The North Carolina Symphony Holiday Pops concert at the Roanoke Rapids Theatre Saturday night showed why we need this sometimes under appreciated and under utilized organization. They simply get things done and done right.
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This is not the first event I've been to that was sanctioned by the arts council. While I missed the event this year — thanks, crime — the Canvas Halifax event last year was phenomenal and to compare it to Saturday's affair would be unfair. Let's just say each time they do something they seem to top themselves.
Sherry Wade, chair of the council, assembled a topnotch team to make the concert and the events before it fly as smoothly as Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve.
One of Martin's centerpieces.
Centerpieces designed by Tony Martin were in perfect synch with the night's event and Tony Hall seemed to effortlessly oversee the planning of the VIP reception, which was catered by david's restaurant.
The arts council seemed to think of everything, including an afternoon event called The Experience, that although few seemed to show up for, shows the creativity within this organization that we all need to tap into and support more.
Having this event at the Roanoke Rapids Theatre was a great move because the music produced by North Carolina's own resonated throughout this building and showed, despite all the controversy, what it was designed to do.
Curry talks at the reception while Wade listens.
The slightest tap of the triangle, the deep bellow of the timpani, the whip during Sleigh Ride, all tested the acoustics of this building and the building's design won.
This was the first symphony I attended in I don't know how long, perhaps back in my college days when I saw my college orchestra and choir perform Handel's Messiah at the Tivoli Theater in downtown Chattanooga.
Upon the warming up of the orchestra a smile came across my face and I remembered when the symphony performed concerts during my grammar school years. In fact, I told my mother this morning at breakfast how much I appreciated her instilling a sense of music appreciation in me, not that she would like some of my musical choices today.
A child with Santa during The Experience.
One of the Strauss waltzes played was immediately recognized from an old Warner Brother's cartoon. They placed classical music in these cartoons for a reason. Do they still do that?
Symphony Conductor William Henry Curry stated during the reception and again before the concert how impressed he was with the venue, how the dressing rooms were better than those at Carnegie Hall. That made me think there at least is something right with this theater but we'll save that for another day.
Sitting in the arts council's box later in the show, it was nice seeing the smile on Wade's face for the packed house, the great music and a chance to give something good to people in the area. That smile was infectious and you couldn't help but leave the theater in a holiday mood. I think, even through the drone of ESPN radio on the way back home, I constantly whistled or hummed Sleigh Ride.
Curry conducts during the encore.
So this column serves as my review of the concert, it also serves as a statement that those who don't know the members of the arts council should get to know them and those who went to the performance Saturday night, if they haven't done so yet, should thank Wade and the other members of the group for a great evening.
I'll be getting back with them on what kind of party I want to have, probably one with a folk art theme and I think they can easily handle it and show why they are an important asset to the area.
Lance Martin is editor and publisher of rrspin.com. His columns appear on a frequent basis.
