By Stuart Adelberg
This weekend I attended a concert given by the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra. I’ll bet many of those reading this are now saying, “I didn’t know that Greenwich had an orchestra!” Well, guess what? Not only does the community have an orchestra, but they perform in Greenwich five weekends a year in a concert hall with acoustics that rival Lincoln Center. Ready to be even more surprised? This amazing concert hall is the Performing Arts Center at Greenwich High School – less than 15 minutes from where most of us live.
The Greenwich Symphony is not just a community orchestra. This is an assemblage that boasts world class professional musicians, led by a charismatic and accomplished conductor. When Maestro Stuart Malina lifts his baton, you are sure to forget just about anything else going on in the world, as the Greenwich Symphony transports you to a place where nothing other than the music matters! You owe it to yourself to check it out!
It may surprise anyone who knows me that I have become so enamored by the Symphony. Though the arts have always been my passion, I am neither a musician, nor particularly well schooled in classical music. My involvement is due to some very good friends encouraging me to help a valued local organization enhance its board governance and move forward with some significant strategic issues. Experiencing the magic of the music, the enthusiasm and devotion of the Board, the audience, and the musicians was all I needed to be completely hooked!
I did not set out to write this column as a commercial for the Greenwich Symphony, though that in itself would be well deserved. My intention was to share some of what I learned about symphonic music as a result of this weekend’s concerts and the always interesting and elucidating comments shared by Maestro Malina.
One of the reasons that I have not previously been as interested in symphonic music, was a sense, right or wrong, that it is all about music written hundreds of years ago. Though I’ll save the column about how age has caught up with me for another day, I always thought of classical music as something better suited to people much older than me. Not sure anymore exactly who that would be, but it is irrelevant, because I was obviously wrong.
This weekend demonstrated the complete folly of my assumptions. The Greenwich Symphony presented the works of four composers. Two are still alive, with one being three years younger than my son! Of the composers from the past, one, Felix Mendelssohn wrote the piece we heard when he was 33 years old. The other Gioachino Rossini wrote the very famous Barber of Seville at the ripe old age of twenty-four. The icing on the cake was the Greenwich Symphony’s guest soloist, saxophonist Valentin Kovalev. Through his international concert career, Valentin has performed with orchestras throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. He has won numerous international competitions and is sought out as a teacher throughout the world. His online presence has gained him a social media audience that surpasses 100,000 followers! Not too shabby for a Siberian native who is only twenty-seven years old!
So not only is it clear that symphonic music is actually quite young, but apparently some of its most monumental work was once and is still being created by extraordinarily talented individuals under the age of forty. This learning made me feel woefully inadequate about my own accomplishments but fortunately the music pushed that thought right out of my head!
Stuart Adelberg has a long history of active involvement and leadership in the region’s nonprofit arts and human services communities. He appreciates the opportunity provided by Greenwich Sentinel to share his thoughts and observations. Full disclosure – Stuart is currently the Chairman of the Greenwich Symphony Board of Directors.
