Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 18, 1994 TAG: 9405180053
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's what she was hired to do. As only the third conductor in the orchestra's history, and the first to hold the job full time, the Juilliard-trained Bond was imported to give professional polish to a part-time orchestra of musicians that had received too little attention and had had too little rehearsal time to perform to the artistic standards of its best talent.
One measure of her success was the almost immediate improvement in the orchestra's sound, without a wholesale sweep of existing players. Over time, rising performance standards and natural turnover has led to some personnel changes; as the symphony's reputation improved, the orchestra started drawing talent from a wider area.
By itself, improvement of the organization's musicianship would have been enough to ensure Bond's success. But she has accomplished much more.
Under her leadership, symphony audiences have grown from a relatively small group of patrons of a certain age and a certain means to a larger number of people of various ages, races and musical interests. Memorable evenings with the RSO range from the most recent, acclaimed performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, a joint production with the Roanoke Valley Choral Society, to the 1988 sold-out performance of Quincy Jones' "Black Requiem" with Ray Charles and a community chorus.
The orchestra expanded its reach into the community with summertime pops concerts that featured big-name draws like Willie Nelson, Roberta Flack and Chet Atkins. The traditional Monday night concerts of classical music were spiked with such unexpected treats as the 1992 world premiere of jazz composer-pianist Billy Taylor's "Conversations," which finished out Taylor's season as the orchestra's first composer-in-residence. Concerts have continued to show a freshness that reflects Bond's love of jazz - aided this year by composer-in-residence Joe Kennedy Jr., violinist and director of jazz studies at Virginia Tech - and her determination to challenge audiences and musicians with lesser-known, less easily understood works.
All this has brought an edge of excitement not only to the symphony, but also to Roanoke's artistic and cultural life in general. As a keystone ingredient of that life, the symphony with its success under Bond convinced an unconfident, disbelieving, yet hopeful small city that it couldhave a first-rate orchestra - and if it can have that, why not good museums, art galleries, crafts affairs and the like?
The RSO's ascent under Bond began in flusher times - before the recession sucked dry state funding for the arts, and while Roanoke heiress, philanthropist and arts patron Marion Via was alive. But though recent belt-tightening has led to cutbacks in some programs, the quality of symphony performances has remained high. The Monday night subscription series continues; on the pops front, a postseason performance is scheduled with The Moody Blues.
When Bond departs after next season, she will leave behind a strong, vibrant organization. Her decision, she says, is unrelated to the economies of the times or to Via's death last year. She simply wants to devote more time to composing and guest conducting. After eight years, Bond says, she'll have given what she has to give to Roanoke.
Among those gifts are the orchestra's growing credibility in the music world and a rising reputation for the Roanoke Valley as a place where the arts in general are appreciated. That's good on its own account, and should help attract skilled, contributing newcomers - including talented conductors in the search to replace Bond.
by CNB