Musicians pull some strings to form new orchestra

When Sasha von Dassow presented his son, Wesley, with his first violin the day he turned 5 years old, Wesley opened his gift and stared back at his father with a bewildered expression.

“He said, ‘Dad — that’s the wrong instrument,’” says von Dassow, who is surrounded by four female members of The Glenridge String Orchestra. “He wanted a cello because I played the cello, so I explained that it was a tiny cello. I wanted him to have his own playground, and I knew his personality would enjoy the violin.”

Janis Payne, who is seated two seats away from von Dassow on the second floor of The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch building, bought her daughter, Elizabeth Harner, a cello about nine years ago. Harner played every day as a student at Venice High School. When she graduated, however, she left the cello behind for her mother.

“Watching my daughter play, I realized I had always wanted to play in an orchestra,” says Payne, who played the piano when she was growing up. “I saw an article in the paper about six years ago about the Sarasota Orchestra’s (then the Florida West Coast Symphony) adult beginning strings orchestra and decided to join with a friend who played the second violin. But when Elizabeth came back from college, she joined the orchestra, too, and I had to buy a cello for myself.”

Across from Payne and von Dassow is cellist Nancy Streetman, who has made a career of teaching students how to play the cello. She moved in 1987 from New York City to Sarasota, where the Sarasota Orchestra hired her to instruct its youth orchestra program. Streetman, who currently teaches at the State College of Florida, was also a member of the orchestra’s adult strings ensemble for approximately seven years, until spring 2010, when the orchestra cut the program.

The orchestra had been offering adult classes since 2002, but due to the economy, budget and staff cuts required that the orchestra discontinue its adult strings ensemble. But Streetman refused to let the program die.

She and von Dassow founded a new program in response to the continuing need for a seasonal adult learning orchestra: The Glenridge String Orchestra.

“The thing that drove me to form it was that I had a number of cello students who played in that orchestra,” Streetman says. “I knew the cellists were angry and sad and thought it was really a crime to let this go. It was the high point of their season to be able to play with the orchestra during the season.”

Von Dassow, who joined the Sarasota Orchestra in 1991 as assistant principal cellist and is a member of the cello section of The Florida Orchestra, music director of the North Port Orchestra and the director of orchestra at the State College of Florida, agreed to conduct The Glenridge String Orchestra as well.

“When you’re in junior high and high school, you’ve got all the time and talent and you don’t use it,” von Dassow says. “But if you’re an adult, you come back with a different commitment to it. This is an effort to be part of the community and to be an outlet for people returning to music. The goal would be for it to be ongoing and expand.”

The orchestra consists of about 20 people who are either beginners, or who Streetman refers to as “re-beginners” — people who used to played instruments when they were younger and have decided they’d like to play music again.

Rehearsals are currently in progress and take place at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, in the art room at The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch. The orchestra will host an open rehearsal Tuesday, Dec. 13, which will include Christmas carols as well as the current repertoire being studied. Rehearsals will continue until the final concert April 8, 2012.

“I know there are people in the community who would love to play but don’t know where to go,” Streetman says. “And we could really use more violins!”

IF YOU GO
What: Glenridge String Orchestra open rehearsal
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13, at The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch, 7333 Scotland Way
Information: Call 925-3667 or email [email protected]