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The Greenville Journal
August 25-31, 2000
Copyright, 2000
Used by Permission
Isa Herold doesn't get many invitations of play her flute these days. Herold, an educator and learning specialist, lives in tiny Alhalla. As a professional flutist, she used to substitute for the Kansas City Philharmonic and played operatic and ballet performances.
Thanks to the efforts of Len Clayton, however, Herold's musicmaking drought is about to end. For Clayton presently is organizing the Greenville Community Chamber Orchestra (GCCO), which will launch its inaugural season next month, providing both amatuer and professional musicians an outlet for expressing their talents.
"This is a dream of mine come true," says Clayton, who calls GCCO the first community orchestra anywhere in the upstate region. "Now that the Greenville Symphony is a professional orchestra, their are not enough opportunities for people to play orchestral music," she adds.
According to Clayton, the formation of the GCCO, is due to the Greenville's evolution into "a great musical town." With public school programs and private lessons abounding, the community is producing an abundance of capable musicians.
It wasn't always so, however. Clayton, who grew up in Greenville, left the area in 1965. At that time, she doubted the talent pool was sufficient to make a community orchestra viable.
But times have changed. With rehearsals scheduled to begin in September, Clayton already has 35 commitments as a result of simply posting a flyer and taking out a two-line public service announcement in the newspaper. "The musicians are overjoyed," she reports.
Perhaps no one is more enthusiastic than Herold, who says of her eight-year sojourn in this small foothills town: "there are not opportunities to play here regularly like there are other places." She explains that auditioning for the Greenville Symphony is impractical, because of a combination of professional obligations and a lengthy commute. "I couldn't do the drive and everything else," she confesses.
GCCO, on the otherhand will rehearse on Sunday afternoons in preparation for its first performance in November. "This is a sunday rehearsal, and that makes a big difference," Herold contends.
Victor Vallo, associate professor of music at Anderson College, has been retained as GCCO's conductor. According to Vallo, a community orchestra is designed to appeal to musicians who desire to make music without enduring the pressures inherent in a professional performance. "It's particularly popular with those who are not as comfortable playing for a professional orchestra," he explains.
For Vallo, he has organized several amateur orchestras, the distinction does not mean the quality of the presentation has to suffer. Amateur, in his estimation, applies to musicians who choose to make music purely for the love of it. Speaking of the rich heritage of community orchestras, he observes that the renowned New York Philharmonic got its start a century ago as an amateur organization.
The key, as Vallo sees it, is in the musical program itself. "Programming is crucial to these community orchestras," he says. His objective is to offer his musicians selections that are fun to play, but "pretty challenging" at the same time. "You want it to sound good," he says.
For the first performance at the Greenville Tech auditorium on November 19th, he will lead his charges through six overtures by such notables as Mozart, Suppe, Rossini, and Offenbach.
Sure to be seated among them is Clayton, whose specialty is the french horn. She presently plays with Trinity Brass, the Greenville Concert Band, and the Lakeside Concert Band at Furman. But none of these appeases the instinct to make symphonic music, says the Christian counselor whose resume includes a stint with a semi-professional orchestra in Costa Mesa, California.
Clayton will double as general manager of the fledgling organization. Tasks to be completed include recruiting a board of directors, filing for tax exempt status, and developing a fundraising plan.
One thing she will not have to worry about, however, is recruiting a conductor committed to the project. "It's a very high honor and a priviledge to be asked to do it," Vallo maintains. The invitation came as a result of a personal friendship with Clayton.
The two friends are currently busy assembling the remaining musicians they need to round out the orchestra. "It's first come first serve," says Clayton. She reports that there is still a great need for string musicians.
"We want to sound like an orchestra, not a band," adds Vallo. To accomplish that objective requires a ratio of approximately three string instruments for every two woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments.
As for Herold, she is eager to get started as much for the anticipated camaraderie as for the music. "It's a really good social outlet," she contends. "Musicians have a particular sense of humor and way of relating to the world that I relate to very, very well."
For information call Len Clayton at 282-0026.