I-House Musical Ensemble Makes Its Debut

Ioana Patringenaru | May 19, 2008

Members of Ensemble con Brio rehearse Vivaldi's "Four Seasons."

Click here to watch a video of their performance. (Then click on the Video of the Week item)

Ensemble con Brio Roster Ensemble con Brio features 10 UCSD students, listed here with their country of origin and majors. Solo Violin: Jehan Kanga (Australia/India, chemistry, economics) Violin: Bora Park (USA/Korea, biochemistry) Violin: Rachel López Emmons (USA, music) Violin: Carolina Margarito (Mexico/USA, structural engineering) Flute: Janice Shin (USA/Korea, molecular biology) Flute: Ayumi Kondo (Japan, political science) Viola: Chiara Pierobon (Italy, sociology) Cello: Siobhan Williams (USA, mechanical engineering) Harpsichord: Alberto Torin (Italy, physics) Conductor: Pouya Jamshidi (Iran/USA, cognitive science specializing in neuroscience) Manager: Vincent Andrews (USA/Croatia, international studies) Page-turner for harpsichord: Vivian Phillips (USA, seventh-grader at High Tech Middle School)

Back in his native Iran, Pouya Jamshidi served as the assistant conductor for the Tehran Philharmonic. Now a senior on the UC San Diego campus, he has been able to recapture the conductor’s baton by starting his own orchestra at the International House, where he lives.

Jamshidi and 10 fellow UCSD students have started Ensemble con Brio, which performed its first concert this month at the I-House. Jamshidi is visibly excited about making the ensemble a reality.

“UCSD is where passion meets intellect,” he said.

Jamshidi’s roommate, Vincent Andrews, sent e-mails to find potential musicians. Soon, he and Jamshidi heard back from students hailing from as far as Australia, Korea and Italy. Ensemble con Brio is a truly multi-disciplinary effort, Jamshidi said. Political scientists play side by side with molecular biologists and engineers.

Alberto Torin, another Jamshidi roommate, plays the harpsichord. He studied at the conservatory back in his native Italy, but is now working towards a doctorate in physics. Being part of the ensemble is an amazing experience, he said. “Everybody is so different,” he said. “Yet we can meet and accomplish something unique together.”

The group is heavy on strings and winds, so musicians settled on Antonio Vivaldi’s “Spring” movement from his “Four Seasons” as their first performance piece. They rehearsed for two hours twice a week. They also found a member of the San Diego community who lent them a harpsichord, free of charge.

Then the ensemble got its first gig: a performance during the I-House Sunday Supper series. The group was a perfect fit for the event, said I-House Director Christi Gilhoi. She said she hopes to make the group one of the house’s traditions.

“I think it’s going to blow everybody away,” she said.

Apparently, she was right. At the end of its first performance, Ensemble con Brio received a standing ovation, Torin recalls. He said he believes the audience was applauding the idea of creating an ensemble at the I-House as much as the musicians’ performance.

Gilhoi has been a great supporter, Jamshidi said. “I just take out the barriers,” she replied. The ensemble is one initiative that will give students a home on campus, Gilhoi also said.

“We have such rigorous academics here,” she said. “Giving students an artistic home is important.”

In the future, Gilhoi said she hopes that the ensemble will become a regular guest at The Loft, a night club due to open this summer on campus. Jamshidi said he would like to invite students in the music department to compose pieces for the group.

“We can do some really great things,” he said.

A group picture of Ensemble con Brio.