{"id":237880,"date":"2015-08-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-07T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-conversation-with-sameer-patel\/"},"modified":"2015-08-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T07:00:00","slug":"a-conversation-with-sameer-patel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-conversation-with-sameer-patel\/","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with Sameer Patel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u2018finest city\u2019 welcomes a humble conductor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Margie M. Palmer<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of the arts, you\u2019ve likely heard the San Diego Symphony has announced the appointment of Sameer Patel as its new assistant conductor; if you were lucky enough to experience the symphony\u2019s surprise concert this year at Comic-Con, you would have experienced his premier performance.<\/p>\n

\"SameerPatel04_Arielle<\/a>
Sameer Patel (Photo by Arielle Doneson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a recent interview, Noticias del centro de San Diego<\/em> discovered the man behind the baton is as humble as he is sincere and that his passion for music is part of his lifeblood.<\/p>\n

Patel, a Michigan native, said his love of music began early on; he was quite privileged to have music lessons be part of his youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents saw playing an instrument as being important, which is why they enrolled me in piano lessons and playing in the band at school,\u201d Patel said. \u201cI\u2019m very lucky, because I had really excellent teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until he got to high school that he realized he wanted to actually pursue a career in music. That\u2019s when he realized he had a passion for conducting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was drawn to the leadership aspect of it,\u201d he said. \u201cI had a great band director in high school who had this way of inspiring all the students; I could tell from his work that so much of his time was spent in preparation. That\u2019s what fascinated me \u2014what goes on before rehearsal starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patel also pointed out that there was plenty of music he hadn\u2019t been exposed to, which often happens when someone grows up in a small town. That teacher, he said, is the one who first exposed him to the world of classical music.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really nurtured my interest,\u201d Patel said. \u201cHe let me borrow recordings and would talk to me about it. Playing an instrument and at the same time developing a passion for the art \u2014 that was beyond anything I knew or had contact with \u2014 that\u2019s how I knew I wanted to pursue a career in music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then he\u2019s grown to become one of America\u2019s most exciting conductors. Before coming to San Diego, Patel served for\u00a0three seasons as Associate Conductor of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, where he conducted the orchestra in over 100 performances. In 2013, Patel was one of only six conductors selected by the League of American Orchestras for the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, an event that showcases emerging and talented conductors to orchestra industry professionals.<\/p>\n

Despite his impressive resume, the most memorable moments of his career are drawn from the heart.<\/p>\n

Several years ago he worked with the El Sistema movement in Venezuela. The organization, he said, has trained hundreds of thousands of mostly poor kids in classical music.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives them an opportunity to learn to play an instrument for free,\u201d he said. \u201cI went with a conductor from Boston and we spent two weeks going into the barrios and got to work with the littlest children who were first learning to play an instrument or sing \u2014 I really got to see first-hand that music is a universal language.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>Another one of his career \u201cwow\u201d moments came in July, when Patel conducted the surprise \u201cStar Wars\u201d concert at Comic-Con.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fans\u2019 reaction to that was so sincere and you could see how much the music has meant to them,\u201d he said. \u201cIt sent chills down my spine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe musicians couldn\u2019t help but feel that energy on stage; most of us aren\u2019t part of these types of events,\u201d he continued. \u201cAfter the concert was finished, when I left the stage I heard something, it sounded like the audience was chanting. I realized they were chanting \u2018thank you.\u2019 It was a huge privilege to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patel said that in addition to working with the San Diego Symphony, he and his wife have taken some time to enjoy some of the simpler aspects of what America\u2019s Finest City has to offer.<\/p>\n

When they relocated, they chose to make their home in Bankers Hill. It\u2019s been a good fit, he said, especially since it\u2019s so close to Balboa Park, Downtown and countless restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great sense of community within this big city,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have great neighbors and although a lot of people don\u2019t know this, my wife and I were married at the San Diego Museum of Art. The byline for San Diego is America\u2019s Finest City, and for me, in all honesty, it feels that way. It\u2019s been a very welcoming place.\u201d<\/p>\n

For information about the San Diego Symphony\u2019s upcoming concert season or their current Summer Pops outdoor schedule, visit sandiegosymphony.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Margie Palmer is a San Diego-based freelance writer. You can reach her at margiep@alumni.pitt.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u2018finest city\u2019 welcomes a humble conductor By Margie M. Palmer If you\u2019re a fan of the arts, you\u2019ve likely heard the San Diego Symphony has announced the appointment of Sameer Patel as its new assistant conductor; if you were lucky enough to experience the symphony\u2019s surprise concert this year at Comic-Con, you would have […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":233069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"A conversation with Sameer Patel","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}