SANDY — Sundays can be time for congregating, but it's not church that brings 60 to 70 musicians together at Sandy's Parks and Recreation Building, 440 E. 8680 South, at the close of each weekend.
Members of the Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City lay aside the cares that loom over the coming work week to rehearse Brahms and Beethoven, Mozart and Mussorgsky for 2 1/2 blissful hours each Sunday night.
They come from all over the valley and beyond — as far north as Davis County and as far south as Provo — to take part. Volunteers range in age from college students to retirees.
"You have a lot of talented people who need a means of expression," said director Joel Rosenberg. "The people who play in (the orchestra) are giving a lot of time, but I think you'd find that for some of them (rehearsal) is the nicest evening of their week."
That being said, rehearsals are extremely concentrated, Rosenberg said. The difficulty of the pieces the orchestra performs requires participants to take their music seriously and practice diligently throughout the week.
"They have to work hard, and it's a team effort," he said. "Everybody has to be prepared."
Sandy's orchestra, formerly known as the American West Symphony and Chorus, which has been in place for nearly two decades, isn't the rural second-rate symphony some might suppose it to be. It was the first orchestra in Utah to perform world-class operas such as Rossini's "William Tell" and Verdi's "Nabucco," Rosenberg said.
"Our contribution to the city and to the entire area in the South Valley is to provide a great collection of orchestral music," he said.
While nine of the orchestra's 13 annual concerts are held locally at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church, 700 East and 8600 South, the orchestra regularly performs at various locations in Salt Lake City.
On top of musical preparations, much goes into coordinating and organizing concerts and people, Rosenberg said. The entire production process is a lot of work for something that often goes virtually unnoticed.
"I think there are very few people in Sandy who know about us, which is unfortunate," he said. "I wish (the orchestra) were better known; I don't know why it's not."
Still, Rosenberg, who has been the orchestra's director for the past 13 years, said the satisfaction that comes from performing the music of the masters makes the work worth it.
"Anybody who is conducting symphonies of the great composers is doing it because they love it," he said. "Musicians play their instruments because they love it. You don't think about the clock or the time. It's not like work where you're looking forward to your next break. The time just flies by when you're playing and when you're molding these great works together."
For Jacquelynn Jones, a Sugar House resident and a violinist, the symphony is an outlet where she can enjoy the talents she developed as a child.
"I get to associate with people who have the same love of music that I do," she said. "We don't get paid to do it. We're here because we love music."
Jones said she normally spends an hour practicing on her own each day on top of weekly rehearsals, which run twice as long as usual before an upcoming concert.
While time consuming, the practices under Rosenberg are purposeful and advantageous, said June Christensen, a cellist from Sandy.
"I really think I've become a better musician playing under (Rosenberg)," Christensen said. "He's just excellent and he fine-tunes things; you really feel like the final product is something everyone can be proud of."
Playing in an orchestra is a unique experience because it requires all of the members to work toward a common goal at the same time, she said.
"It's inspiring," Christensen said. "It's almost like sculpture to watch something go from a rough form to something finished, something beautiful."
The end product lifts everyone involved, both the audience and the performers, she said.
"I think music fills a need in my life that I can't really fulfill in any other way," Christensen said. "It is very comforting and enriching. I feel like I need to feed my soul and (playing music) is how I do it."
She explained that her mother had recently died and the loss had been especially hard on her.
"It's been very healing to continue playing," she said. "Although it's hard because she's always been my biggest fan since I was a child."
Christensen, who has performed with symphonies and quartets for most of her life, said she considers the Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City to be a great asset for musicians in the community like herself.
"There would be a great void if you had to go great distances or if there wasn't one at all," she said. "I know I'd feel it."
Sandy is one of a handful of cities in the valley that has its own orchestra. Murray and Taylorsville also have community orchestras.
People often don't realize that this outlet exists and that they can bring their families to enjoy it, Jones said. Sandy's orchestra is a family friendly alternative to the Utah Symphony for parents who want to expose their children to the arts.
Sandy's orchestra will perform a symphony by Beethoven and Mussorgsky's "Pictures of an Exhibition" as part of two educational youth concerts March 3 and 4 at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church.
Rosenberg said he hopes young people and their families will attend the concert, which will include a discussion about the music and the instruments that are featured. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $15 for families.
E-mail: sbills@desnews.com