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Master Symphony Orchestra

Philip Westin, Music Director and Conductor

             Philip Westin founded the Master Symphony Orchestra in 1981. This professional ensemble performed 25-30 concerts per year until 1984, playing subscription concert series to critical acclaim at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, Bridges Auditorium in Pomona, El Camino College Center for the Arts in Torrance, Wash Memorial Auditorium in Santa Ana, and the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara. Soloists with the MSO included Martina Arroyo, Carlo Bergonzi, Marvelee Cariaga, John Cheek, Horacio Gutieriez, Daniel Heifetz, Peter Nero, Leonard Pennario, Roberta Peters, Daniel Pollack, and Arnold Voketaitis (partial listing). Many performances by the MSO were recorded live using a single stereo microphone. Nine representative works from these performances are available here for perusal. Please note, however, that In order to protect the rights of the orchestra's distinguished guest artists, no performances involving these artists are included.

            "... a solid baton technique, a strong semblance of style, and much dedication, not to mention taste and intelligence." (Mahler 2nd Symphony)

- Martin Bernheimer, Los Angeles Times

            "MAHLER HAD A SPECIAL TALENT for creating pictorial effects in his music, and Westin brought them out with the kind of supercinematic vividness that Stokowski favored in this music (Second Symphony)."

- Mark Swed, Los Angeles Herald Examiner

            "WESTIN AND HIS ATTENTIVE PLAYERS (Master Symphony Orchestra) managed to make Romeo and Juliet sound unhackneyed in the most legitimate way and they turned out a 'Pathetique' Symphony that was impressive for controlled intensity and dramatic involvement that never overstepped the bounds of good taste. More famous conductors and more famous orchestras do not always do as well by the piece....His efforts produced often stiking results."

- Albert Goldberg, Los Angeles Times

            "HE WENT FOR BROKE by taking huge chances in his attempts to create genuine drama, and he hit the jackpot in a truly exciting and well-paced performance of the Verdi Requiem with soloists Martina Arroyo, Marvellee Cariaga, Carlo Bergonzi and Arnold Voketaitis."

- Mark Swed, Los Angeles Herald Examiner

            "THE CONDUCTOR DOVE INTO THE PROGRAM with an Overture to Smetana's 'The Bartered Bride' of staggering pace and precision....he led his highly responsive ensemble through a shimmering, urgent, technicolor Symphony Fantastique by Berlioz....and he demonstrated sound understanding of the fine art of accompanying (Horacio Gutierrez in Chopin's Concerto No. 2)."

- Benjamin Epstein, Los Angeles Times

            "WESTIN'S FINELY FOCUSED CONSTRUCTION (Pines of Rome) lent a sense of point to the pomp, a feeling that the sound and fury does signify something."

- John Henken, Los Angeles Times

            "BEGINNING WITH A FAST AND FURIOUS PERFORMANCE of the 'Fledermaus' Overture that had all the theatrical electricity a curtain-raiser should have, Westin went on to deliver an 'Emperor' Waltz of imposing heft and military precision, a crackling 'Tritch-Tratch' Polka, a broad and beaming 'Blue Danube' Waltz and a magnificently forceful 'Thunder and Lightning' Polka." (An Evening in Old Vienna with Roberta Peters)

- Mark Swed, Los Angeles Herald Examiner

            "HIS INTERPRETIVE CONCEPT could probably best be described as romantic, almost sentimental with the broad expansiveness needed to achieve the music's true effectiveness. Thankfully, Westin's Brahms (Fourth Symphony) is neither heavy-handed nor unduly afflicted by interpretive fussiness....distinguished and thoroughly satisfying.... With an apparent sincere appreciation for Piston's brand of neo-classicism (Symphony No. 2) he fashioned a performance rich in detail and lush in sound....delicate orchestral textures were transparently handled and thematic discourses elegantly followed."

- Ray Bowman, Daily Breeze,Torrance

            "WESTIN CONDUCTED TWO SULLIVAN OVERTURES (from 'Patience' and 'Iolanthe') with verve and speed, treating them as orchestral pieces, and not just a collection of tunes to start an operetta. The interpretations were exciting, even startling." (Gilbert and Sullivan Gala with Kenneth Sandford and Opera A La Carte)"

- John Farrell, Star News, Pasadena