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Loudoun Symphony Does It Differently
Loudoun Symphony Does It Differently
By Ronen Feldman
Gear up for the continuation of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra’s 2024-2025 concert season by expecting everything but the conventional. By the time it ends, young Loudoun musicians will be playing at iconic Carnegie Hall in New York.
The symphony, created in 1991, has been enriching the lives of area residents and helping push its own musicians’ works into the limelight, breaking with traditions and exposing the community to literally unheard of musical amalgamations.
“Most orchestras wouldn’t dare play anything other than the classics,” said Karen Knobloch, LSO’s Executive Director. “We do things a little differently.
The first concert of the season alone combined genres and periods that others would never even think of.”
That “Classical Odysseys” concert in mid-November featured a line-up that included renowned Chinese composer Yanchen Ye, along with William Grant Still’s “Danzas de Panama,” based on a collection of Panamanian folk tunes.
Because the symphony doesn’t have its own venue, it plays where it’s invited, thus contributing by organizing activities and fundraising. Classical Odysseys played at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Ashburn. The rest of this season’s concerts will be hosted at Lightridge, Freedom and Stone Bridge High Schools.
The symphony’s Youth Orchestra is where its innovation truly shines.
“There’s no one formula to how we assemble the Youth Orchestra each year,” Knobloch said. “The children come in, eager to play different instruments and every possible music genre, and we work our way from there.”
The rules of orchestra-going etiquette also are thrown out the window. The children are mostly unfamiliar with the reserved ways of most fine arts patrons who usually stay silent during concerts. But the youngsters are more than happy to express their enthusiasm for the music and their friends on stage with adoring applause.
Another of the symphony’s hallmarks is its leadership’s appreciation for film scores, a fan favorite that’s frequently overlooked by other orchestras. The symphony is happily incorporating scores into their concerts.
The symphony helps people discover and rediscover many niche works too, and makes its concerts as accessible to members of the community as possible, with free entrance for children under 12.
Next year, the concert season will be concluded with a special treat as the symphony’s Youth Orchestra was chosen to perform at the Viennese Masters Orchestra Invitational at Carnegie Hall in New York between June 19-20. It’s a unique opportunity for orchestras to perform the works of Viennese greats.
