their craft. Quartuccio estimates that his
musicians dedicate a minimum of fifty
hours of individual time and practice
for each concert. For each performance
they have eight formal rehearsals, seven
of which he leads, and one of which is
conducted by a professional coach or
music director, thanks to board support.
Skill levels may vary, but it’s working
together that matters most. “Playing in an
ensemble is a team sport in which you
have to know your position,” he said,
adding that interested parties can come
and observe or play in a rehearsal and the
orchestra judges it “on a case by case basis.”
“We don’t have any rank beginners.
If a person has not played in an
orchestra at all, this is probably not
the best place to start.”
The Symphony’s musicians range in
ages from those in their teens to others
in their eighties. Quartuccio is especially
proud of how well they work together.
“My job is to provide a forum for
them to flourish as team members
working toward the same goal, regardless
of experience or age.”
While the musicians make the
sounds, it is the job of the music
director/conductor to ensure a unity
and consistency of that sound.
Quartuccio trained in conducting
at the prestigious Curtis Institute in
Philadelphia—where famed conduc-
tor Leonard Bernstein attended—then
continued his studies in other parts of
the U.S. and Europe. He conducted
opera at Opera San José for fifteen years,
and works as an associate conductor for
the San José Chamber Orchestra as well
as the Nova Vista Symphony.
You might say that a symphony
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
FALL/HOLIDAY 2019
is only as good as its conductor, but
Quartuccio dismisses the myth that
conducting means being able to hear
everything all the time.
“That isn’t humanly possible,” he
said, explaining that a conductor must
be able “to selectively hear anything at
any given moment.”
From there, the conductor must
be able to know the musical score so
intimately as to be able to isolate specific
things as needed, and then respond to
the musicians to let the vision for the
score come alive.
“One person has to have a unifying
vision of a score,” Quartuccio said. “A
lot of it is diplomacy and understanding
the instruments and people’s abilities,
but most of it is knowing the score. The
goal is to help them play better than they
thought they could.”
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