Findlay Community Orchestra hits the right notes

FINDLAY — It doesn't matter if you're a seasoned musician or haven't played in years. If you play a string instrument, the Findlay Community Orchestra welcomes you. "I know there's one or two people in the cello section who hadn't played their instrument in years and got it out and they thought they can do it. They didn't forget anything," said Marsha Pendley, who is also a cellist in the group. "There's quite a few probably in other instruments, too, that are like that. So that's a great thing. It gives them a place to play." The orchestra — which is comprised of violins, violas, cellos and bass — will present its inaugural concert at 3 p.m. Nov. 23 in the great room at First Presbyterian Church, 2330 S. Main St. The event is free to attend; donations will be accepted. There are currently 36 members who range in age from 16 to 80. "As long as you've had a couple of years on your instrument and as long as you're older than 15, you're able to come in," said Director Jeremy Sheets. "Even if you haven't played in decades, come on it. We'll figure a way out for you to play." Tom Carey, a violinist in the orchestra, previously played in a community group offered at the University of Findlay. He had retired from his public school job and was already teaching strings at UF. "I was getting more and more students," he said. "And students started asking, what can we play in? Where is a group we can play?" Carey proposed a community group to his supervisor, Professor Mike Anders, who approved the idea. "So we started the next fall in 2009 with a string orchestra about the size of what you see here, maybe 25 to 30 people. It was about half students and half adults at that time. And it grew over the next five to six years," Carey said. "And they got up to as many as 50 to 60 players, all strings." Their last concert was held last year, according to Carey. "We'd been steadily losing students, not being able to get enough students to enroll. Eventually the university said it's underenrolled, and we have to stop," he said. Pendley was a member of that group. "There were actually tears when they announced that they weren't going to have the orchestra. And I just said, well, we'll just start our own," she said. A committee met and formed this new orchestra which allows community members to participate. Pendley has played cello all of her life. "I started on the piano but started on cello in four grade in the public schools in Kentucky," she said. "I had played a song on the piano called the 'Mello Cello,' and the melody was in the left hand and I like that range of sound. So I carried it (her instrument) to and from elementary school twice a week and had lessons and never stopped playing." She had also performed in a professional orchestra in Lexington, Kentucky for 50 years before moving to Findlay about seven years ago. "So I've never really not played. So when I saw everybody so upset about this, I was like, we can just do this. So we've done it and we're thrilled," Pendley said. Since there were no start-up funds available, all of the members — except high school students — pay $25 a semester or $50 a year to be part of the orchestra. Pendley said First Presbyterian is allowing them to use the great room for rehearsals and performances. "They know we're trying to start something, and they've been very generous with the space," she said. With that little bit of money, they've purchased a podium, the railing for the podium and a conductor's stand. And they're all currently bringing their own music stands, although the Instrument Care Center did provide a free music stand and has offered some discounts. "Eventually we're going to be looking for funding for that kind of thing," she explained. "But we're very happy to be here. And it seems to mean a lot to people so I'm really glad we did it." In addition, Visit Findlay provided a grant and a logo has been developed. Pendley said she will be reimbursed for the cost of printing programs and posters. Carey was in first grade when he began playing the violin. He joined a school orchestra in fourth grade. This year marks his 50th year playing with the Lima Symphony Orchestra. "I can't imagine not playing in a group of other people," said Carey. "I tell the kids, yeah, you've got to practice, and that can be not so much fun. The fun comes when you get in the group and can play with other people and make friends, and that's what it's all about." UF is also allowing them to borrow music from the orchestra library that's still there, he noted. "So a lot of the pieces we're working on come from that library. So we'd like to thank them, too," said Carey. In addition to members from the Findlay area, Bluffton and Upper Sandusky, there are college students from UF and Ohio Northern University, who are Sheets' former students. He currently teaches in the public school system and is one of the Findlay City Schools' orchestra teachers. "So some of my students are here as well and some past graduates. That's kind of how I got involved. Marsha approached me last spring — after I had gotten word that the University of Findlay orchestra was shutting down — if I'd be willing to conduct for this first concert," Sheets said. "I said absolutely. I've been really thankful to be here." Practices are held from 6:30-8 p.m. on Tuesdays with a 10-minute break around 7:30. Sheets said he picked music for the November concert with two things in mind — that it would be fun and exciting for the musicians and the pieces would be songs the audience would recognize. "With this being a community group, it's a place for people to be able to play again so I didn't want it to be something that would be a slog to get through, things they were going to recognize and have fun with," he said. And since the program will be close to the holiday season, he and Carey picked a mix of holiday songs as well as pieces from the classical music world that are strings only. "Those that even if the audience doesn't know the title or the composer, they will recognize the piece," he said. In the future, Sheets said they may have a full symphony that includes brass, woodwinds and percussion. But for the first concerts, it will just be strings. "There are people on the stage who they picked up an instrument in school and they loved it, but they didn't pursue it as a career so they may not have picked it up for many years," said Sheets. "This gives them an outlet to still get that fulfillment and that joy that they had playing their instrument. But it's a different feeling entirely being able to play with other people and be on that stage and be a part of something bigger." If anyone is interested in finding out more about the orchestra or joining, send an email to findlaycommunityorchestra@gmail.com or send a message through the Findlay Community Orchestra's Facebook page.