Mozart Birthday Celebration: Pianist John Orlando and Friends Ensemble San Francisco led by Rebecca Jackson-Picht
January 25 | 7:30 p.m.
John Orlando & Rebecca Jackson-Picht
John Orlando graduated Summa Cum Laude with a D.M.A in performance from the University of California. He has performed with the Cabrillo Festival and the Institute for the Development of Intercultural Relations for the Arts, and the Distinguished Artists Concert Series. Dr. Orlando has performed concertos with the Espressivo Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Sinfonietta, Cadenza Chamber Orchestra, the Todi Music Masters Festival Orchestra in Todi, Italy, and Santa Cruz and Fresno County Symphonies. Dr. Orlando has held teaching positions at USC and Santa Clara universities. He is an instructor emeritus at Cabrillo College and director of the Distinguished Artists Concert & Lecture Series, which he founded in 1985. He was one of the first recipients of the Gail Rich Award in Santa Cruz County and was chosen Best College Teacher and Performer in Santa Cruz County by the Good Times Weekly local newspaper.
Violinist Rebecca Jackson-Picht’s performances have been described as “riveting” and characterized by a “fierce spirit.” Rebecca has been a part of commissioning and premiering 12 chamber works. In 2019, she performed the San Jose and San Francisco premieres of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope [made possible by Music at Kohl Mansion and Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions]. During her five seasons as an acting member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, the company won the 2019 Grammy for Best Opera Recording for (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. Her foundational belief is that music possesses the power to heal and unite. This has propelled her career and professional outreach around the globe, having performed in marginalized communities across the U.S., Ukraine, Romania, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nepal, Costa Rica, and Lebanon.
While maintaining a regular performance schedule with groups like the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, she contemporaneously produces projects that build community through music outside the concert hall. In her most significant project to date, she serves as Artistic Director of Music in May, a chamber music festival now in its 16th season with one division dedicated to engaging incarcerated youth. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that this outreach “revives the evocative and visceral power of music that can be too often deadened in more formal concert environments.” In 2013, she co-founded Sound Impact and Ensemble San Francisco, organizations with missions tied to many of her personal core values. In 2018, Rebecca received a KSBW Jefferson Award in recognition of her volunteerism and public service. The following year, she and her father coauthored the biography of her mentor David Arben, Holocaust survivor and former associate concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
The book, ARBEN: David Arben’s Life of Miracles & Successes, by Dr. John Jackson and Rebecca Jackson, is available on Amazon and at www.davidarben.com, and their story featured on NBC News. Jackson-Picht received her Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School and a Master of Music from University of California, Santa Cruz. Ensemble San Francisco: Founded in 2013, Ensemble SF is a malleable collective of musicians dedicated to inspiring a more inclusive world through art. Beyond the traditional concert hall setting, Ensemble SF is also committed to bringing world-class music to groups throughout the Bay Area, including at schools, juvenile detention centers, community centers, hospitals, and nursing homes. In these outreach settings, ESF musicians generously donate their time to share their love of chamber music. Through new concert experiences and education of the next generation, ESF is vital in the cultural fabric of the Bay Area.