As Eric has mentioned in other outlets, each of our concerts ended with a standing ovation, and the final one, in fact, was met with two.  It’s been a banner season: the orchestra sounds better than ever, the chorus is outdoing themselves with every performance, and we’ve had the strongest ticket sales in the six years I’ve been with the organization.  I truly believe that our brightest days are ahead of us.

“Synergy” is a term thrown around a lot; it’s one of those business buzzwords used to stir up a group of people, as in:

In the case of Symphony NH, though, we’re in the middle of something that feels a lot like, well, synergy.  People and efforts are moving into places where the end product is greater than the sum of the parts.  I was part of a conference call a few days ago, and the facilitator used the phrase “stronger together” several times.  Perfect, I thought.  These two words perfectly sum up what’s been happening this year: stronger together.

SNH is entering a phase where people want to be involved.  Whether it’s playing, singing, sponsoring, funding, or volunteering, there’s never been a better time to plug into what we’re doing.  It’s a great feeling, and the plan is to take as many people along on this journey as we can.  Join us, won’t you?

We’re doing this on several levels.  First, there’s the pilot program in string instruction we’ll be introducing at Birch Hill Elementary, led by SNH violinist Nancy Goodwin.  Our aim here is just to get something started so kids can see that strings are an option in addition to band and chorus.  Second, we’ll work with middle school music teachers to develop mentorship opportunities for their students in band and chorus, using musicians from the SNH orchestra and chorus.

Finally, we’re reconfiguring our (h)EARS program.  Instead of 6^th graders, this year we’ll present a new concert program designed specifically for 3^rd graders, in an effort to get them excited about choosing an instrument to play when they reach 4^th grade.  Jonathan McPhee led a similar program to success in Lexington, where teachers reported a dramatic rise in band enrollment after just two years!

All of this is resonating with funders, who seem persuaded by the statistics showing that kids who participate in musical ensembles are more likely to participate as citizens when they grow up – by joining boards, voting, volunteering, running for office – and less likely to engage in destructive behavior.  Good for students, good for society.  What more can we aspire to?

Crystal Napoli

“I was blown away,” McPhee exclaimed.  “It’s rare for a young musician – especially a young harpist – to be able to make music on such a high level, and I’m certain our audience will be equally impressed.” The growing partnership with Manchester Community Music School (we’ve been collaborating on a Halloween family concert since 2010) is an example of how a professional orchestra like Symphony NH is engaging with the community by identifying outstanding, local young talent and giving them the opportunity for a potentially life-altering musical experience.

In addition, a live audio recording of the full November 17, 2012 concert program will be broadcast on WCNH (Classical NH, 91.5 FM) and streamed over www.classicalnh.org).  Broadcasts of this and three of our other concerts start at 8:00 PM on the following Fridays:

• April 19: “Fifth Dimensions” – the concert from October 2012 features Brahms’ Nanie, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with soloist Caroline Goulding, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
• May 10: “Flying Colors” – the concert from November 2012 features Saint-Säens’ Morceau de Concert with soloist Crystal Napoli, Wagner’s “Entry of the Gods into Valhalla, Tchaikovsky’s suite from Swan Lake, and Stravinsky’s suite from Firebird.
• May 24: “Under the Influence” – the concert from January 2013 includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, Stravinsky’s Symphony in C, and Brahms’ Variations on a theme of Josef Haydn.
• July 5: “First Class” –  a program from February 2013 explores music with origins in Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, including Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un Gentilhombre and Copland’s Three Latin American Sketches.

Visit SymphonyNH.org for information on upcoming live performances.

Holly, who has served as the Symphony NH Chorus’ conductor since August of 2012, has certainly earned her spot on the mound.  As founder and conductor of New World Chorale, she’s built a reputation as one of New England’s leading choral conductors.  So it was only natural that the Red Sox should seek Holly out as they prepare to celebrate their 60-year partnership with the Jimmy Fund, which supports research and treatment for children with cancer.  The performance features kids and adults – both current and former patients – who have benefitted from the Jimmy Fund’s programs.  In addition to “The Star-spangled Banner”, the ensemble will sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “Just One Person” from the musical Snoopy.

The opening day game is scheduled for Monday, April 8^th at 2:05 pm.

