People Power

By Jessica Novak

Since 1963 Syracuse has had a community orchestra that puts on anywhere from two to six concerts a year. Yet despite the longevity of the organization, both timpanist Charles Moore and music director Erik Kibelsbeck say the one thing they wish more people knew about the Onondaga Civic Symphony Orchestra is that it still exists.

The group has remained under the radar in large part due to the nature of community orchestras. “We are mainly there to make music,” Kibelsbeck explains. But they’re making moves to step into the spotlight with more concerts, more publicity and more organization.

According to orchestra president and violinist Lindsay Burdick, “Our last president {Moore} worked really hard to get the orchestra 501(c)(3) status {for nonprofit tax-exemption reasons} which has been really, really good. Our next step is to find out ways to really utilize that.”

Part of utilizing the non-profit status will require organizing the group, which Burdick is in the process of formulating. Committees to split the work will help in the process of building awareness of the orchestra in the community, where Burdick and Moore believe it can play an important role as both an outlet for adults to continue performing orchestral music and a place for younger generations to experience a concert atmosphere without the cost and formality of professional groups.

“One of our goals is to be a really accessible, family-friendly type group,” Burdick says. “If you think, ‘Well, I want to bring my kids to a concert, but I can’t spend the money to go to a symphony concert,’ or ‘I’m afraid my kids will make noise,’ we’d like to provide that stepping stone.”

Moore agreed. “You’re not gonna have a stuffed shirt and bow tie looking down on you at a kid that moves around a little bit during a concert,” he says. “That sort of thing won’t bother us. You’ve got family for a lot of the people who are playing there anyway, so it’s a very low-cost way and a very friendly way to introduce people to the concert.”

Show donations are suggested at $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and free for kids 12 and under, although further accommodations can be made.

For Kibelsbeck, conducting and directing the group is a joy in addition to his other jobs as music director and organist at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Ithaca and coordinator of facilities and publicity for the Ithaca College School of Music. The Onondaga Civic Symphony Orchestra rehearses nearly every Monday night, now at United Church of Fayetteville, 310 E. Genesee St., and has about 70 musicians on the roster, although the orchestra varies in size depending on players’ availability and the repertoire.

“I have a particular affinity for working with people who are not professional players,” he says. “Amateur is a dangerous word, but most people know what it means. I enjoy working with that set of folks. I just enjoy their enthusiasm. I enjoy helping them realize their potential, helping them realize they can do more than they thought they could. It’s just so fulfilling to make music together. It’s a human need I think we share and that’s why coming together every Monday night is just so powerful for us.”

Kibelsbeck has been directing the orchestra for 10 years after being referred by a colleague for the position. He conducted a concert as an audition in 2001 and passed with flying colors. Since taking the reigns, the group has seen substantial growth and improvement according to Moore.

“We ebb and flow with our music director,” he says. “For a group like this, a music director is a tremendously critical choice. The growth in the past 10 years with Erik has just been fantastic.”

Moore attributes this to the fact that while other directors taught children by day and worked with the adults of the group by night, it didn’t always translate well. “It’s very difficult for a person who normally works with school kids to turn around and conduct adults,” he explains. “And that was the position we were in all the time. Some directors could bridge that, but most didn’t over the years. There’s just a difference in the way you treat ’em and what you do. We’ve grown musically just tremendously with Erik.”

The key to the musical growth, according to Kibelsbeck, is in realizing and accommodating the group’s strengths and weaknesses with the repertoire. Kibelsbeck also has substantial experience playing bassoon, viola and organ, so he can relate to the players he works with.

“You have the harmony from the keyboard, you know what it’s like to play solos as a woodwind or horn player. You know you’re on your own and everyone’s looking at you,” he says. “I know what it’s like as part of the string section.”

Kibelsbeck is also effective in promoting a professional, yet relaxed environment. The orchestra plays an impressive range of material and welcomes newcomers, especially low strings including viola, cello and bass. But he does not audition for chair positions, in order to keep ego battles away from the musicmaking.

“We want people to feel comfortable and we don’t have chair auditions or anything like that,” he says. “That’s a distraction. That’s not making music. That’s other stuff.”

Burdick agrees, noting that when she joined, it was by referral of a friend and she simply came to a rehearsal, played enough to know where she fit in and continued with the group. Moore explained that when he does “audition” percussionists, it’s often just a phone conversation to understand their experience, occasionally asking to hear them play something as well.

Although the string section is very open to accepting new members, brass and winds are slightly more selective because of the nature of the orchestra. While string sections can vary in size, there are limited seats for brass and winds and doubling up on parts makes for an unbalanced orchestra.

For those interested in joining, it’s as easy as visiting the website http://home. roadrunner.com/ocso/ and emailing Kibelsbeck for more information. The group takes new members throughout the year, although they prefer accepting new players toward the beginning of concert rehearsal rotations.

Beginning on Sunday, Sept. 11, the Onondaga Civic Symphony Orchestra is set for a busy season. The first concert, titled “Remember, Reflect, Renew,” is being presented in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, with music selections from Mozart, Leonard Bernstein and others. In addition to the orchestra, musicmakers will include the Syracuse Chorale, the Master’s Touch Chorale, the Symphony Pops Chorus, with Five to Life Acapella and the Syracuse Scottish Pipe Band.

The free show takes place at 3 p.m. at West Genesee High School, 5201 W. Genesee St, Camillus. New York state Sen. John DeFrancisco and state Assemblyman William Magnarelli will speak, along with readings by Father Adrian Amaya of St. Mark the Evangelist Church and two West Genesee High School students. A color/honor guard will be presented by the Fairmount Fire Department.

“We’re excited to be participating with some various choral groups for the 9/11 memorial concert,” Kibelsbeck says. “That’s gonna be a neat thing to do. It’s gonna really bring together musicians that haven’t worked together awful early in the season.”

The performance will jump-start the group’s performing year, which also features three classical concerts at Atonement Lutheran Church, 116 W. Glen Ave., on Nov. 13, Feb. 26 and April 22, and two pops concerts on Dec. 11 and June 15 at the Drivers Village atrium, 5885 East Circle Drive, Cicero. Yet this Sunday’s Sept. 11-themed concert should help introduce them to new audiences and move them forward toward more community recognition. Moore emphasized the importance of the goal.

“The quality of life of any community is tremendously impacted by whether or not it pays attention to good music,” he says. “Good music – classical music, orchestral music, however you want to call it. We musn’t let it go away even at the community, amateur or for-fun level. It’s still a very important part of the quality of life and people need to realize that and appreciate that. This society as a whole needs the longevity of that music.”