“Looking back over my development as a musician, my summer at National Repertory Orchestra in 1992 was pivotal in helping me make the leap from student to professional musician. It was amazing playing with such a consistently high caliber ensemble and being immersed in the standards of the symphonic repertoire. I also made very good friends during that summer and it is always a pleasure to run into them in professional settings around the US at summer festivals,” says Jerome Simas (NRO alumnus).
His career since then has been quite varied from teaching music in public schools to freelancing with the Bay Area’s wonderful regional orchestras to university and conservatory teaching to winning tenure with the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) as bass and utility clarinet. He is also teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory and San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and is active in the San Francisco new music scene as solo clarinetist with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.
Mr. Simas shares, “A rewarding aspect of my work at the SFS has been working as a mentor in their adult education program, Community of Music Makers, in which we offer coaching and concert experiences to adult amateur musicians onstage at Davies Symphony Hall. This is a program I believe very strongly in and I think I get as much out of it as the participants.”
Read more about Jerome Simas HERE