Who We Are
Magik*Magik is a made-to-order orchestra for artists and creatives.
The size of the orchestra is dependent on the artist's goal and has ranged from a single violinist to a 80-piece symphony and choir.
Founded and organized by composer Minna Choi, M*MO debuted at Herbst Theater in 2008 performing Jonny Greenwood’s Popcorn Superhet Receiver to critical acclaim and a sold out house.
Since then, M*MO has collaborated with hundreds of artists and cultural institutions on an international level almost entirely by word of mouth. Ranging in size from a single violinist to a 80-piece orchestra and choir, M*MO has cast orchestral players and arrangers into hundreds of creative endeavors, including a 5-week North American tour and with Death Cab for Cutie; live performances with Chicago, Sting, Thao, Nick Cave, Third Eye Blind and Weezer; recording the score for the major motion pictures Looper, Kill the Messenger and Young Ones; summer camps for more than 700 Children at the Stern Grove Festival; an original children’s book soundtrack for McSweeney’s; numerous recordings with The Dodos, John Vanderslice, and composer Nathaniel Stookey; several sold-out shows with The Walkmen and Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers; and numerous others. M*MO has performed at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco, accompanied performances by the ODC/Dance Company alongside cellist Zoë Keating, and performed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as part of an exhibition on Italian Futurists. In 2014, M*MO celebrated its 5 year anniversary with a 10 band collaborative bill at The Fox Theater.
Most of the bands we work with have never worked with orchestral musicians prior to working with M*MO. To date M*MO has proudly earned and distributed half a million dollars to freelance orchestral musicians. M*MO is the in-house orchestra for Tiny Telephone Studios and a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Our Players
Our players are selected for projects based on their technical ability, professionalism, coachability, and their innate understanding of pop music. Their well-rounded musicality make the Magik*Magik Orchestra the favorite of producers including John Congleton and Chris Walla, amongst many others. The players in the Magik*Magik Orchestra perform frequently with the Bay Area’s top orchestras and are graduates of respected musical institutions including the San Francisco Conservatory, the Juilliard School, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Eastman School of Music.
Our Arrangers & Composers
Minna Choi - Artistic Director Minna Choi (b. 1981) founded the Magik*Magik Orchestra in 2008 and remains its music director and lead arranger. Since starting Magik, she has worked closely with over 200 artists writing musical arrangements and conducting performances. Minna’s natural musicality and warm professionalism have guided her writing collaborations with highly respected acts such as Death Cab for Cutie, Weezer, John Vanderslice, The Dodos, Explosions in the Sky, The Lonely Forest, Zach Rogue, Thao, How to Dress Well, Mike Patton, Santana, Third Eye Blind, Thao, Zoe Keating, Son Lux, Hauschka, Faux Fix and Christina Vantzou.
Watch Minna’s talk “Music - The Sound of Hope,” during which she tells her story while conducting an original score that she wrote for an event for the Northern California Producer’s Guild.
Magik*Magik now has several assistant arrangers we hire for recordings and shows including:
Karl Digerness - Karl is a southern expat who has called San Francisco home since 2003. He has written dozens of arrangements for sacred, jazz and chamber music as well as charts for bands such as Third Eye Blind and Doe Eye. Karl's indie-pop project, The Frail Ophelias, explores the work of Shakespeare. Their first song cycle, “Macbeth”, debuted at NYC’s Chelsea Music Festival in 2013, and was performed at Stern Grove on the Road in 2014. Additionally, he has composed for Project Agora and San Francisco International Arts Festival.
Nahuel Bronzini - Nahuel Bronzini (b. 1988) is an Argentine guitarist and composer currently based in San Francisco. He studied at Escuela de Música Contemporánea (Buenos Aires) and at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Besides his arranging and production work, he currently performs with chamber jazz group “The View From Bernal Hill”.
Dario Slavazza - Dario Slavazza is a Bay-area native multi-instrumentalist, arranger, performer, and coffee enthusiast. His hobbies include home-made audio electronics, motorcycles, and books.
Britney Kaplan - Britney Kaplan met Minna Choi at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, both having studied under Elinor Armer. She began working with Magik in 2011 and has since then written arrangements for Third Eye Blind, producer Narada Michael Walden, City Church San Francisco, and several local artists.