with the Walnut Creek population and performs multiple concerts throughout the year. They hold their performances predominantly at the “Lesher Center for the Arts”, and in more recent years have expanded their performance locations to include nearby Napa, Oakland and Concord.

The “California Symphony” concerts quickly sell out as there is limited space in the “Lesher Center for the Arts” (less than a third of a typical auditorium) and they receive great support from the community. They recommend purchasing tickets as soon as possible, as not only do seats become more limited, the prices of tickets also increase as the performance date approaches. The “California Symphony” says that they do not offer last minute discount tickets to fill up seats. If for some reason there are seats available days before the performance, they maintain the ticket prices so not to undercut the other patrons who purchased tickets at the full price. They do however offer discounts if you buy tickets for multiple performances, and they encourage students to attend and develop a love for classical music, offering highly discounted tickets so that they may attend. If a pianist is performing solo, Walnut Creek tutors recommend sitting towards the left of the auditorium so that you can see the pianists fingers move across the piano keys.

Unlike the Royal Symphony Orchestra for example attending The California Symphony is a more relaxed affair. They do not want to alienate guests from enjoying the music because they feel intimidated or have to dress up to attend their events. They actively encourage their patrons to come dressed however they feel comfortable. They also have relaxed rules on alcohol consumption during the performance. Traditionally drinks are only served at intermission, but here you are allowed to take your drink back into the theater with you and take your time to enjoy it during the performance.

Prior to each performance there is an opportunity to educate yourself about the pieces that you are about to hear. Open to all ticket holders of the event, and popular with Walnut Creek tutors, a talk is held by the Music Director that begins an hour before the performance starts, and lasts for approximately 30 minutes. During this talk the “Maestro” will explain many things, including perhaps the theme of the night, the reason certain pieces were selected, notable performers, things to listen out for specifically, and often information about the composer. As they always play an American composer during the concert information will be provided about whom this is and their background as well.