Photo by Chris Crawl
Cellist Virginia Rouse is shown during a 2017 concert with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.
For years, the musicians in the Columbus Symphony Orchestra believed in sweet harmony not only at concerts, but even off the stage, too.
There were homemade lasagna dinners at the home of conductor Dale Spurlock and wife Patricia on Franklin Street and informal, post-rehearsal Tuesday night gatherings at the Columbus Bar.
“It was like an extended family,” said violinist Cathy Morris, Spurlock’s daughter and one of six family members who played in the mostly volunteer ensemble at some point.
That orchestral family today celebrates the kickoff of the centennial season for the symphony, considered the oldest continuous musical group of its kind in the state. Its season opening concert, under the leadership of music director Josh Aerie, begins at 3:30 p.m Sunday at The Commons at 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus.
The opener, under the theme of “First Reflections: At the Outset of the Next CSO Century,” will include the Brazilian rhythms and motifs weaving through Alberto Nepomuceno’s last composition, highlight Edvard Grieg’s “The First Meeting, Opus 52,” and “walk in the footsteps of giants,” according to organizers, with Johannes Brahms in his Symphony No. 1, a monument to Beethoven.
Morris played with the symphony from third grade in 1970, when her father assumed the musical helm, until she became concertmaster her senior year of high school. She also later returned on a number of occasions to play as a guest artist with the orchestra while becoming a popular, Indianapolis-based electric violinist performing nationally and internationally.
Her father stepped down as conductor in 1992, and died in 2005. He is the second-longest serving symphony leader behind founder Chester Kitzinger, who served until 1970 as the conductor of what became known as The Singing Strings in 1955 when the symphony did not have enough members for a full orchestra. Spurlock resurrected the full symphony format with his arrival.
Interestingly, even amid a long, professional career, Morris is more passionate than ever about the importance of volunteer orchestras and similar groups.
“People must be able to find what in the arts personally resonates with them as a participant, not just as an observer or audience member,” said Morris, founder of Arts With a Purpose to help people do precisely that.
Cellist Virginia Rouse figures she is by far the longest-tenured member of the symphony, having played since the early 1950s, just after she finished college. She skipped playing last season because she was recovering from a car accident. That recuperation continues.
“I still want to come back,” Rouse said.
She remembers Kitzinger, who died in 1977, as a wonderful encourager of both her and her daughter Mary Jacqueline, a budding violinist.
“Oh, they became great friends back then,” Rouse said. “He thought that she was just about perfect, and she thought he, in turn, was just about perfect.”
Rouse admired Kitzinger’s love of music and also his orchestral intelligence.
“He really was pretty incredible,” Rouse said.
The veteran performer never gave much thought to long she might stick with the symphony. Besides, over the years, she also played with the professional Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.
“I guess I basically figured I’d play as long as I live,” she said. “Because I just can’t imagine my life without music.”
About the concert
Who: The Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s opening of its 100th season
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus
Information and tickets: csoindiana.org
