Changing Tahoe’s tune: Conductor James Rawie launches the new Tahoe Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus

When conductor James Rawie entered adulthood in the mid-1960s, he, like many people in the arts, believed he’d embark on a career unrelated to the arts. Despite having played trumpet since age 10, singing in professional choruses and growing up with a piano-prodigy mother, he entered college at the University of California, Irvine, as a psychobiology major, with plans to go to medical school.  

Back then, if you’d have told him he would end up starting the Tahoe Philharmonic in 2024, he probably wouldn’t have believed you. 

But then he had an epiphany. He re-enrolled at UC Irvine, started all over and completed an undergraduate degree in music, and later earned a master’s in orchestral conducting at SUNY Stony Brook in New York. He led orchestras in Puerto Rico for 30 years—while also enjoying a multitude of athletic pursuits, from scuba diving to bicycle racing and triathlons—before he and his wife, Nancy, settled in Lake Tahoe, a different sort of outdoor playground, to begin a new chapter in their lives.  

Here, Rawie began a 19-year stint leading a classical music organization called the Tahoe Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, aka TOCCATA. Last year, Rawie moved on, and the couple established the Tahoe Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, a nonprofit that brings classical music, primarily sacred works featuring choral performances, to the Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Carson Valley and Reno areas.  

In Rawie’s 20th year as a Tahoe-based artistic director and conductor, Tahoe Philharmonic launched its first season, with eight scheduled productions, in January. Shows are planned for spring, summer, fall and the holiday season that showcase symphonic choral works of a sacred nature, in cathedrals and churches—intimate settings where, Rawie said, they were meant to be heard due to their natural acoustic benefits.  

“All the major composers, Bach and Beethoven and Mozart … they wrote their music to be played in churches,” said Valerie Forte, a member of the Tahoe Philharmonic board. “It was the churches that paid the musicians, so being back in churches, where you get the best sound, makes perfect sense.” 

Rawie said he is following in the footsteps of his mentor, renowned conductor Robert Shaw, leader of the Robert Shaw Chorale, as well as famed German conductor Helmuth Rilling, in incorporating a chorus into symphonic performances. “My mission, my gift, is to be a symphonic choral director,” Rawie said. “Of the eight shows we’ll do throughout the year, six of them will involve a chorus. That is unusual, and it gives us kind of a niche that others don’t fit.”  

Rawie is proud that the Tahoe Philharmonic will aim to go where the people are, doing multiple performances of each production, in varying locations, to increase accessibility. For example, its April performance of St. Matthew’s Passion and The Messiah—An Easter Celebration will take place at churches in Carson City, South Lake Tahoe, Reno and Incline Village. 

“We take our productions to churches that are big enough to fit 60 to 90 performers …. to keep classical music alive in places where it otherwise may not be found,” he said. “Most people from these areas will not drive out of town to see a concert, but if there’s classical music in your town, many people will come to it if you make it affordable.” Rawie said base ticket prices start at $30.  

“Our mission is to keep classical music alive, and the only way to do that is to take it to the people,” he said. 

Additionally, the Tahoe Phil will perform occasionally in homes, which are the settings for fundraising events, such as a February show at Zephyr Cove which featured stunning Tahoe views as well as food and drink. And in spring 2026, the group—including musicians, singers and loyal fans—will travel to Croatia for performances in centuries-old cathedrals around the country. 

“It’s music that just touches your soul,” Forte said.  

The Tahoe Philharmonic is scheduled to perform on Saturday, April 12, at the Shepherd of the Sierra Lutheran Church in Carson City; Sunday, April 13, at Our Lady of Tahoe Catholic Church in South Lake Tahoe; Tuesday, April 15, Saint Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno; and Wednesday, April 16, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Incline Village. To learn more, visit www.tahoe-philharmonic.com.