Magik*Magik Orchestra Is Back For a Sweet Sixteen

Turning 16 is a classic milestone for American teenagers: the driver’s license, the questionable decisions, the exhilaration of independence.

But for Magik*Magik Orchestra, the anniversary feels more like a homecoming, says founder and artistic director Minna Choi. Two San Francisco shows this Friday, Aug. 16 — an early, kid-friendly show and a later one for the grownups — mark the orchestra’s first live, public performances since before the pandemic. Billed as a “sweet 16” party, both will feature Magik*Magik’s string quartet accompanying singer-songwriter Diana Gameros and the Shakespeare-inspired indie-pop band the Frail Ophelias.

“It all feels very celebratory,” says Choi, especially on the heels of a tough few years. “We’re finally emerging from our little hidden place.”

As a made-to-order orchestra whose configurations can range from a solo violinist to an 80-piece symphony, Magik*Magik has occupied a unique place in the Bay Area music landscape. Founded in 2008, they quickly became your favorite indie rocker’s favorite collaborator, providing live and in-studio accompaniment for Death Cab for Cutie, Weezer, Third Eye Blind, the Dodos, Geographer and John Vanderslice. In 2014, Magik*Magik got hired as the house band for Pop-Up Magazine, and toured the country for much of the next decade performing original scores for the beloved storytelling event.

But the pandemic was brutal to the orchestra: Choi recalls losing $40,000 of upcoming work in one week back in April 2020, more than a third of their yearly budget. John Vanderslice, a major Magik*Magik collaborator and patron, moved to Los Angeles that year after closing his original Mission District location of Tiny Telephone Studios. And Pop-Up Magazine, which briefly returned to live performances after a COVID hiatus, permanently ended its run in January 2023.

So Choi pivoted. She moved to Sausalito in 2021, into a spot with a room for a home studio, and picked up work composing film scores. Magik*Magik stayed afloat with studio work, including some collaborations with bands, but increasingly for an expanding roster of corporate clients, like Meta and a range of gaming apps. Ever since, Choi’s quest for financial stability — and determination to keep rates competitive for the orchestra’s top-tier musicians — means their live performances have mainly been for large company holiday parties and galas.

But Choi says they’re ready for the next chapter. “Coming out of COVID, and entering this new phase of my life — I’m in my 40s now — I was thinking, ‘What kind of work do we want to do? Do we really want to just work for corporations?’ That was never the intention of this group,” she says. Looking into fundraising possibilities, she realized it was time to treat the orchestra like a true San Francisco arts institution, and throw their own events.

“We had super-scrappy Magik 1.0, where everybody got paid $50 and a slice of pizza to do a cool show with the Dodos. And then we grew up out of that and financially became more secure, but artistically it’s been a bit more corporate,” she says. “So I see this as Magik 3.0 — how can we combine these in a way that lets us go back to collaborating with up-and-coming independent artists?”

The Aug. 16 shows will be their first foray into this new chapter, and also a bit of an experiment, says Choi: Prior to the main performances from Gameros and the Frail Ophelias, musicians will be stationed throughout the War Memorial’s elegant, Beaux Arts Green Room playing short solo sets, and attendees are welcome to wander the space, taking it all in at their own pace. The family-friendly shows will provide floor mats, juice boxes, crayons and coloring pages with illustrated portraits of the artists. (Choi envisions the adjacent balcony area as a “cry area,” should younger kids need a place to let it all out.)

Both shows, Choi hopes, will offer the kind of intimate space in which attendees can strike up a conversation with their neighbor. Because coming out of the pandemic, her other big goal for Magik*Magik was that it should help foster human connection.

“For better or for worse, Magik*Magik Orchestra always reflects where I’m at personally,” she says with a laugh. “[The pandemic] made me realize how important friendships are to my mental health … and the way that I’ve always made friends, since I was a child, was through music.”

“So I want to do our part to help the people of San Francisco feel a little less isolated, a little less lonely,” she says. “And two people connecting over their love of a song is a really powerful, genuine way to make a new friend.”

‘Noise Pop Presents: Magik In the Green Room,’ a sweet sixteen anniversary show featuring Diana Gameros, the Frail Ophelias, Magik*Magik and Live Strings, runs for two shows, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., on Friday, Aug. 16, at the Green Room in the War Memorial (401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco). Tickets ($25) and more info here.