Shreveport Times, LA

Benefit concert a testament to dedicated musicians

By Scott Gannon Patton ¢ Special to The Times ¢ October 12, 2008 2:00 am

Shreveport-Bossier City’s orchestra players presented an excellent
program Saturday.

First, to benefit the Northwest Louisiana Chapter of the American Red
Cross in it’s efforts on behalf of victims of this year’s cast of
hurricanes; and secondly, to benefit Orchestra Players of
Shreveport-Bossier as they withstand their own tempests stemming from
tension with the Shreveport Symphony Board of Directors, a 75 percent
pay cut and a unanimous vote of no confidence in the symphony’s
Executive Director Scott Green.

It’s little wonder that players of the Shreveport Symphony identify
with hurricane victims.

Yet the very same musicians, who are presently on strike from
performing with the Shreveport Symphony, have cleverly slipped from
the grasp of failed negotiations and managed to continue providing
music lovers in northwest Louisiana with a valuable performance
despite their predicament.

Evidence that this region is home to competent musicians who love what
they do.

Saturday’s program recalled the resiliency of the commoner in all
three of it’s selections ‘ an inspiring theme for a nation, and
orchestra, in political turmoil.

The overture to Verdi’s opera "Nabucco," was an appropriate choice for
the evening’s opener. Well paced and tuneful, the piece had a
burgeoning quality that must have summoned an unknown reservoir of
strength in the Hebrew slaves that are the opera’s protagonists.

Nothing of Verdi’s Italian fortitude was lost on the orchestra’s
conductor, Kermit Poling.

Alexander Artiunian’s "Armenian Trumpet Concerto in A flat," though
one of the composer’s best known works, is still somewhat elusive in
the orchestral repertoire.

Nonetheless, it is a trumpet showcase, and Rick Rowell’s nimble
trumpeting soared softly on fine support from the rest of the
orchestra.

The orchestra’s brass brought all it’s robust strength to the stage,
and the concerto’s middle movement, marked by a plaintiff, muted
trumpet melody, was particularly memorable.

In fact, much of the audience agreed, rewarding the orchestra with an
early ovation at the conclusion.

Nowhere in the program, though, did the irony of the evening resound
so fully as in Dvorak’s "Symphony #9 in E Minor," also known as "The
New World Symphony."

This symphony is nothing if not dynamic. Every inch of the score is
layered with character, requiring a vigilant baton at the
helm. Poling’s attention to the gentleness of the piece was
refreshing, since most conductors spend their energy on the colossal
blasts and rolling thunder of it.

This orchestra’s best moments were heard in the second and fourth
movements ‘ wind section and strings at their finest. This orchestra,
like Dvorak, is now performing from a "new world," replete with
uncertainty. But like the Czech folk and African-American music that
inspired Antonin Dvorak, the musicians of OPUS have continued to
create meaningful culture in spite of their circumstances.

The music was particularly aided by the solid acoustics of the First
Baptist Church. Boxy and warm, the room made for sonorous reception of
the work. First Baptist should consider hosting events like this more
frequently.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress