Why Music? The Confessions of a Willing Prisoner of the Violin

Mark Volkert, Assistant Concertmaster, San Francisco Symphony

This program is part of the 2015 Platforum series Music Matters, sponsored by Ernst & Young and the John and Marcia Goldman Foundation.

Volkert’s talk will blend biography and his philosophy on music, peppered with interesting anecdotes and tales from the trenches. A violinist with the San Francisco Symphony since 1972, he has been assistant concertmaster since 1980.

Among the many questions to be addressed: Why are composers not necessarily the best interpreters of their own works? Are conductors really necessary? Who made up the rule that the audience shouldn't applaud between movements?

Join this discussion to learn more about life with the violin in a modern symphony orchestra..

Music Matters