DEBORAH PASSANISI
Director, Special Bridges to Music Program
Deborah Passanisi has played with the Peninsula Symphony from the mid-1970s to the present day as Principal Second Violinist. She is also a member of the symphony’s Board of Directors. She joined the symphony after graduating from UC Davis and playing in the symphony there. She began under Maestro Aaron Sten, "its founder and its soul", and now continues under Maestro Mitchell Sardou Klein, "its heart". After a career in management at a biotech company on the Peninsula, she returned to graduate school for a Masters in Occupational Therapy. Her Masters thesis and research project was on music and cognition in children with severe disorders of language, and was entitled "From Mozart to Euclid". Deborah was a Pediatric Occupational Therapist for the County of Alameda for 17 years, working with children with cerebral palsy. She continues to be a licensed and nationally registered occupational therapist, although she has retired from active practice.
Deborah's new focus is as the Program Director of Peninsula Symphony's Special Bridges to Music Program that brings music lessons into the Peninsula public schools' special day classes. These lessons took place in the Redwood City public schools until the in-person closure of the program in March of 2020 due to pandemic restrictions. The program continues online with lessons focusing on young children with special needs and younger children who are introduced to music through song. This new program is part of the symphony's educational outreach program to bring music to all of the local community, sharing beauty and joy with our youngest community members.
“Being a musician in this orchestra means more than rehearsals and performances. It is truly a way of life where a family of friends share dreams and musical triumphs together. Our audience and sponsors are, in a real way, on the stage with us for each performance that they generously support. Together, all of us witness the beauty and music of the composers from centuries past that is still alive today. Our Special Bridges to Music Program participants are new additions to our musical family both on stage and off stage. The program is designed to be inclusive, and its mission is to bring the joy and the magic of music to enrich the lives of young children. As this program grows it is hoped that it will enhance the children’s capabilities and give voice, literally, to personal expression through music.”
“Being a member of the Peninsula Symphony all of my adult years has changed my life each day with the beauty that music brings into it. The Peninsula Symphony has given me a life long gift. I wish to share it.”
CLICK HERE TO WATCH DEBORAH’S FIRST EPISODE: “Music People: MUSIC IS EVERYWHERE”