I was surprised to find myself spending St. Patrick's Day at the Louisville Civic Orchestra [4]'s concert. My original plans fell through, and due to my husband playing upright bass in the ensemble I happily attended. I've heard and played with a number of community orchestras before, and this performance was higher in quality than normal. Keep in mind the program wasn't real difficult including: Aaron Copland's Hoe Down from Rodeo, Londonderry Air, Molly on the Shore, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92.
The ensemble as a whole had exceptional tone and dynamics. For the most part pitch was good. Sometimes the brass fracked at the beginning of phrases and on high notes, and the violins' pitch would get squirrelly in the upper registers. The one thing that bothered me the most was the violins were not together many times. There was a delay from the front stand to the back. This could easily be seen by their delayed bowing and it was very audible. This didn't happen in the other sections due to their sections being significantly smaller in numbers. St. Paul's United Methodist Church served as a good venue with its nice acoustics and big booming sound. Overall it was a good performance for a community orchestra.
Photo: Courtesy of Anna Blanton