TOPSHAM

Rohan Smith raises his baton. A second later, the auditorium at Topsham’s Orion Performing Arts Center is filled with the sound of strings, woodwinds and brass as the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra launches into a lively melody — but only for a brief moment. Smith hears something not quite right and the music stops. After a few gentle corrections and a demonstration on his own violin, the orchestra takes another crack at it. They play briefly. Smith likes what he hears and stops the orchestra again in order to move onto what next needs to be ironed out. And so it goes — for the first hour or so of rehearsals, 19th and 20th century orchestral music is heard in fits and starts.

This is the MSO gearing up for its 28th season, which kicks off with concerts Oct. 21 and 22 in Lewiston and Topsham, respectively. The concerts revolve around the theme “Fairy Tales and Dances” and feature works by Ravel, Hindemith and Dvorak.

MSO was founded in 1990 as a chamber group, but grew into a symphony orchestra in less than 10 years.

The group became orchestra-in-residence at the Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham, which is where they rehearse today. It also performs at the Franco American Heritage Center in Lewiston.

Australian-born conductor and violinist Smith has led the MSO for nearly 15 years. On a recent evening, Smith spoke about music — offering the same infectious enthusiasm with which he conducts.

In many societies, he said, “music is simply a constant part of daily life.”

“It has to do with the rhythms of the day — rising, working, sleeping, celebrating, lamenting,” Smith said. “All of that human feeling and life is in the music we play. The orchestra is so fundamental and so restorative. It’s a living thing.”

That living thing, as Smith put it, is made up of dozens of individual members. MSO musicians have varied pedigrees, including some Julliard graduates, while others are music teachers. Members — representing 32 communities between Scarborough and Belfast and Auburn — have included a surgeon, a lawyer, a librarian and a chef, according to the official MSO history. The youngest is 20, the oldest 93.

“We have a huge range of ages and generations,” Smith said.

For some, performing with the MSO is a family affair.

Asher Barreras plays double bass in MSO — and “a very good jazz pianist as well,” according to Smith. His grandmother, Hildegard Bird, plays violin in the orchestra. Music, Barreras said, was something Bird always encourages.

“When she’s here, it’s a way to give back to her and share in that joy she gave to me,” Barreras said.

MSO violinist Kate Gray of Bowdoinham started at the age of five. She was introduced to the instrument by her mother, Louise Huntington, now 82 and a founding member of the orchestra who still plays viola with the group.

“There’s always so much more to learn on the violin, or any instrument,” Gray said. “I love the violin, it’s melodic. And my mom played, and that’s part of what made me like it.”

Smith and MSO musicians agreed that it’s important to the community to have access to live, orchestral music. There are other symphony orchestras in Maine, but hearing them requires a drive to Augusta, Portland or Bangor. Having a local symphony orchestra, however, is something “special,” said Gray.

“For the community, I just think there’s something special about hearing people you know perform and the chance to do it yourself,” she said. “There’s a lot of really interesting people who play here and the music is wonderful.”’

“Having an orchestra in the Midcoast provides audiences the opportunity to experience good quality, symphonic music in their own community,” Smith said. “It says to young people, ‘this is part of a good life.’ I think it’s part of a healthy society.”

The MSO is also helping to educate the community about orchestral music with a series that takes place prior to each Sunday concert held at Orion. On Oct. 22 from 1:15-1:45 p.m., MSO violinist Mary Hunter will host “Orchestra 101” and demonstrate the different roles instruments have in an orchestra.

“When you come to a concert you can let the sound wash over you and have a good time and that’s fine,” said Hunter, a musicologist recently retired from Bowdoin College. “But it’s nice to give you something to listen for, a way of engaging with the sound.”

For Smith, the act of listening to live, orchestral music has become much more important in a day and age filled with smart phones and other electronic distractions.

“We don’t have any electronics in an orchestra. We play acoustical instruments. And we’re communicating with each other, face-to-face. Not via some translated method of pixels, but in living sound that transmits the core of who you are in terms of your psyche, your humanity, your feelings. It’s a very, very basic thing,” Smith said.

“The importance of stopping and listening to music — to attend an orchestral concert like ours takes quite an attention span,” Gray said. “But the pieces we play take you on quite a journey. You have to — in this day and age — be committed (as a listener). It’s different than how a lot of people spend their evenings. But it will really stir your soul if you listen to some of these pieces. They’re going to go places that a four-minute pop song ain’t gonna go.”

Visit midcoastsymphony.org for more information on the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra, including information on upcoming performances.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.