J.C. Barker
This past February, for the first time in over two years, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra welcomed audiences to a live performance at The Grand Opera House.
To say that this was overwhelming to all there is an understatement.
From the drumroll at the beginning of the “Star-Spangled Banner” through the last notes of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, damp eyes filled the house, coupled with a sense of joy and disbelief that we had come through the most difficult period for performing arts in our time.
For me, that February concert signified moving past the challenging time of quickly establishing connections and trust with many people under duress. The brilliant musicians of the orchestra, the board of directors, DSO staff and our many patrons were patient with me while we found our way through, and I am forever grateful.
But among the many relationships that I had to cultivate, one was already firmly established. It was my friend of 34 years, David Amado.
Our story goes back a long way …
In 1988, I arrived at The Juilliard School with some skill playing the clarinet but little else in the way of sophisticated musical knowledge. The school was then — as it is now — a very small place, with no more than a few hundred students.
Entering the rare air of Juilliard was an intense transition for a public school kid from the Deep South.
I met David, who at that time was studying piano, soon after I arrived at school. He was one of the real ones — one of the students that possessed a vast foundation of knowledge and skills that made me often feel like a fraud. And while many fellow students were aloof, scared, or simply too focused to be friendly and kind, David always was.
His talent was obvious, but I also remember him being incredibly funny and dry in what was often a grueling, intensely competitive environment.
More Open Call:Your next art adventure is waiting for you
Living history:Open Call: Breathing life into the past at Odessa
David and I left school and went in different directions. He continued his piano studies and then began his transition into conducting. I began to perform recitals and chamber music, take auditions, work as an orchestral musician, and ultimately move into administrative roles.
Years later, we reunited when he served as a guest conductor with the orchestra where I worked, and we’ve been in constant contact since. At various times, we’d have hoped to work together, but it wasn’t until he called me on a Sunday afternoon in September 2019 about the position here that we were able to make it happen.
David’s kindness to me as I began my new position with the DSO was exactly as it had been many years ago at Juilliard.
His resolve to continue making music under the most trying circumstances was often exhausting, but it was always correct. I won’t rehash these difficult two years, but David’s musical standards never wavered. Even during the most horrible times, as we tried to make music through Plexiglas walls (!), he kept me laughing at the absurdity of it all.
David’s determination and sheer brilliance have guided the DSO through the accolades and obstacles for the past two decades, but these last two years have been extraordinary.
The 2022-2023 season marks David’s 20th anniversary with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and I am honored and grateful that I am here with him for this special celebratory season.
Next year will feature the work that David and I have done to bring a new level of excitement and collaborative spirit to the DSO. Our 116th season will welcome a stunning cast of guest artists, including pianist Michelle Cann performing Florence Price; a world premiere by Jennifer Higdon; an exciting concert of iconic film scores; and throughout the year, works by Rachmaninoff, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Mozart.
We will finish David’s celebratory season in the grandest style — a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
We’re also looking forward to new collaborations with the Wilmington Children’s Chorus, Delaware Shakespeare and the Delaware Art Museum, and are also pleased to announce that we will return downstate with concerts in Sussex County at Cape Henlopen High School in September and March.
We’re thrilled to look ahead to next season – our first full season in three years — where we’ll honor and celebrate our brilliant maestro in his milestone year — my friend, David Amado.
We hope to see you at the party!
J.C. Barker is executive director of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.
Open Call is a weekly column that offers Delaware’s arts and culture organizations an opportunity to share their vision, challenges and upcoming programming with our readers. Groups interested in participating can email Features Editor Tammy Paolino at tpaolino@gannett.com
