Meet Dana Zimbric | Artistic Director & Conductor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dana Zimbric and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dana, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I honestly could not imagine doing something that wasn’t artistic or creative in nature. I remember back in High School having a conversation with a classmate. He asked me “Why are you going into music? You could be a doctor or a lawyer!” Absolutely no offense to doctors or lawyers (I come from a family of many medical professionals!), but I knew that those career paths were not for me. Music can share so much – from emotional response, to history, to amazing stories. Music can capture our shared humanity in so many wonderful and inspiring ways. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I try to frame my music work in a mission-driven way. What I mean is that my work in music, both on and off the stage, is an expression of my belief that music performance, education, and awareness, provides a meaningful service to our community. There was a time in college when it really felt like learning music and perfecting technique was all that mattered. It became a very self-centered and self-serving obsession. And frankly it was selfish. I did not like it. Once I was able to figure out how to be in music in a self-less way, in a way that would provide benefit for the audience, then things really clicked for me. Classics 4 Kids concerts are all about sharing music and the wonder of the arts with young people, their families, and teachers. We want to inspire children through musical performance and awareness. I believe children have a right to receive high quality arts and music access. The work of Classics 4 Kids is a service organization. We serve the children of our community by providing the highest quality of music awareness and access. I recently heard an interview with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony. He was talking about the importance of music education, and shared that although music improves students’ academic performance, he believed that the point of music education is to save the souls of our children. This really stuck with me – because he is totally right. Music education teaches beauty, emotional-connection, self-expression, creativity, adaptability, teamwork, and so much more. These attributes do provide soul-nourishment that we all so desperately need.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Things are a little more challenging with current pandemic restrictions! let’s say our friends with kids are visiting San Diego for a week: Day 1 – Wake up early and head over to Cabrillo National Monument for a hike along the coast, and catch some tidepools . Grab a to-go lunch from Pete’s in North Park. Day 2 – Wake up early and hit the San Diego Zoo. Pack a brown bag lunch, and walk around as long as the kids can handle it! Take a ride on the Balboa Park mini-train and Carousel for good measure. Day 3 – Have a slower start day. Wander through South Park, grab a coffee and pastry from Madeleine’s and see what stores are open. Buy a gift for the dog at South Bark. Walk the kids down to the Grape Street Dog park for some pooch watching. Later ride bikes to McKinley Park and hang out on a blanket in the shade. Day 4 – Beach Day. Pack up the chairs, sunscreen, food, drinks, and towels and head down to Coronado State Beach. Stay all day! Day 5 – Day trip to Julian and do a hike in William Heise County Park. Grab some lunch and pie at Mama’s, and visit Calico Cidery. Day 6 – Final day – we head over to Liberty Station. Visit the playground, grab food at the open market or Stone Brewing, and enjoy the day.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t even know how to begin to answer this question – the list of people is far too long! Starting from my earliest music teacher, Ms. Pullon, to my first band teacher Mr. Bass, to college professors Linda Bartley and David Becker, to my incredible musician colleagues (too many to list!), to the Classics 4 Kids team members and board. All the guest artists who I have ever had a chance to share a stage with, to my family (my parents who paid for my music lessons and my husband and kids who have been there through all the craziness), and then the docents who go out into the classrooms, and the teachers and the students. The amazing people who work in the theater venues! The people who have donated to help make our concerts possible! Honestly, there is only success when teamwork is involved and I have learned so much from all these amazing people. Give me a year and I will list all the names… truly I am indebted to each and every one.

Website: http://danazimbric.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classics4kids/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-m-zimbric-3a8875/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Classics4Kids
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Classics4Kids
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc3MAAh0VaPm-cn1_Ua8a0w
Other: Classics 4 Kids: www.classics4kids.org

Image Credits
C4K 1 – no credit needed C4K 2 & C4K 3 – Aili Kato C4K 4, C4K 5 & C4k 6 0 Steve Anderson Photography