Best Seat in the House

For many months after the pandemic struck in 2020, Winston Webber, second violinist in the National Arts Centre Orchestra, was wondering if he and his colleagues in classical music would ever play again.

With his professional life passing before his eyes, he began writing about the people, the pieces, and the concerts that meant most to him after a half century of rehearsing and performing.

The result is Best Seat in the House, a touching and thoughtful memoir that moves from Webber’s own vast experience to provide a sweeping panorama of the classical music world. With rollicking humour and a sharp eye, he delves into the deep difficulty of high performance, the mysteries of musical collaboration, the enduring genius of the great composers, the important role of audiences, and, above all else, the relevance of great art to an often troubled world.