Staff
Benjamin Simon, Music Director
ben [at] sfchamberorchestra [dot] org
Ben has performed for audiences around the world as violist of the Naumburg Award-winning New World String Quartet, the Stanford String Quartet, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras.
A native of San Francisco, Ben began his conducting studies in the Bay Area with Denis DeCouteau, continuing at Yale College and the Juilliard School with Otto Werner Mueller and at the Aspen Music Festival with Dennis Russell Davies. Ben has led orchestras and contemporary ensembles in the United States and Europe, and conducted performances for the theater as well as sound tracks for major motion pictures. He has taught at Harvard and Stanford Universities and has been a member of the music faculty at UC Berkeley since 1998.
Ben served as director of the Crowden School in Berkeley from 1999 to 2002, where he founded the popular chamber music series Sundays at Four. In 2002, he succeeded founding music director Edgar Braun at the SFCO, and in the same year was appointed music director of the award-winning youth ensemble, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra. Although conducting takes the lion’s share of Ben’s time and energy, he can still be heard performing onstage at the SFCO’s Classical at the Freight and around the Bay Area with various friends and colleagues.
Janas Page, Managing Director
janas [at] sfchamberorchestra [dot] org
Janas has a background in administration, technology, marketing, and graphic design in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Local companies and organizations that have benefited from her experience include Fougeron Architecture, where she oversaw administration and finance; the Children’s Creativity Museum, where she assisted with technology and exhibit installation; and the Contemporary Jewish Museum, where she volunteered as an education and public programs assistant. Janas has also worked as a contract graphic designer for a number of local nonprofits, building upon her experience with Gazette Communications, a fast-paced design company in her former home of Iowa City, Iowa. She holds a degree in art and in computer science.
Janas first volunteered for the SFCO in May of 2010. She was soon contracted for marketing assistance and then hired as operations coordinator. The board of directors appointed her operations director in April of 2011, executive director in August of 2011, and managing director in June of 2012.
Janas brings a love for performing arts and a dedication to making live, classical music accessible to everyone. She enjoys all periods of the genre, and she delights in hearing its latest developments. When not attending local performances, she is often listening to classical and art music from local and international radio stations. Ms. Page has also briefly dabbled in the alto saxophone and bass guitar.
