San Diego, Tijuana youth symphonies unite for historic cross-border performance

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

Lillian Frankie, one of the musicians who broke the barriers, said, “No matter where you're from, music can be the one thing that unites.”

When she was 7 years old, Frankie took up violin in a musical called “Petting Zoo”.

Now, more than a decade later, she plans to make a career out of it.

Frankie said, “When you're playing, there's no talk about boundaries. There's no talk about 'them versus us,' which I see often, especially in the news.” “I think this music really allows us to, you know, get closer together.”

The display was part of an effort to connect 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 you can play the same notes,” said Sofia Getman, a member of the Sinfonica Juvenil de Tijuana.

But it doesn't always happen in rhythm – or easy.

Some Tijuana performers waited at least three hours to cross the border for rehearsals.

“This has certainly been a learning lesson for many of the students at the San Diego Youth Symphony, because, for many of them, you can easily take for granted driving to rehearsals, coming to rehearsals, and making music, and maybe It's a 20-minute car ride or a 30-minute car ride, but for some of the musicians who join us, it can be an all-day ordeal,” said Samir Patel, conductor and artistic director of San Diego Youth. Symphony.

This unique collaboration resulted in a special creation called “Ilimitados”, which means unlimited.

“A symbol of limitless hope and opportunity,” said Anthony Kim, concertmaster of the San Diego Youth Symphony. “With regard to the border area, I hope this will help in maintaining peace and unity.”

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

“Music is about the greatest expression of our common humanity, and I think when we have music like this and opportunities to come together in a way that displays our common humanity, you can see That there is very little that really separates us,” Patel said.

Andres Gutierrez

Andres Gutierrez is a CBS News reporter based in Las Vegas. Most recently a reporter for CBS News Detroit, Andres has more than a decade of award-winning breaking news reporting and anchoring experience in multiple markets, including Kansas City, Missouri and Dallas, Texas. While covering Detroit, he reported on major national stories, including the mass shooting at Michigan State University and the historic six-week strike of the United Auto Workers. Gutierrez also played a major role in the intensive coverage across CBS News and the stations' platforms of the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbly – the first parents in the US to be held criminally responsible for a school shooting committed by their child. Gutierrez graduated from New York University and is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.