Coronado Philharmonia Orchestra String Quintet Concert

********UPDATE: This concert is full. A few waitlist seats may remain. At 12:55, vacant seats will be given to those on the waitlist, in order of where they appear on the waitlist.  **************

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The newly established Coronado Philharmonia String Quintet will debut its first concert in the Winn Room of the Coronado Library on Friday, November 17, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. Even though the name might be new, the quintet’s musicians have known each other and played together for many years in San Diego.

Registration is required for this event. Please register each member of your party separately by clicking the 'add another' button. Requesting additional seats in the comments does not reserve a seat.  Walk-ins will be accommodated on a space-available basis only. 

First violinist Ondrei Lewitt was born in Prague, where he started to study the violin at the age of seven at the Elementary School of Music, and he later continued at the State Conservatory of Music. He obtained his MA degree from the Academy of Performing Arts. As a member of Camerata Pragensis, Camerata Nova, concertmaster of J. Suk’s Chamber Orchestra and especially as a first violin of Cuartetto Cassoviae, he played in many countries on the European continent and made many recordings for Czechoslovak Radio and Television, Italian RAI and recording companies like Supraphon, Opus and Edigsa.

Second violinist Jorge Soto studied at the University of Redlands in violin performance. He’s very active in the musical scene in the San Diego-Tijuana area, and he has performed with great artists including Michael Buble, Smokey Robinson, Luciano Pavarotti, and Diana Krall. He has played in prestigious halls like Lincoln Center in New York and the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. He opened the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico, and served as concertmaster for the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra & Master Chorale, Orquesta de Baja California in Tijuana, and the Opera de Tijuana.

Violist Paula Simmons received her bachelor’s degree in secondary music education and her master’s degree in viola performance from Florida State University.  Since moving to California after graduate school, she has performed with various orchestras and chamber groups throughout San Diego County, and she recently retired as co-owner of a violin shop. She continues to play chamber music and keeps a small teaching studio

Cellist Gordon Grubs is principal cellist of the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra & Master Chorale and cellist with Quartetto Sorrento and Trio Encore. He is a cello instructor at Grossmont College, and the cello section coach for The North Coast Strings – an adult education project of The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA. He also maintains a private studio of adult students.

Geoff Willis began studying the double bass with local jazz bassist Rob Thorsen, continued his studies with Adam Linz at Macalester College (Saint Paul, MN), and then completed a master’s degree in double bass performance at San Diego State University under the instruction of San Diego Symphony principal bassist Jeremy Kurtz-Harris.