Beginning with the 2007-2008 season, Maestro Wilson will write a column on this page and in the hardcopy program for each concert - a total of five for the season.  His topics will be more specific and incisive than in the past and are sure to provoke stimulating thought about the many aspects of music.  Each column will be published at least a month before each concert, so keep checking this web site for updates.

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Posted Mar 15, 2008

Thinking About “25”

On the surface, our all-Beethoven season finale might look like any other season finale around the world.  We have a fine orchestra, incomparable music, true artistry, and a confluence of tradition and innovation.  But for the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, there is something more.  We’ve been nurturing something very special—waiting, building and hoping for years.  Music lovers in our city have taken notice and our audiences have grown dramatically.  Beethoven’s mighty Eroica brings our twenty-fourth season to a triumphant close while heralding a key benchmark in the life of any ensemble—our 2008-2009 Silver Anniversary Season.

The Chamber Orchestra started as a place for fine musicians to make serious music.  Performances were few.  The budget was painfully laughable.  This beautiful light in the darkness might have been extinguished if not for the care and oversight of longtime musicians and their dedicated music directors, like Edward Lanning, Randy Fischer, and the late Frank Toth, who conducted some fine performances before cancer took him at far too young an age.  Diana Zombola, our principal violist, is the only orchestra member who has performed with the Chamber Orchestra all 24 years, also serving admirably on the board of directors.

On an August evening in 1996, just off a plane from Oklahoma , I stepped in front of the Chamber Orchestra for the first time.  There were four candidates for Music Director; each would conduct half a rehearsal.  Three finalists would conduct during the 1996-1997 season … or so they thought.  A brief hour over Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and we were fast friends.  The search was called off and I was named Music Director.  The following week, I attended a board meeting, learning that the orchestra had a grand total of $60 in the bank.  There was work to do!

It all seems so quaint, simple, and logical now.  We raised the level of our performances.  We moved the orchestra downtown to First Christian Church—an acoustically and aesthetically superior location we are still proud to call “home.”  We put new marketing and development plans in place and started reaching out to other performing arts groups, joining forces to get the community excited about our mission.  We were growing and succeeding against all odds.

Our successes also attracted other community leaders.  Lionel Rivera and Rocky Scott made cameo appearances in our programs, while others rolled up their sleeves and gave serious time and energy to help us.  Most notable of these leaders is David Ball, our current Board President.  David came to us with decades of experience running orchestras.  He helped us run the business side of our organization more professionally and intelligently, inspiring the artistic side to “think big.”  David’s contributions to the Chamber Orchestra cannot be overstated.  As he and his wife, Gail, our principal oboist, plan a new life in Oregon , we cannot thank them enough for all they’ve given.

So today is about beginnings and endings, new phrases and counterpoint in the Song of the Earth.  Imagine Beethoven, panned by critics for his Second Symphony, continuing along his path to write an audacious, daring, bold symphony like the Eroica—the piece that changed music forever.  Vision and perseverance are rare, precious gifts.  The musicians you’re hearing today, their predecessors and their leaders are, without question, heroes.

With every good wish,

-- Thomas Wilson

March 15, 2008

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Previous columns may be reviewed at the following links, listed by concert dates:

Oct 6 & 7, 2007 - The Classical Recording Industry in Transition                                                            Nov 10 & 11, 2007 - Investing in People                                                                                                Jan 19 & 20, 2008 - Join the (Friendly) Fight against “The Wallpaper Effect”                                               Feb 16 & 17, 2008 - The Dance of Love