String Players Sought By Warsaw Symphony Orchestra
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
WINONA LAKE - "You gotta dream dreams," Dr. Patrick Kavanaugh said about forming the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra.
He needs a few more string players for the WSO - more violinists, more cellists. The musicians in the string section he has are "excellent players. There just aren't enough of them."
Three years ago Kavanaugh, executive director of the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship, brought the MasterWorks Festival to the Grace College campus. Last year the fellowship office and the festival's headquarters moved to Winona Lake permanently.
Kavanaugh dreams of an orchestra filled with musicians of all ages. The new group replaces the Grace Community Orchestra. High school players are welcome.
"The orchestra is for all ages, grownups and young people. We're all on the same team," the conductor said.
"Although the local high school emphasis is on bands and the wind instruments, I know there are high school-age players out there taking violin lessons.
"Auditions scare people. We're trying to change that image. We laugh, tell jokes and pray for each person. Some (auditions) exist just to create terror. Our message is, 'We love you,'" he said.
Admission to the orchestra's first season is free because of donations from the community and backing from Grace College and MasterWorks. Eventually the musicians will be paid performers.
"The plan is to turn Winona Lake into the most culturally developed town of its size in the United States. Maybe the world," he adds with a grin and a shrug. "Venice had to start somewhere.
"Local industries recruit people from big cities. They are used to having a lot of cultural things at their fingertips. It's easier to get employees to come here and to live here (with an established orchestra and other fine arts programs)."
Kavanaugh will chair the Grace College Music Department beginning next semester. Joining him is Dr. James Kraft, a 25-year trombonist for the National Symphony of Washington, D.C., as assistant chairman."
WSO auditions will be April 30 in the MasterWorks Festival headquarters, at the west end of the Gordon Rec Center - on the College Avenue side.
For more information, call 574-267-1888. [[In-content Ad]]
WINONA LAKE - "You gotta dream dreams," Dr. Patrick Kavanaugh said about forming the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra.
He needs a few more string players for the WSO - more violinists, more cellists. The musicians in the string section he has are "excellent players. There just aren't enough of them."
Three years ago Kavanaugh, executive director of the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship, brought the MasterWorks Festival to the Grace College campus. Last year the fellowship office and the festival's headquarters moved to Winona Lake permanently.
Kavanaugh dreams of an orchestra filled with musicians of all ages. The new group replaces the Grace Community Orchestra. High school players are welcome.
"The orchestra is for all ages, grownups and young people. We're all on the same team," the conductor said.
"Although the local high school emphasis is on bands and the wind instruments, I know there are high school-age players out there taking violin lessons.
"Auditions scare people. We're trying to change that image. We laugh, tell jokes and pray for each person. Some (auditions) exist just to create terror. Our message is, 'We love you,'" he said.
Admission to the orchestra's first season is free because of donations from the community and backing from Grace College and MasterWorks. Eventually the musicians will be paid performers.
"The plan is to turn Winona Lake into the most culturally developed town of its size in the United States. Maybe the world," he adds with a grin and a shrug. "Venice had to start somewhere.
"Local industries recruit people from big cities. They are used to having a lot of cultural things at their fingertips. It's easier to get employees to come here and to live here (with an established orchestra and other fine arts programs)."
Kavanaugh will chair the Grace College Music Department beginning next semester. Joining him is Dr. James Kraft, a 25-year trombonist for the National Symphony of Washington, D.C., as assistant chairman."
WSO auditions will be April 30 in the MasterWorks Festival headquarters, at the west end of the Gordon Rec Center - on the College Avenue side.
For more information, call 574-267-1888. [[In-content Ad]]