Lake Norman Orchestra
Article courtesy of Mooresville Tribune
By: Jessica Osborne
Published: July 04, 2012
The Lake Norman Orchestra is about to go international.
The all-volunteer community orchestra will embark on an eight-day concert tour of the Austrian cities of Vienna and Salzburg in early August.
Music Director Eduardo Cedeno has worked for the past year to make the dream a reality for the orchestra. He has been the orchestra’s conductor for the past four years. Having traveled to Austria before, Cedeno came up with the idea to take the entire orchestra there.
Cedeno is also on the Adjunct Music Faculty at Mitchell Community College, Orchestra Director at Gaston School of the Arts in Gastonia and Chorus/Band Director at Community School of Davidson High School in Davidson.
“He is a very skilled music director and has taken the members to new heights and gotten the best out of them,” said Tony Arndt, president of the Lake Norman Orchestra.
Arndt said that from Aug. 1-9 in Austria, the orchestra will perform pieces from a compilation of classical and American composers such as Bach, Mozart, Aaron Copland, Gabriel Faure, Puccini, Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky, Wagner, Antonio Vivaldi, Valentin Rathgeber and Ralph Ford.
The orchestra consists of six violinists, two cellists, three bass players, two flutists, three clarinets, and one trumpet player.
“For several of our musicians, this will be their first time travelling and performing outside of the Lake Norman area, and the trip promises to be an extraordinary experience,” said Sally Keating, cellist and the sponsorship/venue logistics coordinator for the orchestra.
Members began rehearing twice a week for the upcoming concerts. Predominantly strings, Arndt said Cedeno built a repertoire around the available instruments.
“We’re also limited since don’t have a percussions so there is a challenge is that aspect,” he said. “But all the members have risen to the occasion.”
Arndt said the orchestra will perform all classical music in Austria but they will also throw in a little American at the end.
“Eduardo tried to come up with pieces (from those areas of Austria) and throw in a little American flare at the end,” he said. “I am nervous, though, about standing up and saying something before the performances because I don’t know how to speak German. I’m going to have someone from the group assist with that.”
Altogether, 33 people will make the trip – 18 musicians, Arndt, Cedeno and spouses. The trip won’t be all about playing, however. There will be plenty of sight-seeing.
“The region is home to a lot of great former musicians and composers,” he said. “It’s of high interest especially to string players.”
Some of the places they will visit include the salt mines of Vienna, the Vienna city cemetery where some of classical music’s most famous composers are buried — such as Braham and Shubert — Mozart’s birthplace, and a site where the “Sound of Music” was filmed.
“All of the sites have some sort of historical musical background and the folks going are very excited,” said Arndt. “There’s definitely a high level of interest and excitement because it’s been almost a year since this plan has been in the works.”
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