Winston Webber with “Best Seat in the House”

The focus of this episode is violinist Winston Webber’ss wonderful book “ Best Seat in the House: love letters to a profession” and you’ll be hearing Winston read from the book, and share memories with us of musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman,  Karl Ancerl, Ida Haendel and Greta Kraus. He also shared his experiences of violin lessons with Lorand Fenyves and conducting lessons with Sixten Ehrling,  many moving experiences on tours, and insights into composers. We also exchanged ideas about programming and concert presentation, and his experience of quitting the Toronto Symphony to go to University of Toronto to study pre-med science while conducting several orchestras, before he borrowed a violin to change directions again to audition for NACO.   Winston has been my colleague for decades, and has recently retired from his position as Assistant Principal Second Violin of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO).