IMPROMPTU by Rosie Constantine
Colin Sorgi
VIOLA
One of the best things about having a conversation with violist Colin Sorgi is the constant stream of unprompted dad jokes . It ’ s unclear if this started with the birth of his eldest daughter , Clara , age 3 , or back when he was just a “ plant dad ” ( why have 2 plants when you can have 20 ?).
His motivation to delve into hobbies , including — but certainly not limited to — his love of plants and gardening seems to have been inherited by Clara :
“ She ’ ll discover something and do a deep dive into it ,” says Colin . “ We definitely learn from each other ! I never thought I ’ d be answering questions like ‘ does space move ?’ from my 3-year-old . I don ’ t always know a lot about the things she ’ s interested in , but I want to learn so that I can experience it with her .”
After Colin and his wife Jaclyn moved this summer in preparation for baby Chloe , Colin and Clara landscaped their new front yard together .
“ I have a tendency to go overboard in researching new projects , but Clara and I both got really into it . She helped dig it up , put down mulch , and plant the garden , and now she feels a real sense of ownership and pride in it and goes out to water it every day !”
When not studying up on space or landscaping with Clara , Colin has taken the pandemic to hone his talents at video editing , showcased through the BSO ’ s Lunch Bachs series that he co-created with violist Helen Hess and the BSO ’ s viola section .
“ I wanted to reexamine how the orchestra gets out into the world . Introducing audiences to our personal lives allowed us to connect with people in a different way . We always tried to bring positivity , even when things were not so positive , and that was sometimes more important than the music .”
You can watch Lunch Bachs ( while on the lookout for Clara ’ s recurring role !) at BSOmusic . org / OffStage .
MITRO HOOD
NOV-DEC 2021 / OVERTURE 45