NHC residents treated to orchestra tunes
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A woodwind trio, made up of orchestra members Wilson Sharpe on bassoon, Greg Lawson on clarinet and Donna Wehofer on flute, made the trip to the local healthcare facility to provide them with seasonal music as a part of that outreach program. The group did two performances in separate parts of the facility in an attempt to reach as many residents as possible.
Though Sharpe said funding for these efforts has been problematic in the past, this year the group is benefiting from a grant supporting such performances.
“I took it to the board and told them what we had done,” said Sharpe, “and somebody wrote a grant, so we’re going to be able to do much more of it this year. We want to have a presence in Manchester, McMinnville, Shelbyville, Winchester, so that’s what we’re hoping to be able to do.”
As with many classical orchestras, most of the musicians in the Tennessee Philharmonic work a variety of other jobs to help make ends meet.
“We’re all music teachers in the Murfreesboro area,” Sharpe said, “and we all play in the orchestra. We all play semi-professional as well. Greg plays bass clarinet in the Huntsville Symphony, and we all play around town in our spare time.”
None of the musicians expect to get rich playing classical music, and Sharpe says they do it mainly for the love of it.
“We like to play,” Sharpe said, “and we’ve kept our playing up. And although we teach for a living, we just like to play. We especially love the orchestral music and we’re hoping that people learn, as time goes on, that we do have a very good orchestra, and we’d like to come out and play in these towns.
“When we do a concert in Murfreesboro, for example, if there’s any support in these cities to what they call run-out concerts, which is a very common thing to do, we’d like to bring that concert to another city close by and play for them as well.”
Flautist Donna Wehofer said she was glad to participate in bringing this type of music to residents at NHC.
“I feel this is our chance to give to the community,” Wehofer said, “and share, right now, the Christmas spirit and bring music to people who might not be able to get out and go to Murfreesboro or Nashville and hear an orchestra there, so this is our chance to give back to the community.”
Clarinetist Greg Lawson agreed. “It’s always good to have an outlet to perform in this type of instrumentation,” Lawson said. “And like Donna said, it’s a chance to give back to the community and people seem to enjoy it.”
For more information, or to schedule a performance, contact the Tennessee Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra Association at (615) 898-1862, or visit the Web site at www.mboro-phil.com.