The Davidson College Symphony Orchestra (DSCO), winners of The American Prize in Orchestral Performance at the collegiate level in 2018, is comprised of roughly 60 members, consisting of undergraduate students, college faculty, and members of Davidson’s community. They perform up to 10 times a season at various Davidson College and Town of Davidson events. Each January, the DSCO has a tour during which it performs at schools and churches, giving both concerts and learning opportunities to people. In addition to this, the DSCO serves partially as a workshop orchestra for student conductors. On the evening of April 20, the Davidson College Symphony Orchestra performed Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Number 4 in the Duke Auditorium located in the Alvarez College Union. One Professor Marcus Pyle conducted this concert.
I have long been a fan of certain composers, primarily ones whose pieces frequently get used in movies such as Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Zach Hemsey, and Steve Jablonski, to name a few. I had previously attempted to experiment with my music tastes by listening to classical composers, Tchaikovsky included but had never found the appeal until witnessing this performance. Sitting on the third-floor balcony, the loudness of the orchestra’s performance was incredible. The time seemed to flash by without me noticing it, as almost as soon as I was sitting down the instruments stopped playing and the musicians were bowing. That said, what I listened to was epic, to say the least. The emotion was visible in Professor Pyle’s movements, as it was with each of the orchestra’s members playing their respective instruments. It was undoubtedly a brilliant introduction to live-performance orchestral concerts, and easily outmatched any recorded pieces I had listened to in the past.
Upon entering the Duke auditorium, there was no ticket or ID check, and I noticed a considerable number of fliers for this event around campus and the Union. Perhaps those more musically inclined than I would be aware of orchestra concerts, but I thought this was great when it came to attracting new audience members. There were certainly a variety of people walking in along with me, which simply cements the aforementioned statement in my mind. Outside of honoring several graduating seniors in the orchestra, I would say this performance was aimed at both garnering more support for the DSCO, on and off campus, as well as perhaps inspiring or attracting new members and musicians for the future. I can say with considerable confidence that I will not be learning the trombone, oboe, or violin with the goal of joining an orchestra anytime soon. Still, I have realized it may be enjoyable to eventually pick up an instrument as a hobby, or at the very least, show out to more of the Davidson Student Orchestra’s performances when possible. To be quite frank, I had no idea we had one until only a few weeks prior to this event.
Overall, this concert did an excellent job of raising my personal interest level in orchestral performances, as well as in the college orchestra’s own activities. Walking out, I listened to several students around me saying similar things to each other. I would consider this an excellent experience for students and myself, showing off the musical talent of some of our own students while also igniting perhaps even the smallest of interests in this style of music and performance in many more.
