“On nights when many of us are watching TV on the couch, hundreds of amateur musicians are showing up at churches and rec rooms to participate in community orchestras,” writes Rachael Myrow in Thursday’s (2/18) KQED Arts website (Northern California). “Why? For the love of it, says George Yefchak, a member of the Nova Vista Symphony, one of the oldest amateur orchestras in Silicon Valley. The orchestra is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.… Yefchak is part of a vibrant scene that compels thousands of passionate musicians to dedicate most of their free time to rehearsals in churches and multi-purpose rooms rented on the cheap from local schools. In truth, the terms ‘amateur’ and ‘professional’ as they’re generally understood today don’t really describe this world effectively. There’s a spectrum of talent that runs between those two points.… By [one] estimation, the San Francisco Bay Area alone is home to more than 60 community orchestras, like the Redwood Symphony, the Peninsula Symphony, and the South Bay Philharmonic (originally the Hewlett-Packard Symphony Orchestra).… Is the Bay Area typical for density of community orchestras? It’s impossible to tell.… Celeste Wroblewski of the League of American Orchestras explains that definitions of community orchestras vary.”
Posted February 19, 2016
