Vermont Symphony Orchestra performs at Norwich

By Edina Na-Songkhla
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra performed at Norwich University Sunday, Dec. 2, attracting an audience of both young and old. The two-hour concert consisted of music from Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring and Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 21 and Op. 61.

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra, also known as VSO, was started 67 years ago by a small group of musical enthusiasts in Woodstock, Vt., dedicated to bringing music to Vermont audiences. It was the first state-supported orchestra in the nation.

During the 2000-01 season, the VSO performed 50 concerts in more than 20 communities around Vermont.

Edward Tracy, Norwich University Executive Director of External Affairs, coordinated and prepared for the Orchestra's arrival in Plumley Armory.

"It was decided in January of 2001 that they would come to Norwich," Tracey said, adding that Norwich was asked to consider hosting a future concert after the April 2000 concert with the National Symphony Orchestra.

"External Affairs staffed the program, with help from students and volunteers in the set-up and on the day of the performance," Tracy said.

It took over 10 months to prepare for the concert, including a promotional plan of extensive radio and print campaigns, as well as a program to make tickets available to students in the area.

Justin Babcock, 21, a senior communications major from Northfield, Vt., helped organize the production as part of his graduation-required internship over the summer.

"It was the project they had me doing. I had to [do] whatever that needed to be done before the actual performance," Babcock said, explaining that he learned to work with different sections, such as finding the number of seats available to ordering the right number of tickets.

"It really was a complex project," Babcock said. "It took up the entire time of my internship."

Ally Muratore, 19, a sophomore peace, war, and diplomacy major from Houston, Tex., attended the concert and said he "enjoyed the first piece, Appalachian Spring, a lot. I thought it was done really well."

Karl Wethe, 21, a senior chemistry major from Westwindsor, N.J., agreed. As for Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, both Muratore and Wethe concurred that the narration did not fit into the concert.

"I didn't appreciate the spoken words. It seemed kind of dragged out a bit," Wethe said.

Kathryn Provencher, 20, a sophomore environmental science major from Severna Park, Md., liked Mendelssohn's piece more because she thought it was "lively."

"It was my favorite, because I enjoyed the vocal edition and how they tied the play in with the music," Provencher said. "Altogether, the concert had a good selection of music."

Back to Guidon index