Volume 18, Issue 2
Spring 2017 Concerts
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Augustana
Lutheran Church,
1025 Second Ave,
Cumberland
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4 pm. Bethany
Lutheran Church,
35 W. Messenger St,
Rice Lake
In This Issue
Beethoven’s Fifth
Centerpiece of
Spring Concert
1
A Push for
Percussion
1
Note from
Executive Director
2
Musician Spotlight:
Jim Hurst
3
2016-17 Season
Donors
4
Staff and Board
of Directors
4
Copyright 2017
Red Cedar Symphony, LTD.
All rights reserved
Orchestra
Or hestra Notes
Spring 2017
Beethoven’s Fifth the Centerpiece of a Spring Concert
Full of Beloved Classics
The Red Cedar Symphony’s spring
concerts feature music that will be familiar
to everybody’s ears, whether you’ve heard
it in the concert hall, on
TV commercials, or during
Saturday morning cartoons.
Concertgoers will enjoy
tunes that are so memorable
they have infiltrated
pop culture.
Titled “Classical Favorites:
Melodies and Motifs,” the
concerts will take place at
7 p.m. on Saturday,
April 1, at Augustana
Lutheran Church in Cumberland, and at
4:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 2, at Bethany
Lutheran Church in Rice Lake.
The orchestra will open with the string
orchestra favorite Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
by W.A. Mozart, which will have you
bouncing in your seat from the first four
energetic measures.
Then the full orchestra will be invited to
the stage for Nimrod from Sir Edward
Elgar’s famous Enigma Variations, op. 36.
The Nimrod movement was named after
Augustus J. Jaeger, a close friend who was
both a harsh critique and strong supporter
of Elgar’s music, and who pushed Elgar
to continue composing through his
depressions.
We then move to Georges Bizet
L’Arlesienne Suite No. 1. Bizet is most
famous for his opera, Carmen, but this
piece is as tunefully memorable. It was set
as incidental music for a play of the same
name and performed in
Vaudevillian theater.
RCS will end the first
half with Pirates of
the Caribbean, an
arrangement of music
from the movie of the
same title. This piece is
full of adventure, intrigue,
and yo-ho-ho—pirates!
(continued on page 2)
A Push for Percussion
With approximately $4000 in seed
money from generous donors, the Red
Cedar Symphony has begun a special
fund for replacing its aged percussion
instruments and purchasing missing
ones–your donations are appreciated!
The estimated cost for basic percussion needs is $20-$30,000, depending
on the quality of equipment purchased,
said board member and RCS principal
percussionist Jim Hurst. “The prices
may be lower if we can get the musical
educator discount,” he said, “but I don’t
think we want student level equipment.
The things I’ve looked at are all very
common to orchestra writing, and are,
if not top of the line, then a step below
top of the line.”
(continued on page 2)
Page 2
Orchestra Notes
Spring Concert (cont.)
A Push for Percussion (cont.)
After intermission, RCS will resume the concert
with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
This piece was the first piece to become famous
for using a short motif based on four notes (da,
da, da duhhhhh. da, da, da duhhhh), instead
of a melody that one could easily set to words.
This symphony was written at the same time
as his fourth, but he used the two symphonies
to express opposite emotions. Symphony No. 5
is serious and of all the symphonies, thought
to best project Beethoven’s struggle with fate.
Beethoven introduces new instruments into the
finale: piccolo,
contrabassoon,
and trombones.
This epic work is
one of Beethoven’s
most famous and
most familiar to
audiences.
The orchestra’s wish list includes:
Timpani, standard set of 4 drums:
32”, 29”, 26”, and 23” diameter heads $8000-$15,000
Xylophone
$1900-$3000
Concert Bells
$800-$1400
Chimes
$4000
Concert Bass drum
$1200-$2400
Snare drums
$700
Gong
$1800
Suspended Cymbal
$350
Crash Cymbal
$800
Tambourine
$175
Triangle
$100
Wood Blocks
$65
Donating to the percussion fund is simple! Just mail
your contribution to the Red Cedar Symphony, PMB
#109, 330 S. Main St., Rice Lake, WI 54868, and write
“percussion” in the memo line on the check. Thank you!
