By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
From a waltz to a march to a minuet — the Beaufort County Community Orchestra’s next concert has no dearth of variety in tempos.
The orchestra will launch its next multi-paced musical adventure at 7 p.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in Washington.
For more information about the concert, call Robin Potts at 946-3500. Potts is a violinist who plays with the orchestra and handles its publicity.
Among the selections to be performed are dance-inspired things by Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Far from being fare arranged solely for strict classicists, the orchestra’s repertoire includes “The Washington Post March,” by John Philip Sousa, and “Bugler’s Holiday” by popular composer Leroy Anderson.
Also on the bill is a waltz by the quintessentially American composer Aaron Copland.
“I love, love, love the Aaron Copland number,” said Potts. “It’s right up there with (George Gershwin’s) ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’ I think it’s perfectly gorgeous.”
Conductor Chris Ellis expects around 20 of his players to fill the church with sound.
The soloists will be Ellis, who will perform a single, unaccompanied movement from a Bach suite for violin; and three trumpeters who will play in turn on “Bugler’s Holiday.”
The orchestra has been rehearsing for the concert once a week for three months, Ellis said.
“We don’t have a full orchestra in that we lack bassoons and we lack some brass,” he commented, adding that he searches for works the aggregation can perform without having to bring in out-of-town musicians.
Asked whether the concert will appeal to people who don’t normally listen to classical music or light classics, Ellis said, “I hope so. That’s why I picked some of the music.”
Referencing the Copland material, he noted that “even nonclassical-music fans will typically listen to American music, and everybody loves a march.”
“Bugler’s Holiday” is “always a crowd favorite,” he said.
According to Potts, the community orchestra is supported in part by a Grassroots grant from the North Carolina Arts Council; locally, the grant is distributed by the Beaufort County Arts Council.
“The Beaufort County Community Orchestra is one of the local arts organizations that we support through Grassroots funds, and I hope the public come out and appreciate what they bring to our community,” said Joey Toler, BCAC’s executive director.
This organization is the only orchestra that BCAC has under its umbrella, Toler related.
“They’re unique in what they bring to the community,” he said.
The orchestra, originally known as the North Creek Symphonia, was founded 10 years ago by Doris Hamilton, Potts said.
The late Hamilton “made it her top priority” to teach and assemble musicians, Potts said.
In order to stay sharp on her own instrument, Hamilton often rose at 4:30 a.m. to rehearse on the violin, Potts said.
“She was a beautiful player,” Potts shared.
Hamilton has passed on, but the orchestra continues as a tribute to her taste and tenacity, Potts indicated.
“Nobody ever told her no, they couldn’t do it,” she said. “If you didn’t know how to play, she would be on your doorstep (ready to teach you).”