The Coronado Philharmonia, under the direction of Ozvaldo Mendoza, is celebrating its fifth year. When asked how the orchestra would be celebrating, Mendoza said, \u201cI think that making it special is to continue with the work that we started from the very beginning, which is providing the best performances in classical music and art music to Coronado and communities around it. \u2026but I think that the most joyful thing is to continue the vision of CPO, which is to provide the best performances for the community and also to bring families, to bring new audiences, and to bring the youth as well (to hear good music).<\/p>\n
When Mendoza reminisces about the concerts in the last five years, he recalls, \u201cThe most joyful thing that I have experienced is to see people smiling \u2026 to get those audiences to come back. I think that\u2019s a huge thing for us. Then when we do a concert with kids, and they\u2019re singing, and it\u2019s the 1st time they hear the music with the live orchestra, just to see their eyes. It\u2019s just amazing. That part that says, \u2018Wow, this is incredible!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He mentioned the concert that included the bagpipes. \u201cThat was the 1st time that I had encountered a group of bagpipes playing next to my ear. It\u2019s crazy. That was the 1st experience I had. I had heard it before, but not as a group, and that was an eye-opener. Those things are loud!\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides highlighting his exceptional musicians in the CPO, Mendoza tries to vary his program each time. \u201cAll the concerts that we have done, you know, they have something very special, from the Mariachi to the Spanish to the movie night\u2026 It\u2019s just a joy to create music in a place where they respect and enjoy it as well. So they support us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first concert of the season, on October 24th, \u201cConcertos and Symphonies,\u201d will celebrate the exceptional talent of young Southern California musicians at Coronado Performing Arts Center. The special artists are the winners of the Youth Concerto Competition.<\/p>\n
Mendoza said, \u201cNow in its\u00a0fifth year, the orchestra\u2019s Youth Concerto Competition provides young musicians ages 7\u201318 from Coronado and San Diego County the opportunity to perform as soloists with a professional-level orchestra. The 2026 competition winners will take the stage as featured soloists, performing works by\u00a0Mozart, Hummel and Saint-Sa\u00ebns.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, three winners were honored. Orin O\u2019Neal, 12, began playing trumpet at age seven and quickly discovered a passion for both classical and jazz music. He performs with the San Diego Youth Symphony, Young Lions Jazz Conservatory, and Jacobs Big Band, and was selected for the 2026 YOLA National Festival. Maya Brisard, 14, is a violinist from Solana Beach and a member of the Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra since 2017. She has served as concertmaster of three ensembles and earned top prizes in national and international competitions, including American Prot\u00e9g\u00e9. Jun Kim, 17, is a clarinetist from San Diego and a senior at Canyon Crest Academy. He performs with the San Diego Youth Symphony and has attended Music Academy of the West, NYO2, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He was featured as a From the Top Fellow on NPR. The evening\u2019s program will also feature\u00a0Mozart\u2019s\u00a0\u201cThe Marriage of Figaro Overture\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cClarinet Concerto,\u201d\u00a0Prokofiev\u2019s\u00a0\u201cClassical Symphony,\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0Grieg\u2019s\u00a0\u201cPeer Gynt Suite No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Christmas concert will be at St. Paul\u2019s United Methodist Church with two back-to-back concerts to accommodate a larger audience. He said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to have, actually, our own CPO choral or ensemble. Basically, we will hire professional singers and then develop a choir among those. It\u2019s going to be a small ensemble, but very powerful. We\u2019re actually playing the Messiah. It\u2019s not going to be the whole Messiah, but it\u2019s the one that is concentrated on the birth of Christ. And so that\u2019s the idea because there are 2 parts of it.\u201d<\/p>\n