“Juan Ramírez Hernández is a longtime violinist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Last month, he was one of five orchestral musicians in North America to receive a Ford Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service at the 2018 [National Conference] of the League of American Orchestras in Chicago,” writes Mark Gresham in Thursday’s (7/5) ArtsATL. “He is the founding artistic director of the Atlanta Virtuosi Foundation, Inc. … He also founded Music for Success!, an educational program [for] children of diverse backgrounds. This season also marks his 14th year as artistic director and conductor of the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra. Q: One of your ways of being a symphony musician is to also be involved in the larger community. Ramírez: I’d been doing concerts for the Latin-American Association for 12 years. Then I was one of the founders of the ASO’s outreach program and the Talent Development Program. Q: What does the [Ford Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service] award recognize? Ramírez: What it’s all about is, what do you do in the community aside from your work with the symphony.… My thanks go to my Atlanta Symphony colleagues who have believed in my efforts to bring performances to our diverse metro Atlanta communities.”
Posted July 9, 2018
Pictured: Juan Ramírez Hernández (left) with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra colleagues at a community engagement event
