LAKEWOOD —In one last rehearsal before opening the 2015-16 season, over four dozen men and women — young and old — performed as one, rigorously reviving notes written more than 100 years ago by a Finnish composer.
As members of the rehearsed works by Jean Sibelius, conductor Matt Switzer and executive director Mary Anne Fleet sat in a sound booth above the stage at the Lakewood Cultural Center and talked about the upcoming season and the evolution of the Lakewood Symphony.
The Lakewood Symphony has been around in different iterations since 1977 but has flourished in the years since it began renting space in the shortly after it was built 11 years ago, Switzer said.
“The Cultural Center is definitely our home base, and I would say that as with all community orchestras, it takes the dedication of the members to keep it going,” he added. “Most of them have full time jobs during the day — they’re students,engineers, geologists — and they come out at night and practice their instruments just because they love playing.”
Fleet said another big change is the switch from strictly volunteer to the symphony now auditioning performers.
“That has helped us really boost the quality of the orchestra,” she added.
This season, concertgoers can go on what Switzer calls the “World of Sound” tour, with each performance focused on music from different parts of the world and accompanied by a special guest.
The symphony’s Oct. 1 season opener, “Flying Finnish,” featured Sibelius’ work “Finlandia” along with “Symphony No. 2” and “Violin Concerto” played by violinist Yi Zhao.
Hailing from China, Zhao is an assistant concert master at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and already has a long list of musical accomplishments at the age of 27.
“I heard her play some solos when she was at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and thought, ‘Wow, I’ve got to ask her to play,'” Switzer said.
Switzer — who plays cello for the Colorado Symphony — said he was thinking about doing a Sibelius piece and mentioned this to his colleague, who said said she had just finished working one of his pieces.
“I’m really honored to be playing this concerto,” Zhao said. “For the solo part, it’s very technical, very dramatic, driving and touching, and sometimes it can feel very uncomfortable playing it.”
New this year to the Lakewood Symphony will be a Young Artist Concerto Competition that will see one Colorado youth selected for a $1,000 first-place prize and an opportunity to perform with the Lakewood Symphony.
“I think a lot of the orchestra around here is very excited to be able to play a full concerto with a wonderful, talented young student,” Switzer said.
Cultural Center administrator Susan Martin said the partnership with the Lakewood Symphony is one of the stronger ones the center has.
“We’re really an asset to them in terms of the facility, and they’re a great asset to us because their patrons get used to coming to the Cultural Center,” Martin said. “As they become familiar with our space, they’re certainly exposed .”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com or @abriggs
Lakewood symphony
Info: lakewoodsymphony.org or 303-980-0400
