The Musicians
Jorge A. Pena Portillo (Viola)
Member of the JSO: Since 1996
Education: Bachelor of Music, Escuela de Musica Victoria Lopez, Honduras; Bachelor of Music, Columbus State University; Graduate Performance Diploma, Peabody Conservatory.
Summer festival: Jorge is Artistic Director and founder of the St Augustine Music Festival. “Making music at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine during the inaugural St. Augustine Music Festival in June 2007 was very memorable.”
Why music: “My Grandfather was a professional musician. He taught music to all his nine children as well as most of the people in the small town of Santa Rosa, Honduras. The seriousness of music skipped a generation and it was not until Mom made me walk my sister to school everyday that I figured, ‘Why not stay and learn how to play as well?’”
Instrument: "Robert Brode, a luthier from New Jersey, made a new viola for me, the 100th instrument he has built. It is a copy of the instrument the that the famous violist William Primrose played, an Amati viola never before copied. My friend and former teacher Roberto Diaz (appearing with the JSO in February 2008) is the owner of that instrument and allowed Brode the privilege to copy it. I am very happy with it, even if it means to stop using my 200-year-old Mathias Klotz viola without feeling guilty.
Other instruments played: Jorge also plays violin, which he began in his college years.
Performance experience: National Orchestra Istitute (Washington D.C.), International Music Program (Greensboro, N.C. and Europe), Tanglewood Music Festival (Springfield, Mass.), Southeastern Music Center (Columbus, Ga.), Grand Teton Music Festival (Jackson Hole, Wy.).National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra and Macon Symphony Orchestra. Jorge was the Assistant Principal Violist for both the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. In college, he served as Principal Violist for the Peabody Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and the Columbus College Symphony Orchestra.
Solo, recital and chamber appearances: Columbus College Symphony Orchestra and Victoriano Lopez Symphony Orchestra. Recitals at UNF, FCCJ and Riverside Presbyterian Church and chamber performances with the Atlanta Virtuosi, the National Gallery of Art Chamber Orchestra and the Virginia Chamber Orchestra.
Family: Wife: JinWon Kim; Children: Ines, Gaby and Elisa.
Pet: Hunter, a small beagle.
Favorite qualities of the Jacksonville Symphony: “The personality of the orchestra, a friendly atmosphere and optimal conditions allow us to focus on the music.”
Other Interests: Investing in the stock market, real estate and always learning something new.
Favorite book: Last one read, “One hundred years of solitude.”