This weekend, 85 musicians from San Diego’s Youth Symphony and neighboring Sinfónica Juvenil de Tijuana packed the Epstein Family Amphitheater at the University of California, San Diego, for a historic performance.

“No matter where you’re from, music can be something that unites,” said Lilian Franqui one of the musicians breaking down barriers.

When she was 7 years old, Franqui picked up a violin at an instrument “petting zoo.” 

Now, more than a decade later, she’s planning to make a career in it. 

“When you’re playing, there’s no talk about borders. There’s no talk about ‘them versus us’ that I see a lot of, especially in the news,” Franqui said. “I think that this music really allows us to be, you know, closer together.”

The performance was part of an effort to bridge communities through creativity and innovation during this year’s “World Design Capital” designation.

“You may not understand each other. Speak the same language, but you know, the same notes you can play the same,” Sophia Getman, a Sinfónica Juvenil de Tijuana member, said. 

But it’s not always in tune – or easy.

Some performers from Tijuana waited at least three hours to cross the border to rehearsal.

“It’s been a learning lesson for many of the students in the San Diego Youth Symphony certainly, because, for a lot of them, you can easily take for granted driving to rehearsal, coming to rehearsal, and making music, and maybe it’s a 20-minute car ride or a 30-minute car ride, but for some of the musicians that have joined us, it can, it can be an all-day ordeal,” said Sameer Patel, conductor and artistic director of the San Diego Youth Symphony.

This unique collaboration has culminated in a special composition called “Ilimitados”, meaning limitless.

“Limitless is symbolic of hope, of opportunities,” Anthony Kim, concertmaster for the San Diego Youth Symphony. “In regard to the border region, I hope this helps instigate peace and unity.”

Patel hopes it hits the right notes and resonates far beyond this stage. 

“Music is about the greatest expression of our common humanity, and I think when we have a piece of music like this and opportunities to come together that showcases our common humanity, that you know, you can see that that there’s little that actually separates us,” Patel said. 

Re “San Diego has put off $1 billion in routine building maintenance, audit says” (Nov. 9):Infrastructure isn’t sexy and term limits reward sexy. Elected officials looking for the next rung up the ladder don’t generate headlines and contributions by being responsible managers.

I had a friend who’d often ask how I thought Mayor Jerry Sanders, a mutual friend, was doing. I’d note he was being responsible but not sexy, which was exactly what San Diego needed during tough fiscal times. “Repairing miles of ancient water and sewer lines and covering them with smooth asphalt is very important, but doesn’t get TV cameras out.” Patching roofs and fixing air conditioning won’t get cameras either.

Prior to term limits, a district could keep its City Council member, who had the time to concentrate on the non-sexy.

— Kirk Mather, Point Loma

Rainey Duck Benedict

OBITUARY

It is with great sadness to announce the passing of Rainey Duck Benedict on Monday October 28, 2024, at the age of 94 years old. Rainey is survived by her two daughters from different marriages, Cheyann Benedict and Rainey L. Hanley and four step children, Betsy Benedict, Jon Benedict, Laurel Benedict, and William Benedict. She will also be lovingly remembered by her vast Weaver family who originated in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Roanoke VA. Born in Roanoke, in 1930 to Geneva and Elmer Weaver, a timber and farming family, Rainey was the third of ten children. She is survived by her siblings June Burks, Bonnie James, Gloria Brown, and JC Weaver. Upon leaving home, Rainey moved to Washington DC were she was one of the first women hired by the State Department. Rainey eventually moved to San Diego. During the span of her second marriage, Rainey and her spouse, George Benedict, a prominent San Diego attorney, built Benedict Properties. Rainey Duck loved nature, the occasional practical joke, reading the mornings thrifty ads, her Unitology Horoscopes, and beautiful clothes. Throughout her life, her daughter Cheyann proudly kept her mother’s wardrobe in tip top style. Cheyann, George, and Rainey were also obsessive Scrabble players often playing two games a day together. Rainey was the last survivors of the 1930s polio epidemic.