Playing on a national stage for the first time will leave any musical ensemble on cloud nine. But when Hillsdale’s musicians ascend to new heights, they light up the place with their love for the music.
When the Hillsdale College symphony orchestra traveled to George Mason University this weekend to perform at the national conference of the College Orchestra Directors Association, they showed an energy and passion for music performance that was reinforced by the shared experience of performing, learning, and exploring music in Washington, D.C.
The orchestra was one of two colleges selected from blind auditions of both national and international schools, all of whom were significantly larger than Hillsdale College. Though CODA’s final pick was announced late—coming only after one of the original orchestras had to give up its slot—Music Director James Holleman and the orchestra prepared a program from performances over the past two years.
“I was thrilled about our performance,” Holleman said. “The idea we had of presenting music that we’ve played over the last two years and take it to a higher level was absolutely successful. The orchestra rose to their peak level of performance. And that gives us a new level for our next performance.”
The 77-member orchestra traveled to Fairfax, Virginia, Thursday. There, they rehearsed and performed Friday afternoon before an audience that included Penny Arnn, the wife of Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, and other Hillsdale guests, as well as orchestra directors and members from across the country.
The hour-long concert, which included Benjamin Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “Serenade to Music,” brought the audience members to their feet for a standing ovation.
“This was definitely our best performance since I’ve been at Hillsdale,” junior violinist Delaney Lehmann said. “There was so much energy from everyone, especially Professor Holleman. I noticed that especially in the fourth movement of the Britten; the storm was stormier. We were able to bring across the character of the music. I also enjoyed the two violin pieces. Stevan [Lukich] was immaculate on the solo for the Max Bruch ‘Scottish Fantasy’. Hannah Andrews’s violin solo on Ralph Vaughan Williams’s ‘Serenade to Music’ was lovely and heart-wrenching, too. All the feels.”
Though their performance was the centerpiece of the weekend, the orchestra also participated in master conducting classes with the University of Tulsa, the other orchestra selected by CODA.
Holleman also spoke on a panel entitled “Conducting at a Liberal Arts College” Saturday afternoon, where he addressed a question he heard from other music directors repeatedly: “How do you do it? How do you make quality music with an orchestra that includes mostly non-music majors?”
“It was great to be a panelist right after everyone saw the concert. Our performance really gave us credibility,” Holleman said. “We repeatedly got compliments from other directors about the quality of the performance and about how interesting the repertoire was. But the compliment I heard the most was that people were so moved by how engaged our musicians were, and how joyous they were in performing the music. People were also shocked by how few music majors there were; we have only five in the entire orchestra, including two double majors, two piano majors, and an organ major.”
For Holleman, though, that joy stems from students’ love of performing as a group, and it shows through in their appreciation of others’ music, as well. Saturday night, the students attended the National Symphony Orchestra in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to hear Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for String Orchestra,” and Christopher Rouse’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Trombone Concerto,” which, according to Holleman, was “a riot.”
“This was my first time watching a professional orchestra,” senior John Russell said. “As a percussionist, it was helpful to watch their technique. And then in one piece they came out with a giant hammer and a giant wooden box, which took a lot of timing. It was fun to watch.”
It wasn’t just the percussionists, though; the entire orchestra was entranced, Lehmann said.
“The second movement of the ‘Trombone Concerto’ was the best,” she said. “This man just walks out with a giant block, and everyone starts laughing because we sort of knew what was going to happen. Everyone was so alert and into the music. It was intense.”
For Holleman the concert was both a motivator for upcoming performance—they will likely perform the “Serenade for Strings” on their May concert—and a unifying experience.
“The conference really renewed our energy and our sense of performing as a group because it was such a bonding experience,” Holleman said. “I’ve seen that when I’ve traveled with the Chamber Choir, but that hasn’t happened with the orchestra before. People got to meet people they had never spoken to before outside of practice and performances.”
While wandering around the city after rehearsals, Lehmann and Russell discovered not only the beauty of the monuments on the National Mall on a quiet, cold night in D.C., but also the joy of time with musicians they may have only known from rehearsals.
“John Russell kept saying, ‘We’re not in Hillsdale anymore’ while we were walking around the monuments in the dark and the cold. It was an experience that I will treasure in my memory, but I don’t need to do it ever again, because my hands were numb,” Lehmann said. “Coming home, though, I had this sense of descending into reality from this cloud of playing wonderful music with wonderful people.”
For Holleman, too, the joy sometimes overflowed in mysterious ways as he looked back on the experience.
“We were at our last stop and I was buying a Coke and mints because I was carsick. I was about to walk away, but then I said to myself, ‘Hey, everything’s going so well, I may as well buy myself a Mega Millions and a Powerball.’ I told the students that if I hit the big one, I’m taking them to New York City and we’re playing Carnegie Hall,” Holleman said. “In all seriousness, though, my joy was traveling with these students and having the honor of performing onstage with them.”