Local music enthusiasts share impressions of BSO

Do you find a sense of private retreat in Beethoven’s “Eroica” symphony? Do you imagine wind-propelled birds in flight when you hear Respighi’s “Pines of Rome”? And could you fall in love to the emotional strains of the appassionato in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto?

Musicologists and music teachers may not pose these types of personal-response questions in music history classes or in textbooks, but a handful of local music enthusiasts agreed to share their personal impressions in a new brochure for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra season, which kicks off Sunday, Sept. 21 at the Maine Center for the Arts.

Participants, all of whom are from the greater BSO listening community, include Dan Innis, a dean at the University of Maine; Jackie Friske, a music educator in Bangor; Mel Braverman, a longtime subscriber to the BSO; Janet and Bob Marville, occasional symphonygoers from East Blue Hill; Leitha Christie, host of the classical music morning show at Maine Public Broadcasting Company; and Mark Woodward, executive editor at this newspaper.

While some of the writers work in the music field, none is a professional critic. Yet each of their responses reflects sensitivity to music and eloquent understanding of themes.

“At first I was a bit intimidated by the request to express a musical opinion,” said Innis, dean of the UM Scholl of Business, Public Policy and Health. “While I did play the violin in high school, I have never reviewed music in any official capacity. When I started listening to the music for review, I was treating it as an assignment, as work. It was not until I realized that I was not reviewing for the orchestra, but for everyday people, that I was able to connect with the music. I asked a simple question: ‘How does this music make me feel?’ Then it was easy.”

Innis’ question is a seminal one when it comes to listening to classical music, a genre that many people find too complicated to understand. But the truth, said BSO administrators, is that attending an orchestral concert is easy. It’s only as hard as the ear time and imagination any listener puts in.

“Life” is the qualification musicologist David Klocko most valued when asked what listeners should bring to a concert. Klocko gives pre-concert lectures an hour before each classical concert and always encourages concertgoers to trust their own responses.

“A lot of times people that are not trained think they can’t appreciate music the way trained people can,” said Klocko. “But I think people have a natural ability to relate to music because it is emotions and sounds.”

There are six classical concerts this year, four of which have guest soloists and all of which underscore the mission and promise of Maestro Xiao-Lu Li: to enrich life. The reach of the symphony goes farther, Li said, when the community gets involved, as it did with the season brochure.

“It was very positive for us that these people from the community were interested in writing these responses,” said Li, BSO music director and conductor. “This is a free country and everybody wants to express an opinion. Music is owned by everyone. If a community person writes about it, it is a sign of the deep interest in our area.”

The highlights of the season include a performance of “XL” by Portland-based composer J. Mark Scearce on Sept. 21 at the Maine Center for the Arts, and “Spooktakular Classics,” featuring works by Mussorgsky, Bach and Berlioz, as well as pre-concert activities such as face painting, mask making and an instrument petting zoo on Oct. 25 at Bangor High School. At the spooky-theme concert, there will also be a costume parade and reception at intermission.

While the Halloween concert is a new approach to increasing the interest of younger audience members, the BSO upholds its long tradition of holding Youth Concerts for more than 4,000 school children on March 8. Another popular event with the community will be the annual collaboration between the BSO and Robinson Ballet Company for “The Nutcracker” on Dec. 6 and 7.

For the past 21 years, the BSO has held the Maine Concerto Competition Annas-Cupp Award, the culmination of which will take place when the winner plays at the May 16 “Great Achievement” classical concert.

For information about the BSO season and programs, call 942-5555 or visit the Web site at www.bangorsymphony.com. Unless otherwise stated, all concerts take place at the Maine Center for the Arts at the University of Maine.