The magic of excellent music!

A couple musical experiences from this past weekend made me think of how much teamwork it takes to create quality music.  As you may know, I have been playing trumpet in the Lima Symphony Orchestra longer than I’ve done any other musical activity in my life.  The LSO re-auditioned the entire orchestra in 1987 and that was my door into this professional music organization.

This past Saturday, the LSO performed Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 as well as his Violin Concerto. During a “symphony week,” we prepare a concert on just four rehearsals: Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights and then a dress rehearsal on the afternoon before the Saturday evening concert.  Each rehearsal runs 2½ hours long.  

The idea of teamwork was impressed on me during our rehearsals as well as the performance.  This was not a new revelation to me, but rather a reminder of the amount of intricate work it takes to create a fine finished product.  Orchestral masterpieces such as symphonies, are so much more involved than say a typical pop song.  First of all, the length of the music is nearly 50 minutes long and divided into four sections or movements; each one of differing styles.  I once upon a time, back in my school of music days, used to dream I could write a symphony.  The more I learned and experienced, the more I realized it was exactly that: a dream!  I have such respect and admiration for the great composers of symphonic music.

Each section of the orchestra can be doing its own thing, but they intricately are woven together by a master composer to create great music.  If it has been a while since you have experienced “really” great quality music, I invite you to give it a try and attend a live concert.  Commercial music is more mainstream in our culture today.  All you need to do is watch TV with all its entertainment shows, or even the Grammy Awards on TV and you see commercial music.  It can be very entertaining, but often relies on production to entertain as much as the music itself.

I am going to invite you to discover music for its own sake. This Saturday night, the King’s Singers will be in concert at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center. Six male singers and their voices: that’s what you get with the King’s Singers. If you appreciate quality music for the sake of music alone, you will love and be entertained by The King’s Singers. It may not be for everyone, just as dressing up for important events isn’t for everyone, however, if you can appreciate excellent music, you will be entertained.  

I am pleased there are so many buying tickets to this concert. We are well over 1,000 seats sold for Saturday night’s concert.  We can still fill a few more seats, but we do have music appreciators coming from all over the region, so my box office manager tells me. 

The Van Wert County Foundation follows this concert of the King’s Singers with the 16th annual Van Wert County Young Artists Showcase recital.  It will be held this Sunday, February 17, at 3 p.m., in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church in Van Wert.  This program features students from Van Wert, Crestview and Lincolnview High School music programs.  A special feature of this year’s recital will be two alumni performers: vocalist Jake Wilder and clarinetist Scott Turner. Both have performed in this recital in past years and have gone on to become outstanding musicians. I want the high school students to see what they could possibly become if they have the desire.  I think all of you will enjoy hearing these fine musicians as well as the current high school students.

I look forward to sharing more wonderful music memories with you soon!  

FINÉ.