News
Valley News
April 30, 2009
Hanover Chamber Orchestra Slims Down, Takes On New Image
By Warren Johnston
Valley News Staff Writer
After 33 years, the Hanover Chamber Orchestra is getting a complete makeover, including a new name.
The orchestra, which performed its season-ending concert earlier this month with 45 musicians and a 140-member choral ensemble, is getting leaner and more flexible in an effort to bring high quality chamber music to a broader New England audience, board members say.
A year after the orchestra broke from its ties to Dartmouth College and the Handel Society, the ensemble is changing its name, direction, operation and home base. The changes will allow the group to expand its outreach mission to get more music and musicians into the schools and before the general public, board chairman Carlos Galvan said.
The Hanover Chamber Orchestra is now called Camerata New England and will become an ensemble of 15 string players who will perform without a conductor, Galvan said.
"A camerata is a small intimate group of artisans, or others, and in our case musicians. The name Camerata reflects the sort of orchestra we want to be. We'll still have the capability of performing as a large ensemble, but our goal is to be small and agile," he said. "It also allows us to play in smaller venues, like churches, that we would not be able to do comfortably with a large orchestra.
"We wanted to get beyond having just gig musicians. We'll have 15 very fine core musicians, and we can go up from there, but we can also split up and play as a quartet in one area, a trio or an octet in another area at the same time. That gives us the ability to expand out outreach effort," Galvan said.
Another factor is the economy, and the need to raise funds to support the orchestra. "For a two-concert series with the Camerata, it will cost about $17,000, and for a full orchestra, it would be $65,000. The smaller group is where we need to be right now."
Last year, the Hanover Chamber Orchestra became a full-time ensemble under the direction of conductor Dan Perkins; it was based at Plymouth State University and the Lebanon Opera House. The group performed a series of concerts during the fall and spring at its home venues and around New Hampshire.
Perkins, a professor of music and the director of choral activities at Plymouth State, is a guest conductor at concerts throughout the United States and abroad. He is the founder and music director of the New Hampshire Master Chorale, as well as the music director of the Manchester Choral Society and a principal guest conductor of the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet of Hanoi.
Although the first year was successful, the board decided the model of a large orchestra performing with large choral gropus was not sustainable, particularly during the current economic times, board treasurer Deecie Denison said.
"The size of the Camerata is more in keeping with our mission, and the reality of the economy in the Northeast made us realize that the time to make the change was right. We really wanted flexibility and to be able to move around to different areas that don't get high-quality performances.
"There's a lot we can do now that we couldn't do with a big orchestra. This improves our ability to getinto more schools," Denison said.
Perkins leaned toward having a larger orchestra that would support big choral ensembles, but he said he understood why the board wanted a smaller ensemble. The partine was amicable, both Perkins and Galvan said.
"We had a great, exciting and fulfilling year, and we made great music," Perkins said. "In their development right now, they're headed toward being a conductor-less chamber ensemble, and I think that's probably the right direction for them."
Perkins, who is also a pianist, is not going to sever ties or friendships with the orchestra or its players. He will continue to perform with Linda Galvan, who is married to Carlos Galvan, and is the principal cellist with the Camerata.
"I have plenty to do," Perkins said.
A conductor-less ensemble allows the musicians to have owerneship of the performance and to take a more personal approach to playing, Linda Galvan said. "It's very exciting, and it allows you to express yourself a lot more. It raises the energy level," said Galvan, who has played with the St. Louis Symphony and other large orchestras.
Although the Camerata will not have a conductor, cellist Ronald Leonard has been hired as artistic director and will choose the ensemble's repertoire.
Leonard was a professor of cello at the University of Southern California and chairman of the strings department. He also was the principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1975 to 1999. Linda Galvan studied with Leonard at Eastman School of Music, where he taught from 1957 to 1975.
"He's a great musician. He's not as much of a household name as Yo-Yo Ma or Itzak Perlman, but he plays on their level. He's just never sought the publicity," Linda Galvan said.
In an effort to assure the quality of the Camerata, the core musicians will be paid on a scale with Boston players, Carlos Galvan said. "We really want topnotch musicians who can not only perform well with the ensemble but also can reach the kids in the schools."
The outreach program will initially focus on the Lebanon schools, and efforts are being made to coordinate with such other arts groups as AVA Gallery and Art Center, Opera North and the Lebanon Opera House. Musicians will not only go into the schools, they will also work with students to become accomplished players who can perform with the Camerata.
