NEWS

Orchestra of the Carolinas artistic director Tara Villa Keith. (News of Davidson photo)

Author: Bill Lawing, Executive Director of the Orchestra of the Carolinas

On March 5 the Orchestra of the Carolinas (OrCa) held a side-by-side concert with the N.C. Youth Orchestra, and it was a wonderful event. If you did not have the opportunity to attend (or even if you did!), please block out an hour to watch and listen to the amazing video. We are so very pleased with this concert, with the support of the audience, and with the professional level that we have reached in barely six months. This was a special night, and a special experience, for all of us.

As an orchestra in our first year, we do not yet have the full personnel to perform a major symphony without having balance issues, as we are still building some sections. Our rehearsals for the New World Symphony were extremely gratifying, as we quickly reached a high performance level. The N.C. Youth Orchestra worked hard to reach what was a very challenging task for young musicians. It was even more amazing given that we had only had one combined advanced rehearsal and a mere 20 minutes at the venue to experience the acoustics before the concert. Tara, our artistic director who is such a gift to OrCa, led a great performance that belied our unbalanced numbers and the youth of the NCYO. What a great night!

We have another big concert coming up on Saturday, May 30. This will be a memorable event for more than one reason. First, we will be featuring Carmen Bradford, a fabulous guest artist and incomparable singer who has spent many years as the lead singer for the Count Basie Orchestra. I hosted Carmen with the Davidson College Jazz Ensemble five years ago, and it was a spectacular concert. It will be an evening full of big band favorites, along with some great jazz-influenced orchestral pieces, including George Gershwin.’s American in Paris. The event will be ticketed, but as was our March 5 concert, it will be very family friendly. Here is a tease of one of the pieces she will be performing.

Carmen’s appearance on May 30 will be made possible through the generous support of the Town of Davidson. We are anticipating that this will be the beginning of a meaningful partnership between the Orchestra of the Carolinas and the Town of Davidson. As a part of this unfolding chapter, we will transition to a new performance home, the Town Hall Auditorium, for the concert. For those of you as old as I am, you may remember it as the auditorium at the original Davidson Elementary School or later, the Davidson IB School. I remember many events held there as a parent to our three daughters. We had a trial rehearsal there on March 19, and we were very happy with the improved acoustics. It will be wonderful to have a musical performance home in Davidson. There is much more to tell you about this growing partnership, which I’ll enjoy sharing in the months to come.