Reflections on Oak Ridge Civic Music Association's 80th year of classical music

Yahoo

23-04-2025

'Music is a resource to express the mind of the artist but also what is going on in society. Through music we can make a community.'
Those were statements by Régulo Stabilito, conductor of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, as he reminisced about the 80th year of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association and his second year as conductor of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra. In in a telephone interview with The Oak Ridger, he made it clear that the past concert season reflects his values. Stabilito lives in West Knoxville with his wife, who plays flute for ORSO.
The concerts the innovative conductor directed conveyed his celebrations of both traditional and contemporary classical music, women soloists and composers, the deep connections between nature and emotions, concern for humankind on a warming planet beset by industrialization, the Latin American influence on classical music, the importance of collaboration with other local musical groups and the unifying effect of music on politically diverse audiences.
In fact, the musical program he grew up in as a native of Venezuela is founded on the principle that music can be a powerful tool for uplifting and unifying communities. Called El Sistema, this publicly financed, voluntary-sector music education program has provided high-quality music education to children and youth since 1975, 50 years ago.
Its goal has been to promote social change and personal development through music – effects Stabilito hopes to help foster through his concerts and his commitment to providing music education to children and forming the Oak Ridge Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Sarah Henrich, conductor of the Oak Ridge Chorus, echoed Stabilito's gratitude for collaborations that elevated ORCMA's performance quality. Henrich, who directed adult and youth choirs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Colorado before recently taking the Oak Ridge position, said, 'A major highlight for ORCMA's 80th year was our collaborations that promoted community.
'I was happy that the Oak Ridge Chorus partnered with the First United Methodist Church Choir for its annual Christmas concert.'
According to the ORCMA brochure, the concert featured 'nostalgic carols, wintry songs and pieces that evoke wonder and hope, including Gerald Finzi's miniature masterpiece 'In Terra Pax.''
Henrich also mentioned the 'exciting, first-time collaboration' of ORSO and the Oak Ridge Chorus with the Knoxville Opera and Pellissippi State Variations Choir in the April 5 and 6 performances of 'Ode to Joy,' the last movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's iconic 'Symphony No. 9,' the Choral Symphony, that according to the ORCMA brochure is 'renowned for its profound message of universal harmony and brotherhood.'
Stabilito noted the 80th anniversary season concluded with two successful performances of Beethoven's 'Symphony No. 9' that he conducted by memory. More than 165 performers were on stage for the performances in Maryville and Oak Ridge.
And in another example of collaboration by the flexible Oak Ridge Chorus, Henrich said, 'We are collaborating with Swing Time Big Band and the Oak Ridge High School Chorus to offer a season-ending, free, family-friendly outdoor concert of jazz and swing music on Saturday, May 3, at 4 p.m. at A. K. Bissell Park.'
Henrich encouraged people who enjoy singing to consider joining the Oak Ridge Chorus. For more information on how to join this group of volunteers and when rehearsals start again, send an email message to [e-mail].
The Oak Ridge Chorus, which is growing in number, also participated in ORCMA's major fundraiser, the Oak Ridge Rock to Bach Music Festival, which raised over $13,600, a record amount. Another participant in the festival was Bill Schwenterly, French horn player in ORSO and chair of the Chamber Music Series; it was announced at a recent concert that the first chair of the French horn section in ORSO will be named after him because of his long-time contribution to the orchestra's performances.
Stabilito, who is the 13th ORCMA music director and conductor of ORSO, the longest continuously running symphony orchestra in Tennessee, celebrates diversity in ORCMA concerts, including women soloists and composers and a premiere of a commissioned work by a Venezuelan composer.
For example, Susan Yang, assistant professor of the practice in piano at the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music and 'teacher of the year' there in 2022, thrilled the audience at Oak Ridge High School on Feb.15 with her breathtaking solo performance with ORSO of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op.18. At the concert, Stabilito pointed out that Rachmaninoff, who was born in 1873, gave his last performance in Knoxville shortly before he died in 1943.
The opening concert 'Musical Kaleidoscope' not only featured an American woman composer and soloist –Jennifer Higdon, who wrote 'The Light That We Can Hear' played with ORSO by flute soloist Maria Castillo – but also classical music with special historical significance for ORSO: J.S. Bach's 'Orchestral Suite No. 3' (the first piece ORSO performed as an orchestra in 1945) and Joseph Haydn's 'Symphony No. 80' (which opened the 80th anniversary season).
At the April concerts featuring Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy,' ORSO opened with a performance of 'Pachamama Meets an Ode' by the woman composer, Gabriela Lena Frank, whose heritage is multicultural. Her father is an American of Lithuanian Jewish heritage, and her mother is a Peruvian of Chinese descent.
Pachamama is the Inca-Quechua word for 'Mother Earth.' Frank's composition connects the Industrial Revolution, the backdrop of Beethoven's life, to the exploitation of natural resources in the New World and its harmful impact on indigenous populations. The work also touches on the modern-day climate crisis and environmental destruction, questioning the concept of 'joy' in the face of these issues.
For the Nov. 1 'Mozart & Friends' concert featuring the ORSO wind ensemble, Stabilito commissioned the Venezuelan composer Andres Eloy Rodriguez to write for the ensemble what became the world premiere by ORSO of his portrayal of the eternal fight between good and evil.
The Feb. 15 'Water, Chants & Love' concert, Stabilito said, 'was a favorite of mine' because of the stunning piano performance by Yang, his friend from his student days, and images of rivers, streams and the ocean that he and others obtained for the big screen. The audience viewed the watery images while enjoying the flow of 'Become River' and 'Over the Sea' played by ORSO.
'I have a very intense relationship with water,' Stabilito said. 'I need bodies of water close to me. I go to the lake, a river or the ocean because they recharge me. That's why I chose the two contemporary pieces with water themes.'
The last piece of that concert was the vibrant 'Glosa Sinfónica Margariteña,' based on a symphonic poem set to music by a composer from Venezuela. Stabilito had the joyful experience of creating from this piece an orchestral score that provided parts for every ORSO musician 'and then seeing it come to life by the Oak Ridge symphony. They love the piece!'
Stabilito said 'his responsibility as an artistic director is to use his vision to make the music speak to the time we live in.'
To obtain tickets to ORSO and Chamber Music Series tickets, click on www.ORCMA.org/concerts.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Reflections on ORCMA's 80th year of classical music