A symphony of moral support

When’s the last time you heard a symphony orchestra play the blues? It’s happening more and more these days.

Not surprisingly, the current economic malaise — be it real or mass hysteria — is affecting orchestras all over the country, from Chattanooga to Detroit to Portland to Hawaii. One of the most recently challenged has been the Tidewater-based Virginia Symphony, which has a $1.5 million deficit and has tapped out its line of credit.

John Lee Hooker once said that a guitar couldn’t really play the blues until it had been in a pawnshop a couple of times. Is the same true for a tuba and a Bach suite?

The Virginia Symphony directors even went to the Industrial Development Authority seeking a million-dollar loan. Norfolk’s mayor said the city might be able to spare half of that.

So why should we care here in Lynchburg? Maybe because the Lynchburg Symphony cares — in fact, according to executive director Rick Piester, its members are actually gathering money to help out what Piester calls “our brother and sister musicians.”

People like violinist Elizabeth Coulter Vonderheide, a product of the Lynchburg public school system who is one of the principal violinists for the Virginia Symphony and once played with the local orchestra.

Is symphonic music an unnecessary luxury?

“Not for me,” said Vonderheide, a six-year Virginia Symphony veteran who will be the featured performer at a Lynchburg Symphony performance in March.

She joined the latter group when she was in seventh grade. Now, like more than 50 of the 70-some musicians who generally appear in Virginia Symphony concerts, she’s a full-time employee, complete with benefits.

“It’s a very expensive proposition, putting all those people out on stage,” Vonderheide said.

Unfortunately, no many how many people show up to watch and listen, it’s never enough. In fact, said Piester, “ticket sales might pay 35 percent of the cost of putting on a performance. On a good night.”

The rest comes from grants and pledges. Unfortunately, the pledges that were made during better times are starting to fall away.

Maybe you prefer Metallica or Kenny Chesney to Handel and Beethoven, but Piester sees a broader picture.

“A symphony is not only important to the people who play in it,” Piester said, “but to the community as a whole. It’s a point of pride to have one. Companies thinking about moving to an area always ask about what that area has to offer culturally.”

Tidewater can offer conductor JoAnn Falletta, who once studied with Leonard Bernstein and gives the Virginia Symphony instant credibility through her reputation. But she’s being faced with a pay cut, as well.

“I know that anything we can give will be only a dent,” Piester said, “but it’s a meaningful dent, because it comes from another orchestra.”

If you feel moved to help out, send what you can in care of the Lynchburg Symphony, 621 Court St., Lynchburg, VA.

“It’s really touching to think that they would do that,” said Vonderheide. “I don’t think a lot of people in our area knew about the problem until it came out in the media, but the outpouring of support has been very gratifying.

“I understand that it’s even more important to contribute to humanitarian causes these days, but I also think we need things that uplift us in bad times. A symphony orchestra is one of them.”