“For the past 32 years, Jim Bode has been a percussionist with the San Angelo Symphony,” writes Yfat Yossifor in last Saturday’s (10/9) San Angelo Standard-Times (Texas). “This year’s symphony season kicked off Saturday, Oct. 7, with ‘The Return.’ The concert commemorated the symphony’s return after 10 years to the city auditorium, renamed Murphey Performance Hall…. Bode has worked as a musician in a variety of capacities—including playing jazz and bagpipes…. Several times a week, he heads out to the field and helps out band director John Merz at Grape Creek High School.… In 2003, he started the West Texas Jazz Orchestra and plays several times a year at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts and other engagements…. Bode is excited about getting back into the Murphey Performance Hall. ‘It used to be an adventure working in there,’ he said. He recalls playing Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ [with] bats flying overhead…. The extensive renovations included repairing ceiling tiles and décor, replacing seats, changing out the restrooms and adding a backstage area and the orchestra pit.” Hector Guzman is music director and Courtney Mahaffey is executive director of the San Angelo Symphony, which gave its first concert in 1949.
Posted October 19, 2017
