The Westminster Chamber Orchestra will conclude its third season Saturday, May 23, with an adventurous program and a pre-concert fund-raiser.
"Ours is an orchestra of the future," said music director Jeff Manookian of the 38-member group. "The small size requires less money to run and gives us a versatility where we can easily regroup to perform an assortment of pieces, seldom-performed pieces, newly composed music or familiar music in an all-fresh manner."Our alternative repertoire is audience-friendly," said Manookian, who selects the repertoire each season. He said he selects pieces that will attract musicians but also works that appeal to classical-music listeners. "We are not geared toward an older instrumentation," he said.
The best example, Manookian pointed out, will be Saturday's performance of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 1, a piece that doesn't get performed all that often. Just the same, "it is challenging to the musician and pleasing to the listener. The same is true of Cimarosa's Concerto for Two Flutes and the Gounod `Petite Symphonie' for nine winds," he said.
"Three years ago I placed one audition notice in the newspaper. I was able to fill each chair from that one notice!" The orchestra has had little turnover, and those resignations mostly were due to members moving out of state or becoming too ill to perform. Musicians rehearsed and performed free until last January, when funds became available to pay each a modest fee.
The orchestra rehearses four to five times before each performance. "I believe it shows the confidence I have in the musicians and in their abilities," he said.
Bassoonist Kari Morandi says, "The four or five rehearsals keep us all on the edge and require us to work outside of the rehearsal hall. There is a high level of anticipation at performance time, but I like it. I believe this is a better arrangement, because we don't get overly familiar or bored with the music.
"The orchestra has provided an outlet," said Morandi, who, like most other members of the orchestra, has another occupation. "It gives me a chance to regain musicianship and play music I have never played before," she said. Her husband, Roger, plays oboe and English horn with the orchestra.
In 1988, when Westminster College's Jewett Center for the Performing Arts was in the construction stages, college President Charles H. Dick asked Manookian, a concert pianist and composer, to organize an orchestra that would complement the college's music program, represent the college and provide an arena where the community could experience classical music other than at the Utah Symphony, where tickets are often difficult to obtain.
The past three concert seasons have been free and open to the public. At some concerts the 300-seat hall has been filled and crowds turned away. Next season the orchestra will sell tickets to performances and present each concert twice, on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
With the added income of ticket sales and the money it receives from Westminster and foundation funding, the orchestra hopes to support a full-time staffer, increase the performance fee, attract guest artists and perhaps record.
"This orchestra has so much potential," said Guenter Radinger, co-chairman of the orchestra's board of directors. He and his wife, Carol, and nine other board members are committed to assisting with fund-raising. The Radingers are hosts of the ice cream fund-raiser, an informal gathering where patrons can mingle with musicians.
"We see a way to provide the community with a quality orchestra," said Radinger. With further funding, he said, "I would love to see the college and orchestra include a summerfest program for the community. And we are looking at providing scholarships."
"Basically, this is a local orchestra serving a lot of local needs," said Manookian. "All musicians are local, and we are performing for our community and providing a platform where local talents can be spotlighted."
Manookian said that the orchestra will be conducting auditions for new members soon and that interested musicians can call him at 359-7018.
Associate conductor Kevin Hays will direct Saturday's concert. Soloing in the Cimarosa concerto will be flutists Cori Maxfield and Tussy Coca and, in Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen," violinist Sarah Brough.
Starting time is 8 p.m. Ad-mission is free.
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Ice cream for music
"Orchestrate a Sundae," an ice-cream social to raise funds for the Westminster Chamber Orchestra, will take place Saturday, May 23, from 3 to 7 p.m. in the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts.
Featured will be unlimited quantities of Fendall's ice cream, along with entertainment by soprano Susan Deauvono and pianist Jeff Manookian. Small groups of musicians and soloists will perform both indoors and outdoors.
Tickets are $20 a person, tax-deductible, and children are invited. For reservations call 355-3583.