“What a thrill it is getting to work with the wonderful people at the Jimmy Fund and the Red Sox organization,” Holly gushed.  “Preparing to sing at Fenway Park combines two of my greatest loves: singing and the Boston Red Sox!”

We’re so lucky to have such a respected member of New England’s musical community leading our Symphony chorus.

Local music lovers can see Holly conduct the Symphony NH Chorus right here in Nashua by attending the “Center Stage” concert on Saturday, April 27 at Keefe Center for the Arts.  The program includes opera choruses by Verdi, scenes from Puccini’s La Bohème, and suites from Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.  

As we were ordering, my wife suggested we have the mussels.  She really enjoys them, but since my youth, my taste buds have alternated between a mild dislike and a fervent disdain for this particular cuisine.  Truthfully, I’ve never really cared for them at all, so the internal conversation I had with myself went something like this:

Ok, so maybe that’s an exaggeration.  But, I DID have the mussels.  And guess what?  I didn’t really like them, but I didn’t really dislike them either.  In fact, I found some of the flavors to be pretty good, and I would definitely order them again, if only to explore them and see if my tastes have changed.

Those of us who are patrons of this great art of orchestral music routinely go through the same sort of process, although the argument is one with our ears.  Do I like Beethoven?  YES.  Brahms?  Absolutely.  Wagner?  Perhaps.  Stravinsky?  Oh, no…

We recently had a concert which featured some brilliant Latin American music.  It was a real leap of a program, featuring some composers that only the most studied listeners might recognize.  However, if you missed it, you missed out on a real gem.  The musical colors were bright, the rhythms were sharp, and the atmosphere was electric.  The orchestra, soloists, and Colla Voce outdid themselves.  We even had a few converts in the process, and here’s what a few people had to say about the program:

“I loved the concert…I have purchased two of the pieces so I can listen again and again.” (Anne, Nashua)

“…exceptionally impressed with the concert… from Puerto Rico and knew the music well.” (Susan, Bedford)

“Terrific program!” (Eric, Nashua)

“This was such fun.  People will be sorry they missed it!” (Joan, Hollis)

What to make of all of this?  Have the mussels!  Try the Stravinsky!  When you have the chance, come to the Latin American concert!  Our senses refine, change, and evolve constantly, so giving them opportunities to experience new things might open up new worlds for you.  Who knows, maybe you just might like the mussels… oops, Stravinsky… after all.

Simple to answer, right?  Let’s explore.  The Romans, in their infinite ambition in the first and second centuries, were building an empire.  Part of making this happen was to connect all of their vast territories.  Roads were a big part of that, but roads don’t exactly help when it comes to crossing a body of water, a canyon, or a ravine.  I can imagine that the Romans came upon such scenarios, looked across these geographical obstacles, and said, “we want to connect to those people and that land over there, so let’s make it happen.”  Then they did just that, creating one of the largest empires in history.

And for the Brooklyn Bridge?  It’s pretty simple, too.  In the mid to late 1800s, there was no good way for the people of Brooklyn to get to Manhattan.  The ferries were too small and too slow to get large numbers of people over the East River.  Building a bridge would drastically change the entire New York City landscape, literally and figuratively, by connecting the people of Brooklyn to Manhattan.  It would allow an exponentially larger amount of people and goods to move into and out of the most important city in America, all at a quicker and more efficient clip.  It took a significant amount of time, but that connection made a monumental difference!

Though certainly not brick and mortar, Symphony NH does the very same things.

This week, we were able to partner with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua and build a bridge with a group a students for whom seeing an orchestra might be something they’ve never done.  They were treated to demonstrations from the orchestra members, and a couple of lucky students even took their turn at wielding the baton.  What a way to connect students with classical music!

Additionally, our musicians presented this same program to over 1000 6th-grade students in the Nashua School District.  Again, these students might have limited opportunity to see live classical music, so putting this bridge in place may spark the next Mozart.  This program, Nashua Youth h(EARS), has quickly become very popular, as we’re able to give a large number of Nashua’s students a unique experience with classical music.

Next week, Maestro Jonathan McPhee and the orchestra are building bridges to Brazil, Mexico, and Spain.  This program, with it’s mariachi-inspired melodies and energetic rhythms, might be just the very thing to warm up your winter and take you to those places you’ve only dreamed about.  Connecting with this music often makes our minds wander to these faraway places.

