May 5, 2004
Musicians face measurable challenge
Northwestern Michigan Honors Orchestra performs Sunday at Milliken Auditorium
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Sixty young musicians from around the state will be getting a taste of life as a professional orchestra musician this weekend.
They will gather in Traverse City to kick off rehearsals Friday evening as part of the Northwestern Michigan Honors Orchestra, a project of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. By Sunday afternoon, they will have perfected three pieces for a public concert at the Milliken Auditorium: Beethoven's Egmont Overture, the 4th movement from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and Respighi's Pines of Rome.
The students auditioned by tape last fall and those chosen for the orchestra come from as far away as Lansing, Manistee, Battle Creek and Cadillac. More than 35 attend Traverse City Area Public Schools as well as Interlochen Pathfinder School, Traverse Bay Community School and the Interlochen Arts Academy. In addition, a handful of orchestra members are students at Northwestern Michigan College.
The opportunity for these students to learn and perform these pieces while being guided by TSO conductor Kevin Rhodes is very exciting.
"First off, I like the music selection, it's amazing," said James Alpers, a senior at West High School who was chosen as the orchestra's principal trumpet player. "It is going to be extremely difficult. Normally we play the music that is difficult but after a few times we can play it. This is going to be very challenging."
Zack Boyt, an eleventh grade student at Central, is thrilled to work closely with Rhodes. Boyt, a cello player who has been a member of the Traverse Youth Symphony Orchestra for three years, aspires to attend Interlochen Arts Academy next year.
"The opportunity to work with Kevin Rhodes is really exciting, he seems like a really great musician and it will be a lot of fun to work under him," Boyt said.
Anna Kindt, a senior at Central, is also eager to work with other top-notch musicians from around the state.
"It's the same section year after year and now we'll be working with people from all across the state," she said. "It's always fun to work with other musicians and just the people in the viola section will be different, I've never worked with them before."
The Northwestern Michigan Honors Orchestra was the brainchild of the TSO education committee, which includes community volunteers, TSO board members, area music teachers and the Traverse Youth Orchestra conductors. Orchestra executive director Andy Buelow noted that the experience will be unique for many of the musicians.
"They will have the experience of being together with other students who are playing at a very high level for their age," he said. "Because a lot of times the musicians who are absolutely at the top of the pack in their school don't meet others like themselves."
Buelow added that Rhodes will be conducting them at a near-professional level.
"Kevin is not a youth orchestra conductor, but a conductor of professional orchestras," he said. "Obviously he will adjust his approach accordingly but it will be different from anything they have done before."
The Northwestern Michigan Honors Orchestra concert will be held at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Milliken Auditorium. Tickets are $10 per person and will be available from the TSO, call 947-7120, or at the door.