Connie's Story - How It Began
In December, 2013 I heard about a new community orchestra starting up in a nearby county and, as an amateur cellist having not played the cello in a very long time, I really wanted to join it. After some serious consideration, I realized that I didn’t have time to add another activity to my life that involved another long drive each week.
Wishing I could play my cello in a group much closer to home, the thought then occurred to me that there are parts of Nelson County much further out than I was and there may be others who would be interested in playing music together if it was more convenient. Also, as a piano teacher now focusing on teaching adults and encouraging lifelong learning, I dreamed of a safe non-intimidating, welcoming orchestra environment that would be inviting for youth and adults of varying beginning levels to come together to discover the joy of playing music collaboratively. Why couldn’t we start an orchestra here? The seed was planted! |
Partnership
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Things started to move rather quickly. Long time friend, Philip Clark, a highly qualified conductor as well as a composer and arranger now living in our area, agreed to give it a go as our conductor. The Rockfish Valley Community Center, the place we would meet for rehearsals, embraced the idea and their board accepted the orchestras request to become a partner under their 501c3 non-profit umbrella. The Rockfish Valley Community Orchestra now had non-profit status and a home. Now all we needed were orchestra members! Flyers were distributed, e-mails went out to friends, phone calls were made and fingers were crossed.
On January 13, 2014 RVCO met for its first meeting and rehearsal under the direction of music director and conductor, Philip Clark. Ten curious people with mixed expectations, who had never met before, gathered at RVCC, with a common interest of returning to playing music again - some after many years of having not played, some who were adult beginners who had not yet had the opportunity to play in a group. As the music was being passed out and we looked at our music for the first time, some eyebrows began raise and we wondered how we would ever play this music after such a long time of being in musical hibernation. It took courage to show up and courage to give it a go and by the end of the evening, though somewhat out of tune and missing some notes, we were actually playing recognizable music together. At one less frazzled point, when I could actually stop focusing just on my own playing and listen to us all as a group, I couldn't stop smiling. It was something I always wanted to do and it felt so good. And for me, this is what its all about. The power of music was bringing members of the community together, people I had never met before, perhaps a bit apprehensive, but trusting enough to share this new, musical experience, even with their varying musical abilities. I was hooked and hoped they would be too. As the following eight weeks progressed, we practiced on our own between rehearsals and some even met in small groups. Also during our first weeks we formed a steering committee and began brain storming as to how we could handle our expenses (conductor, music, room rental, orchestra supplies). The orchestra members and members of the community from as far as Harrisonburg have kept us afloat so far. We are applying for grants and are hopeful that finances will work out so that this orchestra can eventually be self-sustaining. No one is refused participating for financial reasons and it will be a day to celebrate when we can be a bit more relaxed about where the funds are coming from. Its been a busy process, taking up a lot more time than I so naively imagined, but every Monday when we meet and get to play music together and hear ourselves grow as musicians, its all worth it. On March 16, 2014 we gave our first concert, after 8 weeks of rehearsals. It was one of those cold March days when winter just didn't want to let go. We had already cancelled our March 3 concert due to a snow storm and now another one was pending. As we were setting up the auditorium we all were wondering if anyone other than our families would come to hear us. Then people started to show up, the community was there and it was a wonderful, encouraging, fun event. We played our music, we told our music stories of how we came to play our particular instruments, we had a lively reception and we inspired a couple more musicians to join us. |
RVCO becomes
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As the Rockfish Valley Community Orchestra became more of a presence in Nelson County something started to not feel quite right about our name. In the haste of getting the orchestra going and since we would rehearse at the Rockfish Valley Community Center, it originally seemed easy and natural to call ourselves the Rockfish Valley Community Orchestra. But this orchestras mission is to be very inclusive and that meant having a name that didn't imply that the orchestra was partial to a particular geographical area within the county. In May of 2014 we had an orchestra member meeting to discuss this issue and agreed to rename the orchestra the Nelson County Community Orchestra. We happily announced this news at our May concert.
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As we look forward to continual growth we welcome new members to join us at any time. If you have any questions about joining our orchestra please don't hesitate to contact us. And we hope you will return to our website for updates on our educational and orchestral events.
Connie Muscenti, RVCO Founder, Organizer and Wanna-Be Cellist
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything
-Plato
Connie Muscenti, RVCO Founder, Organizer and Wanna-Be Cellist
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything
-Plato