It was such fun to play with the Victoria Symphony orchestra this weekend. I am not certain how I made it on to the sub list but I am grateful for the opportunity. This is not a group of musicians that I have played with before and I was delighted to note that there were people I knew. It’s always great to see familiar and friendly faces in an unfamiliar setting.

The orchestra is celebrating its 50th year anniversary. They have a wonderful lineup of artists to help celebrate. I happened to be hired for the weekend that Tina Guo was playing. I had heard of her before and watched one of her videos about pedals but this an even better experience. She played the first movement of the Haydn Cello Concerto in C and a smattering of other works from films such as Kung Fu Panda and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She also played a work written while she was still in undergrad at USC. The work is a video game composition for a game called Journey. I am not a fan of video games—they always give me a terrible headache if I play them too long. However the music was lovey and the tune that Tina and the composer Austin Wintory wrote together is beautiful. I think I simply need to get accustomed to the idea that video game music is a new genre!

The cello section got took a mid-concert celfie and I got one with Tina too.

So glad to have played with this kind and generous group of musicians. I made some new cello friends and even reconnected with a cellist from my high school years! I hope they call me again.

I got to play in the Victoria Symphony!