Hillsdale College’s symphony orchestra will release its new CD at the capital campaign gala on Oct. 9.
The CD commemorates the 10-year anniversary of the John E.N. and Dede Howard Music Department, as well as the department’s relocation to the Howard Music Building. The last orchestra CD was released in 2004.
The motivation for the latest CD also came, in part, through a kind of backdoor — Hillsdale’s online Constitution courses. The courses make use of the 2004 CD’s patriotic theme.
“I was getting so many requests from people wanting that patriotic CD, and I didn’t want to necessarily just print more because, even though it’s a good product, and we’re really proud of it, it’s not reflective of the growth we’ve had in the program over the last 10 years,” Professor of Music James Holleman said.
The orchestra’s makeup has changed dramatically since Professor of Music Edwyn Hames founded it in 1951, and the past 10 years are no exception to that. At its conception, the orchestra was much smaller than it is today.
Shelley Downey, one of the two remaining community members in today’s orchestra, recalls its earlier days well.
“Back in the day, the orchestra performed in Phillips Auditorium — yes, in Phillips!” Downey said. “We fit quite well on that stage.”
Now, the orchestra has almost outgrown the significantly bigger Markel Auditorium.
The orchestra has even been renamed from the Hillsdale College and Community Orchestra to the Hillsdale College Symphony Orchestra.
When freshman violinist Hannah Andrews sifted through her options for college, she found that Hillsdale met her qualifications. Andrews, who played with the Minnesota Youth Symphony, wanted a smaller university with strong academics and an outstanding music program.
“Other schools [besides Hillsdale] of the same size that I looked at, their music programs were just horrible comparatively,” Andrews said. “For this size school, it’s unusual to have a music program this good.”
Andrews attributes the quality of Hillsdale’s music department to its teachers and the high percentage of students who participate in it — about one-third of the campus, according to Holleman. Most of these students are not music majors, like senior Ellen Georges, an English major, and junior LaRae Ferguson, who is majoring in classics. Ferguson is a former concerto competition winner and is soloing at the upcoming gala.
Although both women came to college having played in youth symphony orchestras, both said they have grown as musicians at Hillsdale.
“My professor, Dr. Knecht, is so wonderful, and I’ve learned so much from her. She pushes you towards taking that initiative [of your growth as a musician] on yourself. And that’s been really good for me,” Ferguson said. “She really inspires that diligence and that desire for excellence.”
Georges said that she appreciates the balance Holleman strikes in recognizing students’ academic responsibilities and the diversity of the orchestra.
“For the most part, I like Professor Holleman’s selection of repertoire because I think that he does a good job of pushing us to things that are challenging but not doing things that we can’t play well and perform well,” Georges said.
The students took producing their latest CD in stride, recording it mostly within their regular rehearsal schedule and still preparing for all of the concerts they normally perform.
“I think this year, we are potentially the strongest orchestra this school has had,” Holleman said. “There are programs out there that would trade anything they’ve got for our viola section. It’s just really good.”
