Symphony Nova Scotia
The phrase "going to the symphony" brings to mind certain words to describe the experience: traditional, upper class, formal, luxurious and, of course, classical. But if you’re a patron of Symphony Nova Scotia, you may have some other thoughts, too—like innovative, accessible, diverse, affordable and hip-hop.
Hip-hop? It’s true—recently Nova Scotia’s own Buck 65, a Juno award-winning hip-hop artist, joined the orchestra on stage at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. At one point in the landmark performance, director/composer Dinuk Wijeratne quipped, “This is the first time we’ve had a laptop with the symphony.”
Symphony Nova Scotia serves a province with a huge range of musical tastes, explains chief executive officer Erika Beatty, and it is committed to reflecting that diversity. Its players are adept at performing everything from classical music to baroque to traditional Maritime, pop, swing, folk, bluegrass and yes, even hip-hop.
“Whatever your favourite kind of music is, chances are we’ve done it,” Beatty says.
Symphony Nova Scotia has worked with established classical musicians as well as guest artists not traditionally associated with the symphonic setting. Early collaborations included Rita MacNeil, The Irish Descendants, Bruce Guthro, Mary Jane Lamond and the late bluesman Dutch Mason. In recent years, Jill Barber, Joel Plaskett and Matt Mays have also joined the orchestra for well-received performances.
In fact, these innovative collaborations may have been Symphony Nova Scotia’s saving grace when it was struggling to survive. In 1995, Cape Breton fiddling superstar Natalie MacMaster came on board for Symphony Explosion, a massive one-night fundraiser. The overwhelmingly positive response from audiences convinced programmers to make these on-stage partnerships a series.
“Symphony Nova Scotia is unique because it truly reflects its geographic and cultural surroundings,” Beatty says. “Our orchestra is the only orchestra in the world that performs our music for our people. We rely heavily on Maritimers and Nova Scotians as not only our audience, but as our guest artists, our composers, our performers, our arrangers and our inspiration.”
Symphony Nova Scotia began in 1983 with only 13 full-time musicians. More than a quarter-century later, it has grown to 37 musicians and eight administrative staff along with over 150 contracted artistic, production and technical personnel, making it the largest employer in Nova Scotia’s cultural community. Its talented team has won many awards, including four East Coast Music Awards.
The orchestra hosts a large variety of events each year to engage with Nova Scotians of all walks of life, Beatty says. It’s constantly looking for ways to develop these initiatives, priding itself on its innovation, versatility and willingness to try new things.
“In many ways, our community engagement is the real heart of the symphony,” she adds. “After all, what meaning does music have if people don’t hear it? Our community engagement efforts come in two forms: taking the symphony out into the community and finding ways to lower the barriers so that the community can come to us.”
For example, last fall Symphony Nova Scotia offered concerts in high school gyms across the province, from Sydney to Yarmouth. Another initiative is sending small groups of symphony players to perform for children in public libraries and for seniors living in nursing homes. Then there’s the Musical Munchkins program, which introduces toddlers to music and motion in a fun, interactive way.
“It’s been a huge success,” Beatty says. “As Nova Scotia’s only professional orchestra, we feel we have a responsibility to serve our communities. Every year, we go on the road to perform across the province in communities like Amherst, Wolfville, Pictou, Lunenburg, Sydney and Windsor.”
Nationally and internationally, the orchestra is heard through its recordings and through its collaborations with CBC.
“Our concerts are consistently featured on CBC’s online Concerts On Demand,” she says. “We’ve received nationwide acclaim for these performances.”
More than 72 per cent of all annual revenues for Symphony Nova Scotia are invested back into artistic and production costs, which allows the orchestra to perform over 50 times each year. Last year more than 50,000 concert-goers—15,000 of them children and students—attended a Symphony Nova Scotia performance. Over the past 25 years, an estimated one million people have attended its performances.
Symphony staff put a great deal of work into reducing the factors that might otherwise prevent people from enjoying all it has to offer. “We know that in a traditional setting at the Rebecca Cohn, there are some barriers that keep new audiences away,” Beatty says. “For some people it’s the price, for others it’s a misconception that the symphony is stuffy and snooty, and for others it’s fear about ‘doing the wrong thing’ at a concert.”
To make the symphony experience more affordable for more people, student specials, promotional deals and U-Pick subscription packages that offer up to 60 per cent discounts are available.
For potential audience members who aren’t quite sure what an orchestra performance is all about, pre-concert chats offer the ideal solution. These chats offer the audience a chance to get a primer on the music about to be performed and to ask questions that will let them get the most out of their symphony experience.
In 2008-2009, audiences savoured performances by Juno award-winner Ron Sexsmith, Natalie MacMaster, Rose Cousins with Chris “Old Man” Luedecke (whose instrument of choice is the banjo), and a bluegrass concert. There were salutes to the music of Frank Sinatra and Queen, and family favourites and special concerts such as The Nutcracker, A Baroque Messiah and the season finale, the annual Beer and Beethoven fundraiser.
After a quarter century of presenting the best of symphonic music and beyond to Nova Scotians, Symphony Nova Scotia’s future appears to be sound.
Feature story written by Tara Lee Wittchen
