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A Classic Example
LSO celebrates its 17th season: There is an electric magic in the hush of the audience and the musicians as a conductor walks quietly to the podium. The stillness as he or she lifts the baton is tangible. The quick, quiet tap on the edge of the music stand somehow reverberates in all directions. The conductor's arm begins its ballet and the first notes lead the way until the entire hall is vibrating with music so well written that it has won the acclaim of countless generations of critics.This is true of any orchestra that is worth its metronome. The Loudoun Symphony is no exception. The LSO began 17 years ago with a small group of men and women who appreciated and needed to play classical music and play it well. Today there are close to 50 musicians under McCoy's baton. There may be new faces and perhaps some of the original faces have moved to other venues, but the commitment, the love of quality music and the determination to share this with others is still the life force of its existence.
Music Director and Conductor
Mark Allen McCoy came to Loudoun 10 years ago with a list of credentials that sounds like the stops along an incredible world cruise: The Philippine Philharmonic, the Szczecin Filharmonia of Poland, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Kharkov Philharmonic in the Ukraine, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini" of Italy, the St. Joseph Symphony in St. Petersburg and the State Symphony Orchestra in Russia.
McCoy was the only American chosen as one of six finalists during the 1997 "Arturo Toscanini" International Competition for Conductors held in Parma, Italy.
So why did he move to Catonsville, Md., and take on the task of being the conductor and music director of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra?
"There were a couple of things that struck me. One was just the people themselves. I’ve never met a friendlier group of people, They were warm, dedicated, and wanted to make great music. That was very, very evident," McCoy said.
What McCoy also understood was that this young organization would afford him the opportunity "to get in on the ground floor, to build something from the ground up. I felt like it was a perfect place to take something and build something wonderful. I think we’ve been able to over the years," McCoy said.
McCoy is proud that LSO has been able to attract quality players to the orchestra not only from Loudoun County but from places like Fairfax County, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md.
Choosing the programs is a large part of determining the course an orchestra will take. McCoy said he works very closely with the LSO artistic committee.
"I run my ideas by the artistic committee. I want to choose a repertoire that is appealing to audiences and a repertoire that is challenging to the orchestra. I choose something that I am pretty sure they are going to come off in the best light," McCoy said.
McCoy said he attempts to balance the old with the new and that there are various factors that go into the final decision.
"Oftentimes it’s a matter of programming around a soloist and also deciding if I want to make it themed or just develop a program where each piece can just stand on it own," McCoy explained.
One of the first things McCoy did was to initiate the tradition of having a holiday concert.
"When I first came they didn’t necessarily do holiday concerts and this was one of the things I thought they needed to change," McCoy said.
McCoy indicated the orchestra also had some ideas of its own and this year's Holiday Pops is a good example.
"This year it's going to be a little different. The orchestra had been clamoring to do real pop type of things. So we decided to turn this into a real holiday pop," McCoy said.
The music, he continued, will reflect jazz, Big Band and swing melodies. "The Nutcracker" piece, for example, is an arrangement by Duke Ellington.
The Executive Director
The executive director of the Loudoun Symphony Association is Michael Rohrer of Lincoln who has been with LSO since its inception. He is also the principal bass player.
"I became part of the non-musical side about three years ago. I got involved in finances because it's something I'm interested in. I have my own business. ... Then when our treasurer had to resign I was the one who had the bookwork so I said I'll be the treasurer and actually I still am treasurer," Rohrer said.
Rohrer made it clear that volunteers are one of the mainstays of the organization.
"This season we have an amazing set of volunteers who are working hard to take care of all of the aspects of the season," Rohrer said.
The planning, Rohrer said, started late last spring when music librarians Stephanie Chris and Peggy Lee planned and ordered the music. Then, Rohrer continued, there are the production needs, the financial planning and the fund raising involved. There's the artistic committee McCoy mentioned earlier and there is the brochure to put together.
