NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Feb. 20.
SEQUIM — “Romeo and Juliet” from Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Matesky’s “Fiddler’s Day” and Ravel’s “Le Jardin Féerique” will fill the air as the Sequim Community Orchestra, a 47-piece volunteer outfit, gives a free concert tonight.
“I love this orchestra,” said Shirley Anderson, 70, a member who plays beside Laila Arnorsdottir, 13.
The pair of bassists, along with the flock of musicians from Sequim and Port Angeles, will step up at 7 p.m. this evening at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave.
‘Meet the Instruments
Donations are welcome at the concert — and at its 6:30 p.m. prelude, an event called “Meet the Instruments.”
In this short presentation, orchestra players will introduce children, adults and anyone who’s curious to their horns, violins and violas, “breaking down the barrier between us and the audience,” as conductor Phil Morgan-Ellis put it.
Heather Titterness, a student teacher at Sequim High School and a violinist with the orchestra, said this group is fun, naturally, because of its camaraderie; it’s also challenging, since performing with a diverse bunch forces her to stretch.
The Sequim Community Orchestra feels professional, added Laila the double-bass player, but “not so professional that it’s out of my league.”
100-year-old harp
Tonight’s Ravel suite will feature Janeen Kelm and her 100-year-old harp, an elegant Christmas gift she received when she was a girl of 12.
The Sequim resident has also performed with her harp in the Port Angeles Symphony and Port Townsend Community Orchestra: “I’ve played around,” Kelm quipped.
Morgan-Ellis and the community orchestra offer a Strings in the Schools music education program for children in Sequim.
The second-year students have been rehearsing at Greywolf Elementary School and will join the orchestra for four of the works on tonight’s program.
“They’re very good and very serious,” said Lilias Green, a co-founder of the Sequim Community Orchestra who is an ardent believer in music as part of kids’ studies from primary school onward.
Tuba player Larry Mann is one orchestra member who started early: He has been playing since 1967, when he was a junior high school kid in North Highlands, Calif.
Mann later performed with the Merced, Calif., Symphony for about two decades, then brought the big horn with him when he retired to Sequim last year.
Green and Morgan-Ellis invite musicians to find out about joining them via www.SequimCommunityOrchestra.org, which has details about the Tuesday rehearsals, the children’s strings program and a photo gallery.
For still more information, contact Green at legreenmusic@gmail.com or 360-681-5469.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
