“When Tamara McAllister decided to join the University Community Orchestra a few years ago, more than two decades after she stopped playing her viola, she thought she might be too old,” writes Meg Jones in Saturday’s (11/2) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin). “ ‘I was concerned at first I’d be the oldest one there,’ said McAllister, now 51. She needn’t have worried.… The orchestra of 130 includes musicians of all skill levels and experience, teenage University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students earning college credit, middle-age folks who love the camaraderie and retirees seeking a way to stay active…. The orchestra meets at Bader Music Hall on the UWM campus once a week to rehearse … for a concert at the end of the semester…. Carl Gleysteen … started playing the violin at the age of 5. That was 95 years ago. He’s been in the University Community Orchestra since the group formed in 1993.… ‘Carl is 100 and he’s still playing violin and he’s pretty good. It’s something you can look up to,’ said [19-year-old bassist and bassoonist] Ian McAllister, who wants to become a high school social studies teacher. ‘Maybe when I’m older I’ll still be able to play that well.’ ”
Posted November 4, 2013
