It’s Christmas Eve. Time for last-minute shopping, final gift-wrapping and 11th-hour preparations for celebrations that lie ahead. Through it all, we hear music – at home, at work, in shopping malls and even on the streets. And though popular standards by crooners from Frank Sinatra to Harry Connick may fill the air, traditional songs can also be heard – frequently played by symphony orchestras.
Members of the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra are gathered in the rehearsal room at Rapid City’s Central High School to do some “fine-tuning” on their upcoming winter-themed performance called “Holiday Tales”.
Music director Bruce Knowles says the orchestra’s goal hasn’t changed much since it began as a small group of string musicians 80 years ago who performed for the purest of reasons – to satisfy their own need to play.
“The symphony orchestra is…as it’s always been…a group of amateur musicians which have come together to make symphonic music,” explains Knowles. “And everybody I the orchestra comes from a varied background. We have a lot of experience players who’ve played professionally and then retired in the area. We have a lot of students…both college students and high school students. Teachers. House wives. Lab techs. Everything.”
Erika Olson falls into that “everything” category. She’s a Rapid City attorney by day and one of the orchestra’s principle bassoon players by night – or whenever her skills are needed.
“Playing in a symphony orchestra is a really unique experience,” Olson comments. “Because there’s very few other things where everyone has to work together to make one complete thing. And that’s just, you know, the result is so much more than the sum of its parts.”
In other words, although guest soloists do appear with the orchestra, this is not the place for individual achievement. That’s why there’s a conductor who…like the musicians he leads…doesn’t get paid a salary to perform.
“So this is definitely a part-time love really,” I observe.
“Absolutely,” Knowles acknowledges. “ It’s a true amateur… which, of course, means for the love of something…organization. And that’s why I really like it. I mean, it’s got a different feel and everyone’s in it for the…everybody’s in it for the art…and all of that. And certainly not a buck.”
Bruce Knowles is following in the footsteps of his father, Jack – who led the orchestra for 30 years. As for what it’s like having to hold the weighty baton that preceded him, Knowles says it’s a bit eerie.
“Especially now that he’s passed away,” Knowles observes. “As I pull some of these scores out…like to The Nutcracker…it has all his markings on it and it’s…a little bit sentimental there, so... It’s a little bit weird but it’s comforting, too. You know, there you have it. There is some advice…right there.”
Regarding his comment that those who play in the orchestra do so for “the art” of it, Knowles says people not educated in symphonic music shouldn’t be turned off by the phrase. To begin with, orchestral music isn’t all Schubert and Beethoven.
“What kind of music does a symphony orchestra play?” I ask.
“Just about anything that you can shake a stick at,” replies Knowles. “Anything from Vivaldi and Bach to Led…Beach Boys. For us Beach Boys last year as a matter of fact.”
“But you’re not doing Stairway to Heaven yet though?” I inquire.
“No,” responds Knowles with a laugh. “Well, we’re working on it.”
Knowles adds that classical music itself has broadened over the years.
“It’s broadened quite a bit,” he observes. “There’s new music being composed and played as we speak. It really is a living art. A lot of times…audiences sort of like to stick to the classics. Stick to things they…they know. But we bring new pieces to light, too.”
As for why modern orchestras continue to play centuries-old music, Knowles explains that there’s a very good reason.
“The thing about the old standard classics,” Knowles offers, “they’re great music. But what they are is they’re…just…notes on a page. And they really aren’t anything at all…they aren’t music…until they’re played. And so…therefore…every time they’re played they’re a little bit different every time. Especially live music.”
And speaking of live music, the orchestra’s waiting to continue rehearsing for this year’s Holiday Season show. But they need Knowles to lead them. One more question that’s always on everyone’s mind before the conductor leaves. What’s it like to stand for an entire performance with your back to the audience?
”Well, you know what’s really great?” Knowles ponders. “Because you can make faces at the orchestra and nobody will ever know.”
Which just goes to show that someone who wears a white tie and tails can have a sense of humor.
As Bruce Knowles takes the orchestra through its paces on “Sleigh Ride” he advises anyone who’d like to attend a performance but feels intimidated by the environment not to be. The conductor’s instructions for the audience are as follows: sit down, read the program, read the bios, and be open to what you hear. And there’s just one more directive: Have a Merry Christmas!