Violinist Simone Lamsma began her tenure as the Oregon Symphony’s Artist-in-Residence in September 2021. Throughout her three-year residency, Simone has returned annually to perform with the Oregon Symphony and serve as Oregon Symphony's ambassador-at-large—a role that allows Simone to engage with local Oregon residents and facilitate long-lasting relationships with our community and schools.
This 2023-2024 season, Simone had the opportunity to present, perform, and engage with schools and community members all over Oregon.
Simone started her week visiting chamber orchestra students at Clackamas High School, where she performed a short recital along with a Q&A for the students. The students were interested to hear about everything from technical suggestions to what it’s like traveling the world as a violin soloist.
Onto the next engagement, Simone visited the Lake Oswego Adult Community Center’s Caregiver Respite Dementia-Friendly program. This visit was accompanied by music therapist Maggie Johnson, of Earthtones Northwest Music Therapy. This audience loved hearing Simone’s performance, especially the opportunity to conduct while she played. One listener was thrilled to hear her performance of Fritz Kreisler’s “Liebesleid,” which he said used to play on the radio when he was stationed overseas, but he never knew what the song was called. Moments like that made for a very special and moving visit.
Simone again worked in conjunction with Earthtones Northwest Music Therapy to visit the Haven Center of Oregon Developmental Disabilities Day Center. The group loved moving to the music with scarves and had many questions about the music and Simone’s life as a violinist.
Students in the advanced orchestra at West Salem High School were awed by Simone’s solo violin performance, which included some student favorites such as Ysayë's “Ballade.” The students were thrilled to have the opportunity to ask Simone about her career and travels, and Simone was happy to listen to the orchestra perform a few pieces and provide feedback. Many of these students were also excited to attend Simone’s performance of the Bruch Violin Concerto with the Oregon Symphony in Salem that week.
Residents at Mirabella Portland senior living community enjoyed a recital of classic violin solo favorites, which was also livestreamed to residents’ rooms.
For Simone’s final Artist-in-Residence activity, she taught a violin masterclass to four advanced high school violinists from Portland and Salem. The students performed pieces by Sibelius, Wieniawski, and Mozart, and received feedback and suggestions from Simone for how to improve their technique and performance.