Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9511020019
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The name of the piece was ``Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra,'' by Igor Stravinsky. The performers were the members of Eurydice - The Roanoke Valley Community Chamber Orchestra, and the occasion was the third rehearsal of the almost-brand new group.
On this night, the piece could easily have been renamed ``Suite No. 2 for Teeny-Weeny Orchestra,'' because the orchestra has only about a dozen members and some of them were absent.
Artistic director Shuko Watanabe had to play the trumpet part on the piano - the trumpet player was out of town - and flutist Tay Sours was filling in for the oboist the group doesn't have.
The fledgling orchestra is looking for more players, said Watanabe, who organized the group and shares directing duties with her husband, Byron Petty.
Petty earned his bachelor's degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He teaches piano privately and is a composer.
Watanabe graduated from Peabody with a master's degree in piano performance. She later earned a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Maryland, and currently is a lecturer in music at Roanoke College and Washington and Lee University. She also serves as music director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke.
The idea for the community chamber orchestra came from two members of the church's choir. Cynthia Petzold, who plays cello, and her husband, Lowell Inhorn, who is a violinist, had been commuting to Lexington once a week to play with the community orchestra there. They asked Watanabe whether it would be possible to start one closer to home.
There are plenty of opportunities around the valley for musicians to play church and popular music, Petty said, but few for doing a purely classical repertoire.
Lynchburg and the New River Valley also have community orchestras, Inhorn said, and it didn't seem right that Roanoke didn't have one of its own.
``This is the population center of the region,'' he said.
At least half of the musicians are members or friends of the Unitarian Church, which also provides rehearsal space, but Watanabe and Petty are actively recruiting other players by word-of-mouth and by calling around to area churches and musical organizations.
They schedule rehearsals so as not to conflict with the musical activities of their members' churches or with established groups such as the Community Band, to which several orchestra members already belong.
Watanabe and Petty hope to bring the membership up to 24 to 30 people. There is a great need for more string players, and the group desperately needs an oboist.
``It's a major instrument,'' Watanabe said.
The requirements for joining are few: Musicians must be able to play scales and arpeggios at a reasonably quick tempo, they must able to sight read, and they have to have at least four or five years of instruction or experience.
Prospective members also must bring their own instrument and music stand, and pay a refundable $10 deposit for borrowing music. Members also are expected to practice between rehearsals, Watanabe said.
No one has to audition, Petty said. If the music is too difficult for them, they usually find out fairly soon and leave on their own.
``They select themselves out,'' Inhorn agreed.
Joanne Derryberry, who plays the French horn and is a member of the Community Band, grew up performing with marching and concert bands.
She joined the orchestra ``mainly because Shuko asked me to,'' she laughed. ``I don't know if I'm going to enjoy doing it.''
The orchestra has attracted a wide variety of players. The youngest are barely out of high school, while others are retirees. The membership includes students, homemakers, an oncologist, a physical therapist, a computer systems analyst and a chef.
Some are from college towns with established community orchestras. Others have played with orchestras in Miami, Boston, Europe, and in small ensembles.
Others were members of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra who lost their positions when it went professional. One or two members still play with the symphony as substitutes.
Eddie Wiggins, the Community Orchestra's sole clarinetist, was a charter member of the RSO and has played with several jazz groups. His daughter, Lisa, is one of the orchestra's four violinists.
Some of the players have degrees in music, Watanabe said, while others simply ``have a great deal of experience.''
Playing for organizations such as the Roanoke Symphony ``is a real job,'' Inhorn said.``A lot of people aren't qualified or don't want to be in a professional orchestra.'' He said a community orchestra ``is a wonderful outlet'' for such people, and the every-other-week rehearsal schedule is perfect for those who work.
Unlike a professional orchestra, the community orchestra plans to allow players to try different parts. They also will be given the opportunity to solo - something normally reserved for guest performers in a professional orchestra.
There is no expense involved in operating the orchestra, he said, because rehearsal and performance space is free and Washington and Lee is lending the music.
Because the organization is still in its first year, it plans only one public performance. That will be a recital on Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Unitarian Church. Petty said the group hopes to schedule at least two recitals a year thereafter.
Admission to recitals and concerts will be free. There will be a donation basket at each performance, with the proceeds going to various charitable organizations.
The orchestra's formal objective is ``to participate in a sincere creative ensemble effort, and to achieve a higher individual artistic accomplishment.'' Its official namesake is Eurydice, who in Greek legend is rescued from Hades through the power of song, only to be lost again.
``Our goal,'' reads the organization's prospectus, ``is to reassert the power of music and rescue Eurydice from the musical void.''
But the musicians seem to have their own reasons for being there.
``It's fun,'' flutist Carolyn Wheless said. ``I'm delighted to have a chance to play this type of music again.''
For Derryberry, playing with the chamber orchestra and the band vindicates her lifelong interest in her instrument. Wanting her to take piano, her parents discouraged her interest in the French horn when she was growing up.
``You won't have anybody to play with,'' they warned her. Now, she said, they have been proved wrong.
``I do it for the love of music,'' Inhorn said. ``We're not going to be the New York Philharmonic. We're going to be, hopefully, a respectable chamber orchestra. I hope there are people out there like myself who are waiting for this kind of opportunity.''
Anyone interested in joining the Roanoke Valley Community Chamber Orchestra can contact Watanabe or Petty at 366-7889.
by CNB