The Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay (COSB) is ringing in its 41st season with something contemporary and original. Known for providing high-quality fully professional classical music to audiences, COSB is a cultural gem and beloved Palos Verdes community institution.
A chamber orchestra provides a warmer and more intimate atmosphere than a traditional orchestra. Chamber music is generally music composed for a small group of intstrments like those who once performed in a palace chamber.
In our modern world COSB offers a unique musical experience designed for everyone to enjoy. The residential professional orchestra of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Performing Arts Center at the Norris Theater is entering its 41st season with Maestro Hector Salazar conducting and new president Mr. Ron DeFrees at the helm. DeFrees recently shared an update on the state of the orchestra with PV Magazine.
PV Magazine: What do you envision for the future of the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay?
Ron DeFrees, COSB President:
It is going to be another great season, just a little bit different. In the past we have held five full concerts at the Norris. A full program is between 26 and 33 musicians. This season we are going to start with something different. We are holding a Boston Pops evening at the Palos Verdes Golf Club. There will be 16 to 18 musicians performing an interactive program with dinner and drinks September 10th at the golf club. We thought the golf club membership would love that kind of music and that type of evening so in addition to catering to our normal golf club members we are hoping to attract a new and younger audience.
PVM: That sounds like fun.
RD: Yes, we expect it to be fun. For our last concert back in April we did Beethoven to Broadway instead of our traditional performance and patrons and attendees loved it and they want to see more of that.
We used to sell out all five of our performances every year. Recently though, audiences started to age and in the wake of Covid audiences have become much smaller. We have lost some patrons to moving away and we have not done as much as advertising as we should. Last year the audience was half what it used to be but we are not alone. All orchestras are suffering the same problem. With music streaming and other advances, and I have done a lot of research, we’ve found we have to change with the audience and so we are.
We know we have to start advertising so we will. We plan to hold one full orchestra performance with 26-33 musicians next April. After the Pops evening in September there will be three concerts with 16-18 musicians in November, January and March. One will probably be all winds and we will have a soloist at each performance as we have always been well-known for our soloists.
We do get many of the best professional musicians to perform and we honestly believe the quality of music and performances will continue to be a cut above all the others.