Notes from the Executive Director
The Red Cedar Symphony had tremendous turnouts for our fall 2016
concerts at both Chetek Lutheran in Chetek and our inaugural concert
at Bethany Lutheran Church in Rice Lake. A generous donation of pies
from Norske Nook, sold at intermission, helped us raise over $800 to
kick-start our fund for buying new percussion equipment. Thanks to
everyone who helped make these fall concerts a success, especially all
the volunteers who cut and served pies at Bethany and an intermission
snack at Chetek.
Thanks also to all of you who have donated to the Red Cedar
Symphony this 2016-2017 concert season. Because of you, we
can keep the music playing!
Volume 18, Issue 2
Page 3
Musician Spotlight: Jim Hurst, Percussionist
Putting new heads on timpani, also called kettledrums,
is a meticulous job that requires plenty of patience and
really knowing what you’re doing.
“You have to be very careful about taking the old head
off, you have to line all the tuning lugs up in the same
spot, you have to prepare the rim . . . it took me about
six hours to change the heads on the four drums,” said
Jim Hurst, RCS principal percussionist. “These were
very old drums and it was hard to find the heads for
them. The sizes of heads can vary by as much as half
an inch and if you don’t get the fit you’ll have serious
problems trying to tune the drums.”
Hurst is known to many in Rice Lake from the 12 years
he taught music and worked as band director at the
high school, and to many more from his percussion
performances with The Dean’s List, an 18-member
ensemble specializing in “big band” style music. He’s
also played for many years with the Communiversity
Band, as well as free-lancing with other groups and
giving an annual performance at the Eau Claire Jazz
Festival. Since his retirement in 2012, he’s continued
to give private lessons and also become an important
part of the Red Cedar Symphony, not only for his
musical talents, but also his knowledge of percussion
equipment and more recently as a member of the
board of directors.
“That was my dream when I retired, to be able to give
back and do these things,” said Hurst. “That’s why I’m
so excited to be on the board.”
His current project for the board is assembling the
facts and figures that will guide the new fund-raising
drive to replace aging percussion instruments and add
missing ones.
Hurst was born and raised in New Jersey, and received
a bachelor’s degree in music performance from William
Patterson University. He was playing club gigs–disco
and jazz–in New York City when he met and married
his wife, Jody. After receiving his master’s degree in
performance at SUNY Stony Brook, he decided he
needed more regular employment. “So I went back
and got my teaching certificate, and my first job was in
New Mexico at the Zuni Pueblo,” he said. “We loved it,
and we’re still in contact with those people.” After their
first child was born
and Hurst’s father
began having
medical problems,
the couple decided
to move closer
to home. In 1983
he took a job in
Georgia, where
“I taught for five years and had a wonderful time,” he
said. In 1988, he interviewed for jobs in New York
State, where his parents had moved, and, just because
there were some jobs available, in Wisconsin. “When
I came to Wisconsin I was overwhelmed with the
schools and the music that was going on. It just felt like
the right place to move. My first job was in Glenwood
City, and that’s where our three kids grew up.”
But the Hursts weren’t quite home yet. The choir
director in Glenwood City, Carol Kelm, was very
involved with the Red Barn Theater in Rice Lake, “so
all through the ‘90s I was coming up here and doing
Red Barn Theater. And there was so much going on
here musically,” Hurst said. “In 2000 when the band
director opening became available, we jumped on it.”
“I am so impressed with the Rice Lake area and
the communities around it, with all the music we
have and the groups we have. And some of the
musicians I have met in Rice Lake are the finest I’ve
ever worked with,” Hurst said. “Music is what makes
me happy.”
Save the Date:
Concerto Competition 2018
The Red Cedar Symphony Biennial Concerto
Competition will take place Saturday, January
20th, 2018, at Bethany Lutheran Church in
Rice Lake. There will be a high school division
and an adult division. Instrumentalists should
prepare one movement of a standard concerto
and vocalists, one standard art song or aria.
Applications will be available in the fall of 2018
and are due by December 15th, 2018.
Announcing
Fall 2017 Concerts
NEW! Home Grown Series
2017-2018
Season
Spring 2018 Concerts
Recollections:
Commemorating 500 Years
of the Reformation
Presenting the first concert in
the RCS Home Grown Series
of chamber music concerts
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, 7 pm
Chetek Lutheran Church
Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018, 4 pm
Bethany Lutheran Church
Saturday, Mar. 24, 2018, 7 pm
Augustana Lutheran Church
Cumberland
Featuring: Beethoven’s Piano Trio in
Bb Major, op. 97 Archduke
Sunday, Mar. 25, 2018, 4 pm
Bethany Lutheran Church
The Home Grown Series will
showcase the talents of small groups
of the RCS’s most accomplished
musicians, all of whom are rooted
in northwestern Wisconsin. Our
inaugural concert will feature
Beethoven’s Piano trio in Bb Major,
op. 97. One of the most famous
of Beethoven’s piano trios, this
monumental work was finished in
1811 for amateur pianist Archduke
Rudolph of Austria.
