Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra

I remember when I was 17 years old, I bought a ticket to see Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 at the Jacksonville Symphony. I drove all the way from Keystone Heights just to sit in the very back of Jacoby Hall. It was my first live concert and the atmosphere was incredible. The orchestra was stellar and the symphony chorus sang with such power and clarity I felt I could touch the divine.. At the helm, conducting the orchestra, was a young and vibrant ginger maestro, Courtney Lewis. That night drew me into live music performance and stayed with me forever.

Years later, when I moved to Jacksonville at the age of 24, I endeavored to join the symphony as a chorister. During my audition, I was asked to complete a sight-reading exercise and sing an excerpt from the fourth movement of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem. The experience was terrifying, but I managed to get through it and pass the audition.

The Symphony Chorus was directed by Donald McCullough, a lovely man who had a gift for creative metaphors. The challenge of conducting is being able to communicate one idea clearly to a group of many people. Don was always able to tap into our collective understanding of the world and apply it to music. For example, we were fumbling the opening syllables of Mozart’s “Kyrie” from his Coronation Mass. