Not many communities can claim an orchestra — especially not small, rural communities, such as those in Beaufort County. But each year, the Beaufort County Community Orchestra can be found practicing, then performing, a Christmas concert. This year’s concert features “The Christmas Waltz,” “White Christmas,” “Christmas Time Is Here,” popularized by the Peanuts Christmas special, and more. It’s a mix of the traditional and the contemporary, old favorites and new arrangements played by a group of musicians who range in age from teen to elders. Some have played their entire lives; others have recently picked up an instrument after years of not playing. They all have one thing in common: a passion for music.

At 4 p.m. Sunday this all-volunteer orchestra will put that passion on display on the Turnage Theatre stage in downtown Washington. It’s a passion that was cultivated by a single person: violinist and violin teacher Doris Hamilton.

It started with the Easter performance of Handel’s Messiah by the Terra Ciea Community Choir, when Hamilton was tasked with providing string players to accompany the singers. She proved to be very skilled at recruiting.

“You didn’t say no to Doris,” BCCO violist Rebecca Clayton laughed.

Clayton was one of those recruits, pulled in during Hamilton’s quest to provide an orchestra for Messiah.

“Doris’ vision was to have an orchestra in Beaufort County. She went anywhere and everywhere, putting up posters in all the schools, trying to recruit. … Doris lived a quarter mile from me, and I was out mowing the grass. She stopped and said she had gone over to ECU, to Greenville, and said, ‘I have found all these violinists, even a cellist, but I can’t find any violists.’ I, like a dummy, said, ‘You know, I played the viola,’” Clayton laughed. “I played viola when I was in junior high school. I wanted to play cello, but they didn’t have a cello, so I played viola for five years. When I graduated, I didn’t have a viola, so that was the end of my viola career — that was in the ’70s.”

It had been decades since Clayton had picked up the instrument, but that didn’t deter Hamilton. She instructed Clayton to meet her at her house down the road in 15 minutes.

“When I got there, she had a taken a violin and strung it with viola strings, and she handed it to me and said, ‘Let’s see what you remember,’” Clayton recalled.

Fellow violist Ellen Ratcliffe was the one who sought out Hamilton. Ratcliffe said she wanted to learn how to play an instrument, and when Hamilton realized she had a future orchestra member, she steered Ratcliffe into filling a gap in the orchestra.

“I said to Doris, ‘I want to take violin lessons,’ and she said, ‘I will give you viola lessons,’” Ratcliffe said.

Gradually, Hamilton built an orchestra, while at the same time becoming instrumental in introducing children to musical performance — and sticking with it.

“She wanted them to have an opportunity to perform. You can take all the lessons you want, but if you really love it, you want to be able to play in front of a large group,” Clayton said.

“The way it worked was this: Doris would grab these kids, and they’d come in and they were little, and they’d play in the orchestra, then grow up and go off to college,” Ratcliffe said.

That pattern can still be seen today in the younger players in the orchestra. Though Hamilton died in 2008, BCCO has continued to grow, and this year has the largest number of brass and woodwind instruments it’s ever had, in addition to the number playing stringed instruments.

“There would not be a group today without people like Doris, who had a vision. ‘Come on,’ she would persuade, ‘We will make you a player,’” Ratcliffe said.

Led by Chris Ellis, BCCO plays two concerts a year, and the group is always seeking more musicians to fill out the orchestra’s sound.

“Anybody reading this that has once played an instrument, even if it’s been 40 years — come out,” Clayton said.