Fall arts preview 2023: San Diego violinist and radiologist David Buckley shines in three worlds
A full-time radiologist, a member of Camarada chamber-music ensemble and a musician in La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, Buckley is preparing for a new season, hoping for a repeat tour of Argentina and tossing out one-liners when things get intense
By Beth Wood, San Diego Union-Tribune
David Buckley has had a three-pronged career for more than 25 years. A violinist in the San Diego chamber-music ensemble Camarada since 1994, he joined La Jolla Symphony & Chorus three years later.
His day job has nothing to do with music. Buckley is a board-certified radiologist with Radiology Medical Group.
“The creative aspect of making music is not detrimental to medicine — it brings more balance to life and helps cross-train your brain,” said Buckley, who earned his medical degree from the University of Minnesota and did his residency and further training at the University of California San Francisco. “When I wasn’t doing a lot of music, I didn’t feel complete.”
Radiologists, he noted, have more regulated hours than other doctors. La Jolla Symphony & Chorus is made up largely of musicians who are students or full-time professionals.
Buckley has another ace in his violin: his wife, flutist Beth Ross Buckley, Camarada’s co-founder and co-artistic director.
San Diego violinist David Buckley plays his instrument outdoors. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“David is a gifted physician who is one of the most insightful radiologists I have ever worked with. He’s a leader people look up to in times of difficulty. I have always attributed his demeanor of calm confidence to his years of musical performance at the highest levels.”
— Sharjeel Sabir, president of Radiology Medical Group
“I credit my wife for the chamber-music opportunities Camarada has given me,” he said, speaking from the couple’s summer home in Minnesota, the state where both were born and raised.
“Performing chamber music with great players is critical for me. Without being married to Beth, it would have been difficult or impossible for me to do so much in music.”
Buckley, 65, is already preparing for the 2023-24 seasons of both Camarada and La Jolla Symphony, where he serves as co-concertmaster.
Always eager to expand his musical horizons, he is poised to perform about 20 works with Camarada and 15 with LJSC that he has not publicly played before.
The Buckleys are also members of a Camarada spinoff, its tango quartet. The other members are pianist Dana Burnett and bassist Andrés Martín. Burnett shares artistic director duties with Ross Buckley. Martín — a native of Argentina and longtime resident of Tijuana — is Camarada’s composer-in-residence.
They all hope to tour South America again, as the quartet did so successfully in May. The quartet performed in four venues in Argentina, showcasing works by the legendary nuevo tango composer, Astor Piazzolla, as well as by Martín and others.
“We were in three different cities and in all of them, people came to me asking if Dave’s Argentinian!” Martín exclaimed. “Tango is, in many ways, its own idiom. It’s rare to see someone who’s not Argentinian handle those nuances so well.”
David and Beth met as students at Minnesota’s St. Olaf’s College. He was concertmaster in the college orchestra; she played piccolo. They’ll celebrate their 40th anniversary this November and have two adult children.
It’s not surprising that the couple has a special expertise in flute/violin repertoire.
Violinist David Buckley has been the co-concertmaster of the La Jolla Symphony for almost 20 years and also is a regular performer with the Camarada chamber music ensemble. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“Dave is always extremely prepared, has a gorgeous sound and brings passion to the music. It’s a luxury to perform with him,” Ross Buckley said, speaking from a Camarada Tango Quartet rehearsal in Minnesota. “At rehearsal, Dave has a lot of one-liners that make everyone laugh. We need that because we get intense when working on music.”
Martín added: “Dave’s usually serious, so his jokes shake things up. That’s the beauty of it. I adore working with him.”
On Nov. 12, as part of the statewide California Festival of New Music, Camarada will perform Martín’s Abrazar Al Viento. They will also play Unstoppable, also by Martín, and Three Goat Blues by Gilad Cohen.
On Nov. 18, Camarada will present “Music SHE Wrote,” at UC San Diego’s Park & Market. Buckley will be featured on Quartet: She Wrote, by Grammy Award-winning American composer Libby Larsen.
Each year, the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus performs six sets of weekend concerts at UC San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium. The avocational musicians rehearse three hours each Monday evening through the academic year, with two additional rehearsals during concert weeks.
Buckley alternates LJSC concertmaster duties with Peter Clarke.
“It’s more demanding being in a leadership position,” said Buckley, who will perform in all the upcoming season’s concerts. “Being concertmaster on every set, I wouldn’t be able to prepare to the extent I would like.”
While at LJSC, Buckley has also performed as a soloist. His personal highlights match up with those of his former conductor, Steven Schick, who is now its music director emeritus.
“Through my 16 years of conducting the La Jolla Symphony,” Schick said via email, “David, as co-concertmaster, shared his superb artistry and capable leadership in every rehearsal and performance.
“I’ll never forget his playing Florence Price’s Second Violin Concerto (2018), or Kevin Zhang’s double concerto (2016), which he performed with Peter Clarke. But the memory closest to my heart will always be his solo from the Benedictus of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis (2010).
“David changed some lives with that one!”
Because LJSC has premiered new works and played honored classics since its beginnings in the 1950s, there’s no doubt this mix will continue under Sameer Patel, who will now lead the symphony.
“I played with Sameer when he guested and I’m looking forward to him being our music director,” Buckley said.
At Radiology Medical Group — after years of serving as president — Buckley stepped down in January but continues to work full time. Sharjeel Sabir succeeded him.
“David is a gifted physician who is one of the most insightful radiologists I have ever worked with,” Sabir said via email. “He’s a leader people look up to in times of difficulty. I have always attributed his demeanor of calm confidence to his years of musical performance at the highest levels.”
California Festival: A Celebration of New Music concerts
Camarada: Música Nueva
When: 4 p.m., Sunday Nov. 12
Where: La Jolla Presbyterian Church, 7715 Draper St., La Jolla
Admission: Free-will offering
Phone: (619) 231-3702
Online: camarada.org
Camarada: Music of the Americas – Music SHE Wrote™
When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 18
Where: UC San Diego Park & Market, 1100 Market St., downtown