OSO fans take note of show at library
String players entertain crowd, then let people in audience try instruments
The sweet strains of music from stringed instruments wafted through the downtown Kelowna library Saturday morning as part of the Your Symphony at the Library series.
It was the second in a four-part series of free 45-minute concerts that feature a quartet of Okanagan Symphony Orchestra musicians performing. Each concert focuses on a different section of the orchestra.
The concerts not only foster new symphony fans and inspire a new generation of musicians, but also make the symphony more approachable, said Rebacca Robinson, the OSO’s education and outreach co-ordinator.
“We tend to think of libraries as being places where you go to be quiet, so filling them with music is an unusual fit,” said Rosemary Thomson, music director of the OSO.
It works because both the symphony and the library are all about education and the desire to promote community.
The musical experience is two-fold, explained Thomson. First, the audience gets a concert from which they learn about the instruments and are inspired by the quality of the professionals playing. Then they get a chance to try the instruments under the guidance of the professionals as well as Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra students.
Thomson said she loves the broad section of the community the free concerts attract.
“The first time we did it, we knew we were going to get families, but we were surprised at the number of seniors that came,” said Thomson. “There were also adults with developmental disabilities.”
Her favourite part is the discovery zoo, which is much like a petting zoo with musical instruments of all different sizes to try.
“I love seeing the kids and the pros engage their first time,” she said.
Some of the children have started taking lessons after the experience, and there is information on hand about lessons and teachers.
Kent and Chantelle Hall got to the library with their children, Isaiah, 4, and Savannah, 1, early enough to secure front-row seats for the concert.
The family has already been to the brass concert at the library and has attended the symphony’s storytime cushion concerts aimed at preschool children.
It’s important for the family to come out and broaden their children’s experiences, said Chantelle.
Isaiah is interested in playing a string instrument, so he was excited about trying the cello and meeting the musicians.
From the galloping beat of Autumn from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to the infectious rhythm of Strauss’s Blue Danube Waltz, the audience nodded their heads, tapped their feet and swayed to the music. Along with music from composers 200 years old, the quartet played a Coldplay song and fiddled to showcase the sounds the violin, viola and cello could make. Children burst into laughter as the musicians demonstrated the glissando, making the notes slide up and down in pitch.
For Martin Kratky, who plays cello with the OSO, making that connection with the audience is what music is for.
“Music is pure joy. It’s not fair to have it cloistered up,” he said.
The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra returns to the Kelowna library at 1380 Ellis St. Nov. 4 with the winds and Nov. 25 with percussion. Each concert begins at 11 a.m. and is followed by the discovery zoo. The Your Symphony at the Library series is sponsored by the Telus Thomson Okanagan Community Board.