Conference 2025: Annual Meeting and Closing Luncheon: Home, Freedom, and Belonging with Kinan Azmeh

Speaker(s): Kinan Azmeh, Composer and Clarinet Player; Martha Gilmer, President and CEO, San Diego Symphony Orchestra; Alan Mason, Board Chair, League of American Orchestras; and Simon Woods, President and CEO, League of American Orchestras

Performance: Kinan Azmeh, Clarinet; Jason Hardink, Piano

The Closing Luncheon featured a performance by and conversation with Kinan Azmeh—Syrian clarinet player, composer of contemporary classical music, and frequent guest artist at orchestras. He spoke with Martha Gilmer, President and CEO of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, about the themes of home, freedom, and belonging.

A champion of artistic freedom, Azmeh plays in his own Arab-Jazz Quartet CityBand and his Hewar trio as well as with the Silkroad Ensemble since 2012, whose 2017 Grammy Award-winning album “Sing Me Home” features Azmeh as a clarinetist and composer.

The Closing Luncheon has been generously co-sponsored by Threshold Acoustics and Classical Movements.

The Closing Luncheon is made possible by generous grants from The Amphion Foundation, Inc. and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.

The Opening Session is also made possible, in part, by generous grants from The Amphion Foundation, Inc. and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.

Photo Credit: Douglas Carter Photography