If you have ever watched a symphony orchestra, perhaps for a moment on television if not in person, you might recall lots of violins, violas, cellos and bass fiddles.
A symphony orchestra has lots of other instruments too – clarinets, flutes, piccolos, oboes, bassoons, French horns, trumpets, trombones, kettledrums and perhaps a few I have missed.
The violins, violas, cellos and bass fiddles are called the string section. They usually carry the melody, if the composer includes one. They make up the largest section of the orchestra, and they are nearly always up front, the instrumentalists those of us in the audience usually watch.
On a recent Sunday, the conductor of the Kent State Orchestra, Isaac Terceros, gave about 70 donors who support the student orchestra with scholarship donations, a lesson on the importance of every instrument and every instrumental section in an orchestra.
In a special concert in Kent State’s new band education facility, the donors, most of whom are local town and gown people, sat among the orchestra members. The side-by-side exercise had the donors sitting in the round with the orchestra. Some sat with the strings, others with the brass instruments, a few with the woodwinds, one or two near the kettledrums.
As donors, Janet and I were seated between the clarinets and flutes. It was an eye-opener. I had never paid much attention to either section, although I knew they were important.
Terceros wisely selected themes from familiar symphonic works enabling us to listen to the whole orchestra, but to also better appreciate each orchestra section and its contribution to the whole. A medley of themes from eight familiar compositions pieced together by Keith Young opened the concert.
Terceros mischievously closed the concert with a tune called “Tico Tico,” which Brazilian film star Carmen Miranda popularized. Its Spanish lyrics and Latin beat musically describe a hungry sparrow encountering a beautiful cornflower.
Most of the people we talked with loved it. I will never again ignore the clarinets or the flutes when I sit through a symphony concert. They are nearly always busy responding to the conductor. Nearby, I could see the oboes doing the same. One lady was seated next to the kettledrums. When they boomed, I felt sorry for her, but she came through the experience OK.
About 75 students in the orchestra receive donor-provided scholarships that fund to a limited extent their participation. The philanthropic organization that helps collect and distribute these awards is the Kent State Orchestra Society, a volunteer organization whose mission is to support and sustain the university’s orchestra program. Its major fundraiser is the “Evening with the Orchestra” held in April.
Darin Olson, director of marching bands, says the new band education facility where we were seated is a $13.5 million structure that was added to the KSU Ice Arena. It hosts the Marching Golden Flashes, Flasher Brass, wind ensemble, symphony band, university band, KSU Youth Orchestra, KSU Youth Winds and the KSU Orchestra. A combination of state and funds, fundraising and debt service is paying for facility which seems very much needed by the Glauser School of Music.
Sarah Labovitz, director of the School of Music, says the new band education facility hosted the Brandenburg String Camp last summer and the Orchestra/String Day last spring. In November, it will offer KSU Flute Day, Double Reed Day, Clarinet Day and KSU Brass Day. She said the facility hosts visiting secondary school groups and ensemble clinics. It showcases what KSU music clinics can offer and has improved Kent State’s competitiveness in attracting students.
Seated side-by-side within the student orchestra was educational and fun. The student musicians would occasionally turn and thank us for support. The excellent acoustics enabled us to hear Terceros talk to his orchestra. The concert broadened our appreciation of all the instruments that a conductor like Terceros coordinates to create beautiful, big sounds and rhythms.
Symphony concerts, movie film scores, band concerts and marching band performances, small group music, chamber music, skilled solo performances and more. They are sounds that enrich our lives so much so we sometimes take them for granted. Kent State’s new band education facility is providing its students with a well-designed practice center for their mission of learning and performing beautiful music.
David E. Dix is a former publisher of The Record-Courier.
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