As diverse as music is, music-makers come from equally wide-ranging backgrounds - spanning gender, ethnicity and age. Leaders of the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra (WIO) say their mission is to connect players in that last category, in order to bring listeners fresh takes on classical masterpieces.
Artistic director of WIO, Anne Marie Peterson, speaks about working with such a diverse group including Julliard-bound viola player Tabby Rhee and her 16-year-old brother Julian.
“It’s an unspeakable thrill for us. We have a wonderful diverse group of musicians and we have a no audition policy so we have everyone who is maybe just beginning to a wonderful group of musical educators, and then you top this off with the young artists -- it’s elevated our work.”
As a member of the orchestra, Julian notes the benefits he and his sister experience. “It’s been a really great learning experience for myself and for Tabby because we’ve been able to help people, not just our own age, but it’s a different social experience working with people of all different ages,” he says.
Peterson is especially excited to showcase such diversity at their concert on June 2nd. “You’ll see that evening on stage - brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, colleagues, former teachers and students. It’s such a wonderful range of ages and relationships and the main thing is we’ve made a lot of new friends,” she says.
But first, the Rhees gave a preview of the concert with the presto, or last movement of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major:
