The San Diego Union-Tribune: Pandemic pivots enrich orchestral director Sameer Patel’s family, career

The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Beth Wood

Before the pandemic shutdown in March 2020, Sameer Patel was set to be at the podium of several orchestras across the country. But suddenly, he went from leading 60 to100 musicians in front of enthusiastic audiences to conducting an orchestra of one.

With all his gigs canceled, Patel, 40, stayed home with his 2-year-old son, Devan, whose preschool had closed. Patel’s wife, Shannon, a memory-care specialist, is an essential worker. After two or three weeks of caring for Devan, Sameer decided to become his teacher.

“I threw myself into it and consider it my greatest accomplishment of my life — teaching my son for nine months,” Patel recalled, speaking from his family’s Bankers Hill home. “I drew up lesson plans — I’d talk to my mother-in-law, a retired kindergarten teacher. I’d find little themes — volcanoes, bridges. Balboa Park became our backyard.

Read more here.

Photo: Brittany Cruz-Fejeran