Orchestra has summer in its strings
Like schools, colleges, and legislative sessions, orchestras traditionally end their seasons when summer rolls around. But the members of the South Shore Chamber Orchestra say they don’t look forward to spending the warm months lying by the pool. They want to play their instruments. So, they are.
The orchestra will perform this summer’s concert tomorrow at South Shore Baptist Church on Route 228 in Hingham.
The decision was made to add summer
performances after three-fourths of one quartet confided to one another last year that they missed playing seriously in the summer. The idea of forming a small orchestra of their own took root.
It made sense in other ways, too. One of the fledgling chamber orchestra’s three founders composes music. Another makes violins. All three play in regional orchestras that wind up their seasons in May. Like many regional musicians, they also take part in informal, smaller groups such as string quartets.
“Basically, the reason we started it is to fill that niche,” said Lynn Cahill of Weymouth. “We all love to play. It’s sad when you’re not involved in doing anything.”
The 24-member South Shore Chamber Orchestra, which begins to rehearse in May, helps keep its players sharp and offers high-quality music to regional residents — free.
Cahill, one of the three founders, plays cello. Another, Merv McKee, a violist, began composing about four years ago. He and Cahill both play for the Quincy Symphony Orchestra. The third and final founder, Tom Shaughnessy, who plays violin for the Weymouth-based Southeastern Philharmonic Orchestra, also has taken up violin making. Both Shaughnessy and McKee live in Plymouth.
News of the new all-strings chamber orchestra passed by word of mouth. It’s currently full at 24 members — first and second violins, cellos, violas, and basses. “These are enthusiastic, serious musicians who love to play,” Cahill said of the group’s members.
The enterprise received a big boost when conductor Yoichi Udagawa, music director of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra, agreed to conduct.
“He’s an excellent conductor,” Cahill said. “We like how he gets the audience involved. He’s very personable, with a great sense of humor.”
The chamber orchestra rehearses weekly and performed its first concert last year.
Because of its all-string makeup and smaller size, the orchestra plays some great, well-loved music that is not often performed live by full-sized orchestras. Filling that niche allows the chamber orchestra to offer “the huge number of pieces that sit on the shelves and are seldom played,” members say. By playing these works, they believe they can make an important contribution to the cultural life of regional communities.
Tomorrow night’s program includes Mozart’s Divertimento in D, Elgar’s Serenade for Strings in E, and Tchaikovsky’s waltz from “Serenade for Strings,” before finishing up with Grieg’s “Holberg Suite.”
The Grieg piece, a favorite of Cahill’s, starts off fast, offers “absolutely beautiful” slow movements, and “ends with a bang,” she said. “It’s my favorite piece of all of them.”
Also on the program is McKee’s Allegro 5-8 (the numbers indicate the time signature). Last year, the orchestra also performed a composition by English native McKee, a retired electrical engineer. He began writing music at age 62 and has composed more than 150 pieces for many instrument combinations. “An encounter with lymphoma was the wake-up call that got me going in earnest,” he said.
McKee also arranges works from the classical repertoire for performances by the all-string orchestra.