The soothing sounds of violins, cellos, horns and flutes, among over 20 other musical instruments, will fill the air and delight the senses Saturday night on the Arts Terrace. The Muncie Symphony Orchestra will be presenting the 25th annual Symphony on the Green, under the baton of guest conductor Bridget-Michaele Reischl. The orchestra is comprised of approximately 90 musicians, ranging from faculty to community members to students. The group performs eight subscription concerts a year at Emens Auditorium, as well as the weekend outdoor concert and a Young People's Concert for elementary schools.
Musicians' masterpieces scheduled to be performed include Verdi, Brahms, Strauss, Gershwin, Sousa, Fucik and Bizet. Sandra Kelly, executive director of the orchestra, says the performance is very well attended. "It will be a really fun concert," Kelly said. "It's a very popular event. I expect between two and three thousand people." Reischl is an active guest-conductor, having conducted a large variety of orchestras throughout her career, including nationally and internationally. Her performance with the MSO Saturday will be an addition to their guest conductor list of the past year. With the retirement of director Leonard Atherton, the group has spent the past season exploring director possibilities. Of the guest-conductors, a few will be applying for the MSO's director position, including Reischl, Kelly said. "She's a very exciting guest conductor," Kelly said. "She communicates well with the orchestra and will bring out the best in them." Along with the musical talent, concert-goers can expect to be entertained other ways, including a parade of children and a contest to deem the 'Super Conductor' for the evening. The parade of children invites all the children attending the MSO event to march around the terrace in props and silly attire, following a leader. Cecil Bohanan, a professor and this year's parade of children leader, said the parade's tradition began several years back, under the instruction of David Werner, a strong supporter of Ball State, the orchestra and the Muncie community. "David decided that since the kids didn't have a whole lot to do during the performance, it'd be nice to have a small parade," Bohanan said. "He would organize the small children together each year. It became a hallmark." When Werner died, he passed the tradition on to his widow, Jackie, Bohanan said. With her death, Werners' children asked Bohanan to continue the tradition. "Their children asked me if I'd be willing to, and I said sure," Bohanan said. "I thought, 'How can I not?' It's kind of like I've been called on by higher authority to go do this, so I am."
Former director Atherton recalls Werner and his addition to the concert.
"He was a really wonderful character," Atherton said. "He had a wonderful sense of humor. He was a pied piper to kids. Kids would look for it to start and he would get up and the kids would get up and he'd take them along." The Super Conductor contest is an event where members of the Muncie community are chosen to conduct a song for the orchestra for their first time, leaving participants in the audience to vote for their favorite. Votes raise money for the orchestra and its upcoming season. The three Super Conductor candidates are Wil Davis, Jeff Rapkin and Lynne Richardson. Richardson, a dean of the Miller College of Business, said she will enjoy participating in the contest to benefit the orchestra.
"We're just regular people who like music," Richardson said. "It's all in fun. We just want to help raise money for the symphony."
Picnics are popular at the free event, allowing families and friends an environment to relax in and enjoy. Richardson said she thinks the performance will allow many people to unwind.
"I think you can go to the symphony, lean back in your chair, close your eyes and have the music wash over you," Richardson said. "It allows you to escape for a period of time from everyday life."
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