"The brochure alone is a major effort. Three to four thousand people have expressed an interest and bought tickets. We have to have someone to maintain the data base; someone has to do the planning and so forth for the brochure. There's also the planning and layout for the playbill," Rohrer said.
The ushers, the box office staff and the stage manager are all volunteers as well.
"The volunteer stage manager brings her children, teenagers, to help her set up. That's a big job. There's a lot of heavy lifting. They have to set up all the stands for the concerts and the band shells for the acoustics."
The approximately 25-30 volunteers fall into two categories, Rohrer explained. There are the permanent volunteers such as those who server on the board and there are the more transitory volunteers such as those who stick labels on brochures or work as ushers.
'When people show up at the concert they just say they're here for the music. They don't realize what goes into it. There's a real spirit of enthusiasm and working together, and people know everyone has to do their part to make this work," Rohrer said.
In terms of the evolution of the LSO, Rohrer acknowldged that the original conductor, Jed Gaylin, had been a unifying force.
"He kind of said this is the way we should do things. He formalized the structure of the orchestra and was very active with the early board of directors. He worked to really shape it up and give it a cohesiveness. He improved the artistic quality of the orchestra through his choice of programs," Rohrer said.
According to Rohrer, this improvement has not stopped.
"Each year it's a little harder to get into the orchestra so this has improved the quality of the orchestra. We struggle to stay away from Fairfax's example of going professional. We are trying to maintain the community spirit. We are very proud that we have been able to do that while still improving the quality," Rohrer said.
Rohrer points out that McCoy not only knows orchestral music but has evidently made a real commitment to the orchestra in general.
"When McCoy came in he brought a fresh outlook but he was able to continue the process we had made. Also, he's just a wonderful conductor. He's really made a commitment to the orchestra. He's been with us 10 years and that's an amazing thing. It's very uncommon with orchestras like ours. Even the National Symphony Orchestra may have someone every five to six years. He likes us," Rohrer said.
A Performing Arts Center.
Loudoun's well-established musical groups, its amateur theater organizations and its visual arts community are gradually becoming more vocal about having a state-of-the-art center to showcase their productions.
LSO is no exception.
"I think it's essential if the arts are not only going to continue, to sustain what they’re doing, but to go forward. High schools have been great in contributing to the arts, but with the county growing as fast as it is, those places being harder and harder to get, a performing arts center is an absolute must," McCoy said.
Discussing the soon-to-open theater at Franklin Park, McCoy said the facility would not allow for enough seating, and the stage would be too small for many productions, especially ballet.
"Obviously that's not going to accommodate things like the symphony or the ballet. As you know, when you plan something like this and talk with other places that have done it, you realize you can’t be everything to everybody. But under the ideal situation, you need a major performing hall," McCoy said.
McCoy believes the facility should include a major theater and stage, a smaller auditorium and, thirdly, a black-box theater which is a small, intimate auditorium and stage for community theater.
Rohrer said he is delighted that there is interest growing both in Leesburg and on the county level for such a center.
"We've been hoping for a performing arts center for at least 12 to 13 years," Rohrer said.
Rohrer said that "many years ago someone actually donated, or was ready to donate, land for the Mason's Ford Performing Arts Center. But that failed. It was before the population growth and it never gained momentum. Now it seems to be a race to see who gets the plans on the table first. ... Artists have to be in on early stages for the design stage. It's very important for people who are going to use it," Rohrer said.
From a musician's standpoint, Rohrer said, good acoustics are critical.
"The difference between playing in a real hall and in a high school is the difference between night and day. The music sounds so much better. The musicians play so much better. You just get this warm feeling. It's a thrill to be there. There's nothing like that. ... The point is that its a hall that gives you something back acoustically," Rohrer said.
Rohrer also emphasized that it would be a venue, not only for local talent but also for groups from outside Loudoun County.
"You would have other performing arts organizations coming here. We would end up becoming a very dynamic facility that really does add to the overall quality of the county," Rohrer said.
Contact the writer at ecarlton@timespapers.com
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