![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-MUSIC-LOMBARDO.jpg\")
San Diego Symphony principal flute Rose Lombardo is also an avid surfer. She\u2019s shown here at Sunset Cliffs on Aug. 7, 2025. in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n\u201cPlaying music and surfing have a lot of parallels,\u201d said Rose Lombardo.<\/p>\n
Few people are more qualified to make such an assertion. Lombardo, the San Diego Symphony\u2019s principal flute since 2012, has been an avid surfer for almost as many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re very similar experiences for me, in terms of getting into the flow state, washing everything away immediately and focusing on what\u2019s immediately in the present,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing does that to you like playing in a performance or surfing on a wave. They both make you better at adjusting and reacting, in real time, to the human connection on stage and to what\u2019s happening in the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Rady Shell, the symphony\u2019s outdoor venue alongside San Diego Bay, Lombardo and the orchestra occasionally play with high-profile performers. This summer, that list has included Beck and Shaggy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m constantly starstruck,\u201d she said. \u201cI took a photo with Beck. I did the whole fangirl thing!\u201d<\/p>\n
San Diego Symphony principal flute Rose Lombardo is also an avid surfer. She\u2019s shown here at Sunset Cliffs on Aug. 7, 2025. in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
On Friday and Saturday, Lombardo will perform two landlocked concerts for La Jolla Music Society\u2019s SummerFest, the annual chamber-music festival. Both will be in the society\u2019s Baker-Baum Concert Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying chamber music is a very particular thing,\u201d said pianist Inon Barnatan, SummerFest\u2019s music director. \u201cRose is fantastic at both orchestral and chamber music. She\u2019s also a great sport. Rose knows the area, she\u2019s a surfer and she\u2019s a lot of fun to be around \u2014 and to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lombardo\u2019s first SummerFest was in 2019, the same year Barnatan became the festival\u2019s music director. Except for 2020, she has participated in the acclaimed series ever since.<\/p>\n
Barnatan had been a guest soloist with the San Diego Symphony in the past, so Lombardo had experienced his prowess at the piano several times.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is one of my heroes,\u201d Lombardo said, speaking from her La Mesa home. \u201cI\u2019ve performed with him a couple times, which was so exciting. He\u2019s such a warm person and great collaborator.<\/p>\n
\u201cInon\u2019s programming continues to be creative and innovative. The artist roster is incredible. Some of my Summerfest experiences are definitely career highlights.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, in her first SummerFest season Lombardo played George Crumb\u2019s Voice of the Whale. The piece, which features electric and amplified instruments, teamed her with lauded pianist Conrad Tao and internationally acclaimed San Diego cellist, Alisa Weilerstein.<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-MUSIC-LOMBARDO-0817-005_232270430.jpg\")
San Diego Symphony principal flute Rose Lombardo is also an avid surfer. She\u2019s shown here at Sunset Cliffs on Aug. 7, 2025. in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nNever-ending, joyous pursuit<\/p>\n
Lombardo was born in Framingham, Mass., and raised in Norwell, both near Boston. Her first live classical music concert was on a mother-daughter date to hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I would do anything to be a part of such an incredible sound and experience,\u201d she recalled. \u201cFrom that moment on, I had to play one of these orchestral instruments. And my ears were really drawn to the beautiful flute solos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crediting her mom for finding top-notch music programs, Lombardo attended New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She studied chamber music there and played in both the NEC youth orchestra and Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra \u2014 right up to her going to New York\u2019s Juilliard School.<\/p>\n
At Juilliard, she studied under Jeffrey Khaner, principal flute of The Philadelphia Orchestra. For her Professional Studies Certificate at Los Angeles\u2019 Colburn School, Lombardo\u2019s teacher was Jim Walker, a celebrated flutist and educator.<\/p>\n
When she was hired as the San Diego Symphony\u2019s principal flute at just 23, Lombardo told the Union-Tribune that her teachers had taught her \u201chow to be a leader in this section and to develop a kind of principal presence in terms of the sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lombardo\u2019s reaction almost 14 years later?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, wow,\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cI was 23?! I\u2019m kind of proud of that quote. That is the job. It\u2019s a never-ending pursuit, and a joyful one at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharing the joy are the other flutists in her section, Sarah Tuck and Lily Josefsberg. Rafael Payare is the San Diego Symphony\u2019s music director.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so comfortable with the repertoire and my colleagues now that I feel a bit of freedom, especially with Rafael,\u201d Lombardo said. \u201cHe gives you so much space to explore, which I really appreciate.\u201d<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take much time after Lombardo, a longtime swimmer, arrived in San Diego for the ocean to call.<\/p>\n
\u201cA friend took me surfing and I was immediately hooked,\u201d she said. \u201cIt changed my life. I had the same feeling as the first time I heard an orchestra play live. Those were two formative experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having moved to La Mesa a year ago, Lombardo has adjusted her schedule to accommodate her surfing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was absolutely nervous about moving away from the ocean,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m surfing more now because I schedule it. Sometimes I\u2019ll get up early before symphony rehearsal to get in 45 minutes or an hour of surfing. Somehow not being close to the beach has made me commit to it more often.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a tight group of friends that live over there. Even if it\u2019s only a short session, it sets me for a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Another pinch-me moment\u2019<\/p>\n
When Lombardo started her position as San Diego Symphony\u2019s principal flute, it wasn\u2019t only surfing she discovered. She befriended Kate Hatmaker, a violinist at the symphony and executive\/artistic director of Art of Elan.<\/p>\n
The adventurous nonprofit presents unique chamber-music concerts in unusual venues and runs Young Artists in Harmony, a program in which Art of Elan musicians mentor aspiring composers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was immediately drawn to Kate, because she\u2019s awesome,\u201d Lombardo said with a laugh. \u201cGetting to play chamber music regularly with Art of Elan throughout the season fills my soul. I\u2019ve also been a part of the Harmony program \u2014 it\u2019s so cool to see the growth in the students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with Lombardo and Hatmaker, the San Diego Symphony musicians appearing in this year\u2019s SummerFest include principal harp Julie Smith-Phillips; principal bass Jeremy Kurtz-Harris; violinist Cherry Yeung; and bassist Sam Hager. Acclaimed cellist Alisa Weilerstein, who is married to music director Payare, appears regularly at both SummerFest and symphony concerts.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s SummerFest concert at the Baker-Baum will feature works by Shostakovich and Beethoven. Lombardo and Smith Phillips will be featured in Ravel\u2019s Introduction and Allegro.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always love working with Julie and this is a wonderful addition to an already exciting program,\u201d Lombardo said. \u201cThe Ravel gives the flutist an opportunity to explore a larger array of colors while blending with string instruments. The Conrad is the perfect venue because it has such warm acoustics.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the closing night, after works by Mendelssohn and Chicago\u2019s Jessie Montgomery, an ensemble will play Brahms Serenade in D Major, reconstructed for Nonet. Lombardo will join eight other players for that finale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t played the nonet before and I\u2019m very excited,\u201d she enthused. \u201cIt\u2019s an all-star group. Just another pinch-me moment at SummerFest.\u201d<\/p>\n
SummerFest: Profound Reflections<\/p>\n
When:<\/strong> 7:30 p.m. Friday <\/p>\n Musical Prelude with Hesper Quartet at 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n Tickets:<\/strong> $65-$90<\/p>\n SummerFest Finale: Starburst<\/p>\n When:<\/strong> 7:30 p.m. Saturday <\/p>\n Musical Prelude with Larinae Ensemble at 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n