The energy backstage at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park during the Sound of Two Cities rehearsal buzzed like the first day of summer camp. Happy chatter carried the sounds of reunions and introductions as San Diego Symphony and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) musicians prepared for their first joint concert. Stand partners swapped gifts from home, friends and former classmates shared hugs, and entire sections snapped selfies. 

The joint concert was the next step in the Beyond Borders: North American Music Initiative. Rafael Payare provides a direct connection between the two orchestras, serving as music and artistic director for both organizations, opening the doors for creative opportunities. 

Sound of Two Cities may have been the first time the two orchestras performed together under their shared leader, but the musicians were already linked in many ways. 

Ben Jaber, principal horn for the San Diego Symphony, and Catherine Turner, principal horn for OSM, have known each other for 25 years. For this concert, they were stand partners, but years prior they both attended Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and performed and studied together at the Aspen Music Festival under John Zirbel—who was the former principal horn at OSM.

"To have them here, to actually be around this group of musicians is just very, very special and a different kind of bonding experience musically, interpersonally," said Jaber. "There's been so much ease of interaction on every level. Everything we've done musically, I feel, has kind of just fallen into place without any kind of actual work. It's all just play and seems like all just fun—the way it all kind of ought to be." 

"I think it's just so exciting to get to play with musicians from another orchestra like this," said Turner. "It's so unusual in a professional setting to get to actually combine orchestras. We almost never do this. It's going to be a really cool memory for a really long time." 

Jaber also got to perform with the OSM during their performance at the Jacobs Music Center the night before, playing the off-stage Wagner tuba for their performance of Stravinsky’s The Firebird.

The excitement and camaraderie extended to the executive level. San Diego Symphony President and CEO Martha Gilmer and OSM's President and CEO Mélanie La Couture greeted the musicians on stage before watching the rehearsal together. Gilmer and La Couture say they've developed a great relationship collaborating over the past few years and coordinating this visit. Their rapport was evident in the way they chatted backstage and praised each other in a joint interview with Le Devoir's Christophe Huss. They reveled in the excitement of the visit, while also looking ahead.

"For one night tonight, it's not the OSM, it's not the San Diego Symphony, it's just a new entity that's going to make beautiful music together for one night," said La Couture. 

"I think that over several years now, we've built up such a great collaboration. And this is a culminating moment, not the last moment, but a very exciting culminating moment," said Gilmer.

For the Sound of Two Cities concert, 200 musicians participated with up to 145 on stage at a time. During the first half of the program, each orchestra performed separately. After intermission, San Diego Symphony and OSM musicians intermixed, taking turns in principal roles. Montreal principals led Prokofiev's Scythian Suite while San Diego principals took over for Respighi's Pines of Rome—but that isn't all the shifted. 

One of the most challenging—and rewarding—tasks was elevating off-stage brass to off-shore brass for Pines of Rome. Between the performances of Prokofiev and Resphigi, nine brass players were hustled off stage onto waiting golfcarts, shuttled to the marina where they boarded a small boat, Little Wings, and taxied over to the yacht, Ocean Wings, anchored out in the bay. Rehearsal was done in daylight, but Friday night the group had the cover of darkness to mask the transition until spotlights cut on to reveal the musicians. Cameras trained on the yacht broadcast the moment on the screens at The Shell, capturing the group perfectly in sync with the rest of the orchestra back on dry land.  

This moment—a long-held dream of Payare's—finally came to life under the direction of Connor Schloop, director of production for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. 

"I think it's really important to note that this is a huge feat—a big collaboration between our orchestra operations department and our artistic departments and production," said Schloop. "The musicians on the yacht need to play in time with Raphael and the orchestra on stage. They can't see the conductor. So, they need to know when they need to play. They all have in-ear pieces where they can hear the orchestra playing, and we also have a video feed of Raphael conducting. The difficult part of that is that there can't be any sort of time delay so that they can play in time. It's a lot of long-range radio frequency equipment to make that all possible." 

Ocean Wings is owned by San Diego Symphony supporters Jan and Kevin Curtis, who were more than happy to help realize the vision.

"There isn't anything more beautiful in my mind than The Rady Shell with the San Diego background," said Jan Curits. "It is San Diego at its best! It was a beautiful experience. We love the Symphony." 

Sound of Two Cities was free to attend, providing the perfect opportunity for one couple in the audience to experience an orchestral performance for the first time.

"It's been really cool getting some goosebumps hearing them." 

"We've never been to a symphony and just didn't know what to expect, so this is awesome that we get to get a double-dose on the first time. And they're top-notch!" 

Some audience members at Friday's Sound of Two Cities concert had also attended OSM's Thursday concert at Jacobs Music Center.

One woman was nearly at a loss for words at her experiences: "I can't find the words... you have to feel it. You have to be here to know what I'm talking about. Plus, the beautiful view here at The Rady Shell adds to this unbelievable, spectacular evening. I'd have to say the concerts were different. I have zero regrets going last night to the theater and the open-air theater we have here." 

Several families took the historic concert as an opportunity for an educational and fun outing.  

"We're excited to see musicians from other countries come and play in California, and particularly in San Diego, and get to experience the two orchestras playing together," said one parent. "I think it's great that our children are learning that there's different types of music, and different demands on your attention, and they're finding lots of different variation." 

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Beyond Borders is the San Diego Symphony’s initiative connecting its evolving artistic activities across North America. It celebrates the cultural, ecological, and musical migrations that connect communities throughout Mexico, Canada, and the United States. 

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