The real definition of building bridges lies in connection.  It’s really as simple as saying, “I am here; I want something or someone to take me over there.”  Why not a beautiful, soaring melody?  Or a driving, edgy rhythm?  Perhaps it’s a sixth-grader’s first encounter with a bassoon.  Maybe a member of the Boys and Girls Club becomes a well-respected and accomplished conductor.  Bridges can take you anywhere.

Take a chance on crossing some of these bridges with Symphony NH.  Who knows, you just might really like what’s on the other side.

By far my favorite pair of questions in each survey is about patrons’ responses to particular works on the program.  For each of the pieces, we ask them to rate their familiarity on a scale of one to five (from “not familiar at all” to “extremely familiar”).  Next, we ask them how much they enjoyed those pieces, scaled from “did not enjoy” to “thoroughly enjoyed”.

It should come as no surprise that the works with which people are most familiar are also – more often than not – ones that they enjoy.  But what Jonathan McPhee and I see more and more, especially lately, is something that makes us very happy indeed:  that works often rated as “not familiar at all” are also “thoroughly enjoyed” by substantial percentages of the audience.

The goal here is to build trust over time, so that even programs with less familiar music will draw audiences who have come to expect a satisfying experience regardless of whether or not they know a particular piece or composer.  Judging by the survey responses (and this year’s concert attendance), we are well on our way!

From Eric Valliere, our Executive Director:

What if I told you that attendance at Symphony NH concerts has increased 61% over last fall?  Would you be surprised?  Not if you’ve been to any of this season’s concerts, you wouldn’t.  Numbers aside: the feeling, the mood in the concert hall is palpably different this year, and I have to say it feels good. I get asked – frequently – what I think accounts for the “sudden” shift.  To be honest, I don’t think it’s sudden at all; rather, we’ve been building toward this for a number of years.  Jonathan has been refining the orchestra’s playing since 2008, and as Nick noted, the ensemble has really gelled this year.  The chorus has its mojo back under Holly’s direction, and their enthusiasm in the community has brought more people in to the concerts.  The acoustic and aesthetic changes to the hall itself have actually improved both the performances and the experience for listeners – a dynamic feedback loop that continues to invigorate us all.  Finally, our new name has signaled to those not already familiar with the quality of our presentations that we are an organization to be taken seriously; many of those folks have sought us out and (according to their responses to our surveys) have been very pleased.

This is all to say that there is no single thing that brings people to concerts (and I didn’t mention the many individuals whose efforts to spread the word and bring friends/family to check us out have also had an effect).  Everything has to work in tandem, and when things “click”, we start to see crowds like we have this fall, enjoying the music and sense of community that we are so proud of at our concerts.  Bottom line:  we do this (make music) for you, and the more of you who come to enjoy the programs, the better we feel about the work we do.  Right now, we’re feeling pretty good!

From Matt Ingersoll, our fall 2012 Intern:

In my three and a half months as an intern with Symphony NH, I have accomplished nearly everything I had set out to the day I first walked into the office. I arrived with an open mind, and I really wanted to improve my communication skills, especially when speaking formally to people I had never met before. Nick has been great in that regard and I appreciate him pushing me to take that step, whether it was making phone calls in the office or being set off on my own to put up posters downtown. We’ve had quite a few laughs along the way, something that makes my time here even more valuable. Driving a U-Haul truck for the first time, searching through a maze of building offices for a hidden bass drum, and then lugging that bass drum across a busy street like Frogger are just a few of my fond memories that came with this experience. What makes it even better is how successful we’ve been this season thus far in ticket sales. It makes me proud that I was lucky enough to say that I was a part of it. Truth be told, I didn’t want it to end, and I only hope I can continue to have connections with Symphony NH in the future!

From Nick Adams, our Director of Operations:

This is my sixth season with Symphony NH, and the journey has been thrilling, challenging, fulfilling, and… well… downright tough.  No calendar year has so adequately encompassed these characteristics than 2012.  From the challenges of wrapping up last season to a monumental transition (name change to Symphony NH) to an absolutely fantastic first half of this season, we’ve experienced it all in a relatively short time.

