It began inauspiciously enough. Associate concertmaster Gerald Elias was manning the phone in an effort to raise money for the Utah Symphony.
"I had been given a list of several dozen names, all people who had previously given money to the symphony, so they had a record of contributing," he recalls. "Then I came to one woman and as we chatted I asked her how often she goes to the symphony. She said never. So I asked her, `Why do you give money to the symphony if you don't go to hear it?' Her response was that she was no longer able to, that she was elderly and had no means of transportation."As they continued to talk, the woman, Mrs. Alberta Nicholson, revealed that at one time she, too, had been a member of the orchestra, in the bass section. So Elias gave her his phone number and told her if she ever needed a ride to give him a call.
"But it got me thinking that there were probably quite a few people who would enjoy going to the symphony but just don't have the means," he says. So a short time later he tacked a note up on the Symphony Hall bulletin board asking if anyone might be willing to drive an elderly or a handicapped person to a concert once in a while. "And within a couple of days I had a couple dozen people who had signed up."
The result is that, starting this month with the orchestra's first concerts of the season, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20 and 21, people who call the box office to reserve tickets may also tell the person taking the reservation that they need a ride - if they fit legitimately into either of the above categories. Those persons' names and addresses will then be passed on to Elias, who will try to link them up with whoever lives closest to them.
"I know there've been discussions in the past in marketing-committee meetings about providing some kind of transportation for symphony-goers," Elias says, "but for some reason they just never came into being. Among other things, I think the symphony was worried about liability. But with this, we're just individuals volunteering to do some driving on a good-neighbor basis."
Elias already has had some experience being a good neighbor. A year after coming here from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1988, he and his wife, Cecily Patton, launched a Twilight Chamber Series to benefit the homeless. Held in their Avenues home, this winter will mark its third consecutive season.
"There's something about the community here that's very different from Boston," Elias reflects. "No. 1, it's a lot more compact, with more contact between the orchestra and the neighborhoods. Obviously the orchestra members want to be good members of the community and good neighbors. I think this is one way of showing it."
At the same time, he points out, being a good neighbor works both ways.
"I hope no one tries to take advantage of us. If someone really needs a ride, that's fine. But if they can call a cab or have a friend drive them, we don't want to become a taxi service for people who could easily get there another way."
Elias also acknowledges there may be limits on the kinds of handicaps his driver-musicians are able to accommodate. "We may have to assess that on an individual basis," he says.
"But if we had sat down and considered all the inherent problems, we might never have decided to do this. And it was my feeling that, since there seemed to be a need, rather than abandon the idea we should just try it out and see what happens. If it works, that's great. If there turn out to be problems, we'll just try to figure them out."
For information call the Utah Symphony box office at 533-NOTE.