Featuring: Bernstein’s Overture to
Candide, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony
No. 5, and the winner of the Red
Cedar Symphony 2018 Concerto
Competition.
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, 4 pm
Bethany Lutheran Church
Rice Lake
Featuring: Mendelssohn’s Symphony
No. 5 Reformation, as well as the
Crown Imperial March by Walton,
the Chorales by J.S. Bach, and
Concerto No. 1 for Marimba by
Rosauro, featuring RCS percussionist
Jim Hurst.
The Red Cedar Symphony
Plays the Pops!
Don’t miss our annual free
summer concert in the park, this
year on Tuesday, August 1, 7:00 at
the bandshell in Veterans Memorial
Park in Rice Lake.
Reminiscing:
Anniversaries of the Greats
2018 is a year full of anniversaries
of great composers! In this concert
we will be especially celebrating the
centennial of the birth of Leonard
Bernstein, and the 125th anniversary
of the death of the prolific Russian
composer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Season Tickets Available for the 2017-2018 Concert Series
Season Ticket: $40 (Save $5!)
General Admission Ticket: $15
Students 21 and Under: Free
Season tickets will be available for purchase beginning April 1, 2017.
Order forms will be available at the spring 2017 concerts and online at
RedCedarSymphony.org. Pre-order your tickets and spend less time in line!
Orchestra Notes
Founded as a volunteer 501(c)(3) community orchestra in the fall of 1983, the
Red Cedar Symphony’s mission is to provide orchestral music to Rice Lake
and surrounding areas and to promote the study of string instruments.
Red Cedar Symphony
PMB #109
330 S. Main St.
Rice Lake, WI 54868
Red Cedar Symphony
PMB #109
330 S. Main St.
Rice Lake, WI 54868
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
LMM
Email:
[email protected]
On the Web:
RedCedarSymphony.org
Board of Directors
Earl Cook, President
Robin Fossum,
Vice President
Jim Haack, Treasurer
Mary Updike, Secretary
Ann Hansen
Jim Hurst
Kristine Longmire
Nora Moss
Kevin Peters, Artistic
Director
Patty Smith, Personnel
Director
Alana Laufman,
Executive Director
Thanks to Our 2016-17 Season Donors: You Keep the Music Playing!
Orchestra Club: $1000 Plus
Earl and Linda Cook
JRB Consulting
Wissota Refrigerated Trucking
Vivace Club: $500 to $999
Griffith Insurance
David Lhotka
in memory of Lynn
Conductor’s Club:
$250 to $499
Robert and Robin Fossum
Philip and Connie Henkel
Nora and Bruce Moss
3M Foundation
Bow Club: $100 to $249
Ron and Doris Brewster
Steve and Ann Hansen
Red Cedar Symphony
Orchestra is supported, in
part, by a grant from the
Wisconsin Arts Board with
funds from the State of
Wisconsin and the National
Endowment for the Arts.
Naomi Haugen &
Peter Mansfield
Ted and Helen Krenzke
Kristine Longmire
Chuck and Sharlot Nelson
Deborah Neuheisel
Muryl and Kristina Olson
Doug and Sue Raether
Rice Lake Weighing Systems
Janice Stearns
Ed and Marla Thompson
Gail and John Waldron
Baton Club: to $99
Grant and Ruth Aaseng
Ronald and Bonnie Dahl
Mary Dorrance
Leila Haight
Noel Herzog
Jim and Jody Hurst
Karin and John Jorstad
Heather Jerrie
Justin and Alana Laufman
Janine Reuter
Jane Schultz
Carolyn Senty
Don and Pauli Storm
In Kind
Augustana Lutheran Church
Bethany Lutheran Church
Chetek Lutheran Church
Koser Radio Network
Marketplace Foods
Norske Nook
To our donors: We will shortly be mailing your personal invitations to be our guests at
a pre-concert reception at 3 pm on Sunday, April 2.