The Palisades Fire devastated a huge portion of California this year. For Denisa Hanna, when she first saw images of the fire and smoke taking over Los Angeles, it was clear that the Palisades Symphony wouldn’t be rehearsing that day.
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Hanna, who is the president of the Palisades Symphony Orchestra, was safe in her home. However, the images she saw came from a member of the Palisades Lutheran Church, where the symphony would often take place. Hanna, helpless, could only send an email to the symphony members pleading with them to stay safe and pray for their friends.
On the night of the evacuation, the group planned on gathering at the above-mentioned church to practice for the first time in 2025. The Palisades Symphony has been composed of volunteers for decades and has served their local community with stunning music for over half a century. At the time, their first concert of the year was only a few weeks out.
The future of the symphony seemed to be in jeopardy. As the fires continued to destroy neighborhoods, many of the members’ own homes were burned to ash. Hanna wrote another email the following day, canceling future rehearsals and lamenting that it may not be possible to even get into Palisades for a while.
Violinist Helen Bendix lost her house. Fifteen members, by the end of the blazing wildfires, lost their homes as well. The aftermath of the tragedy was daunting; how could the symphony continue? Many of the members lost their beloved instruments as well.
The Spirit of Music is Still Strong in Palisades, Despite Tragedy
Fortunately, the spirit of the symphony never left its members, bereaved as they were and still are. Orchestra director and conductor Maxim Kuzin began to receive emails from members, asking when rehearsals would start again. Their dedication was unwavering. And while Kuzin struggled to give them an answer, he decided that music would likely help.
“Recognizing the power of music to comfort and heal, we have decided to resume rehearsals as early as this Tuesday, January 14th,” Kuzin wrote in an email to the symphony members. Bendix was relieved, knowing that the group needed to get back together.
For the members who lost their instruments, other musicians in the Palisades Symphony offered theirs. Hanna, a luthier, had a violin to give one member.
Four weeks later, the Palisades Symphony gathered, clad in their finest, at Westwood United Methodist Church for their performance.
“I hope that some of us will get that idea that they live now in a different world than all of us did in this period of time,” Kuzin said to the audience after the intermission. “Eventually, hopefully, some kind of meaning will be revealed to those of you who suffered.”
The spirit of community truly can’t be broken.
You can support local music and the Palisades Symphony Orchestra in the aftermath of the California wildfires via their website.
Photo by Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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