by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
Movies are the art form of choice for our culture, so on the one hand, at least there is some art in our regular lives. On the other hand, this tends to damage our sensibilities to other forms of expression. Like most people in the modern age, I tend to forget just how cathartic a live symphony and orchestra can be. My brain is set to think of orchestral music as a film score. Between that and my penchant for live rock shows, I didn’t even realize how accustomed I had become to music that is amplified from a single source. One to three speakers can create any amount of volume, but that is hardly a replacement for a symphony of instruments performing live. The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra fills Jacoby Hall with amazing music on a regular basis during their season.
That season is almost half over, but it isn’t too late to remember how compelling and beautiful the symphony is live. If you get the stigma of a young child when you think about the symphony, and you regard it as boring, the JSO understands that misconception, and for you they have their pops series. These performances include everything from Tchaikovsky to swing numbers with electric bass and a trap kit, and they are perfect for the shorter attention span. The pops series is anything but boring. And for the record, my daughters, who are seven and ten, sat on the edge of their seats enjoying the entire performance.
Featuring the entire Jacksonville Chorus, the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus, a soloist, some ballet dancers, and the entire symphony orchestra, it is an enormous production and is executed flawlessly, even when Fabio isn’t at the wand. For the Holiday Pops – Home for the Holidays performance I attended, guest conductor Nicholas Palmer directed the JSO, and although his technique is more dramatic and theatrical than the subtle control of Fabio, the symphony responded to his direction with their usual skilled execution.
In addition to being joined by a guest director, the symphony also had the seventeen year-old Kaitlyn Lusk perform several songs with them. In part I was disappointed that the performance had so much to look at. After their opening with A Christmas Festival and Christmas a la Valse, which were purely instrumental and let the viewer know right from the start that the JSO doesn’t need to give you anything to look at for you to be transported by a phenomenal performance. I’m not exaggerating, the music almost made me cry.
That isn’t to say Kaitlyn Lusk was a disappointment. A regular on stage with some of the country’s biggest symphony programs since she was 14, she has a demanding presence and an impressive voice. I could have done without all of her narrative, as I don’t really have a lot of feeling for her Christmas memories, but as soon as the strings came back I was able to close my eyes and let the music take me.
When the JSO took to big band numbers, they did it right. Visceral, their jazzy numbers, such as Frosty the Snowman and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, made me want to tap my foot. A trap kit sounds so great in Jacoby Hall. It’s funny how jazzy Tommy Dorsey and Sinatra numbers used to be considered such a revision of Christmas traditions, but now it has become a part of them. It was a little peculiar when the director of the children’s choir, Darren Dailey, got on the platform and directed the JSO while the Children’s Chorus sang. He looked more like a cartoon and he was only directing the drummer, the electric bassist, a classical guitar and the piano. So pretty much a rock band. Even this visual distraction was more entertaining than distracting.
There is plenty more performances to see in the JSO season, so don’t drag your feet. Take someone special and if you are worried about your stamina, get on board for one of the pops series. If you have a hard time making the time at night, check out their Coffee Series for daytime performances. Either way; don’t miss the JSO this season or you’ll be to blame when you think this town has nothing to offer.
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