For me, the first rehearsal of each season tells me a lot about where we are.  We’ve always had a solid orchestra; I remember thinking this when I heard it the first time in 2007.  We’ve made lots of progress, and the orchestra is getting better and better.  To that end, I’ll look back on 2012 with a lot of great memories, but October 2 will stand out.  Hearing the first few notes of Beethoven’s Fifth that evening was a milestone for me.  Our orchestra isn’t just solid, it’s great.  We’re making sounds and creating experiences that are better than ever.  Everyone is taking notice, from our patrons to our business partners.  This ride with Symphony NH gets better and better for me, and I couldn’t be more excited to see and hear what 2013 brings.

Everyone on one occasion or another has probably been exposed to some kind of sing-along song growing up or as a young child. It could have been from an old Disney movie or a musical, or maybe even an old cartoon. Regardless of the subject matter, there is likely a specific catchy jingle that gets stuck in your head every time you hear it, and you find yourself humming along or tapping your foot to the beat. Take “My Favorite Things” from the beloved musical, The Sound of Music, or “Singin’ in the Rain” from the eponymous film, for example. Personally, I get like this whenever I hear a throwback tune like “Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King, but you get the idea. It’s one of those feelings you get that is almost care free, a feeling of nostalgia that you wish would never end.

Even in this day and age, I have always wondered how a song becomes a “hit”, and what it really is about the musical composition that so many people love and sing along to. I recently read an article properly titled “It’s the singer, not the song” where scientific research is conducted to determine what the factors are that make a song “sing-along-able”. I found it interesting to discover that it’s really up to the nature of the singer’s voice. You would think that the instruments or the melodies would play a bit more of a part in it. However, the conclusions were this: the singer is male, has a high chest voice, has increased vocal effort, has a greater clarity of consonants, and has a limited use of vocal embellishments. The 1977 hit, “We Are the Champions,” by Queen was used as one of the prime examples in this study. Sure enough, many of us have probably found ourselves singing along to this tune or at least feeling an urge to, am I right? If not, then maybe you learned the catchy chorus to “Y.M.C.A.”, a song made famous in 1978 by The Village People. I know I have, along with the interpretive dance universally known to go with it.

The next concert on the schedule for Symphony NH is one such as this, featuring numerous Christmas songs that have become staples of our pop culture. There will also be orchestral music from classic Christmas films such as Home Alone and The Polar Express, so there will be a little something for everybody. As I type this and listen to an a cappella version of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of Year,” I know that the Christmas spirit has arisen for many by this time. I’m also fascinated by how communities are brought together by singing. Even going to concerts of my favorite rock bands has taught me the wonders of being a part of a group where everyone sings together in unison and harmony. So, let’s get out there next weekend and make that happen at Keefe Auditorium!  It really is the most wonderful time of the year when you can forget about your troubles and sing to remember the things in life that are most important.

There are various organizations across the state that were founded to support and promote different artistic groups. Since Symphony NH is based in Nashua, organizations such as City Arts Nashua and the Nashua Arts Commission are there to help it flourish and to fulfill the mission of “increasing awareness and building an expanded audience.” The fine arts play a pivotal role in the fiscal growth of the state, especially compared to many of the larger states in the country. In September, a study (read it HERE) was conducted to determine the role of fine arts in New Hampshire’s economy as a whole. The study found that “21 percent of the state’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations generate $115.1 million in total economic activity, supporting the equivalent of 3,493 full-time jobs.” It goes on to say that this is “more than double the national median of $49.1 million.” The other interesting fact taken from this article is that about 20 percent of these audience members are not residents of New Hampshire, increasing the state’s arts reach to Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts.

It is universally known that the fine arts work as elements to bring a community together as a whole and to allow that community to thrive. Likewise, the facts simply show that such elements can bring an economy together as well, at least in the case of the state of New Hampshire. For such a small state like this one in comparison to the rest of the country, it’s even more important.

So, if your young son or daughter has been raving about the last concert, play, or art show he or she has attended and wants to choose that vocation when they grow up, embrace it!  More than ever before, the fine arts are playing a significant role in New Hampshire’s economy, and working hard to bring communities together is nothing but a win-win scenario.