Musician Spotlight: Lily Josefsberg, Piccolo and Flute

Lily Josefsberg was appointed piccolo and third flute of the San Diego Symphony in January 2022, having previously held the same position with the South Dakota Symphony. Originally from Ridgewood, New Jersey, Lily earned her Master’s of Music and Graduate Performance Diploma in piccolo performance from the Peabody Conservatory. In her free time, she enjoys experimenting with baking and loves playing pickleball! 

1. Hello Lily! Please tell us about your journey to the San Diego Symphony.

I grew up in New Jersey and started on the piano at age 8! I started playing the flute in 5th grade because my best friend was playing it. And from there I became a band nerd and participated in any and all music activities that were available to me. After high school I attended Boston University, and then the Peabody Conservatory for my graduate degrees. During that time I attended Aspen Music Festival for four summers, and took many many orchestral auditions. Auditioning was a series of highs and lows, and a lot of trial and error.  Once COVID happened and music halls and performing arts theatres closed I worked jobs in retail, nannying, and even helped out in administration for an ESL test center.  It was fun to learn new skills but I was definitely eager to get back to playing music. I think that eagerness really helped me to eventually win my position with the San Diego Symphony in January of 2022!  I wasn’t so worried about winning or losing an audition at that point, I just wanted to play the piccolo and have fun with it!

2. You recently got married this year to your partner who is also an accomplished classical musician. Can you share with us a little bit about your celebration?

My husband Silvio and I got married in New York City on July 25th! It was an exceptionally hot day, probably close to triple digits, and there was also a monsoon right before our outdoor botanical garden ceremony! In the end everything turned out beautifully. For our wedding we also tried to put our own personal touches in many ways—we handmade all the signage, including a giant crossword puzzle with fun facts about us as a couple, bought and arranged all of the flowers with my family, rented an ice cream cart, and my sister-in-law was our officiant!  

3. What are you most excited to play this 2025-2026 season? 

I am most excited to play Shostakovich’s 8th symphony in January!! It has been on my bucket list, and my goal is to play all of his symphonies.  In fact, my very first week here as a musician of the San Diego Symphony we played Shostakovich's 9th symphony.

4. How do you prepare yourself for a performance? Do you have any pre-performance rituals, routines or warmups?  

I actually don’t have any regular rituals pre-performance!  Even though I am quite a superstitious person, I feel like part of my superstition is that if I start doing something the same way before each concert, it might become a crutch. I want to have the best possible mindset, and treat each concert like it’s something new each time so that I can be prepared for anything.  Also, it’s great now that the recording studio at Jacobs Music Center is up and running so we can listen back to our previously recorded concerts and learn from them.

5. When not performing, what do you like to do in your free time? Do you have any hobbies?

I play Pickleball!  There are some really nice courts in Coronado, Barnes Tennis Center, and Santee.  It’s an easy sport to learn, pretty inexpensive overall, and great that you can choose to play with friends if you have a pre-set team/partner, but you can also go by yourself and meet new people!  

I also am part of the Milestone Run Club in North Park, where I recently ran my longest run of 6 miles! 

And from time to time, I bake banana bread and other desserts!  I had a small business during COVID called Bach2Baking where I baked pies for the neighborhood.  It was a lot of work, but worth it!