Thankfully, not every musical success story depends on Auto-Tune and TikTok. In less than two years, the 澳门老奇人论坛 Community Symphony has grown from 40 to 72 musicians and currently fills the 350 seat Davis Performance Hall with their performances.
The project began when Wayne Gallops, Chair of the Music Department, initiated an outreach effort in fall of 2022. Using everything from social media to word of mouth, Gallops corralled students, alumni, university faculty, and community members.
鈥淗aving connections and knowing who to reach out to in the community is key,鈥� Gallops said. 鈥淥ur department and faculty have deep connections to local and regional musicians who enjoy playing and performing.鈥�
Those connections are important since symphony must have woodwinds, brass and percussion instruments that are not necessarily commonly played.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been blessed with participants who play some of the more 鈥榚xotic鈥� instruments like double reeds, French horn, cello and bass so we can perform with a full complement of musicians and sections鈥� Gallops explained.
After initial meetings in early 2023, they were ready for their first concert in April, performing a mixed repertoire including 鈥淐apriccio Italian鈥� by Tchaikovsky and 鈥淭he Prayer.鈥�
The symphony orchestra shows a great deal of diversity, especially in terms of the age range. Some musicians are retirees while others are in their mid-teens.
One of the younger members, Mason Scott, plays the French horn. He is a senior at Patrick County High School and lives just over the state line in Lawsonville, North Carolina. It鈥檚 an hour and a half to and from Radford for weekly rehearsals, but he generally gets home at a reasonable time.
鈥淚 joined this ensemble to have more opportunities to play and so far, it鈥檚 been worth it,鈥� he said. It is good experience for Scott who composes and plans to major in music education and performance in college.
On the other end of the scale is retiree, Rhea Epstein, who lives in Blacksburg and plays violin.
She joined because she loves the music and was inspired to sign up because of Vladimir Kromin, the director of the university鈥檚 Chamber Strings Ensemble and first chair violinist.
鈥淚've been studying with Vladimir for the last six to seven years,鈥� said Epstein, who first picked up a violin at age eight.
鈥淚 think I'm helping to fill out the ranks,鈥� she said. 鈥淪tring players seem so few these days.鈥�
Sitting next to Epstein is 澳门老奇人论坛 student Timothy Damankah, who studies Biomedical Science and plans to be a physician. He began playing music at age six on a piano keyboard, but he is a violinist in the group.
鈥淎fter working away at organic chemistry and other intensive classes, these rehearsals can be quite therapeutic and fulfilling,鈥� Damankah said.
鈥淢usic performance and original composition are near and dear to my heart,鈥� Damankah explained. 鈥淏eing involved in music has made life much more enjoyable, thrilling, and exciting.鈥�
While he has performed in public several times, the most recent concert on Nov. 19 was his first with a full symphonic orchestra.
That show packed the house, performing the 鈥淓gmont Overture鈥� by Beethoven, 鈥淒anzon No 2鈥� by Arturo Marquez and popular music from 鈥淭he Lion King鈥� and Paul McCartney.
Gallops is amazed by the talent and dedication of his players and proud of what they have accomplished in a short time.
鈥淭he University Community Symphony personifies what a university is all about,鈥� he noted.
鈥淲e provide deep and diverse educational opportunities, outreach to and interaction with the community, recruitment connections for high school students, and serve as an arts centerpiece for the New River Valley.鈥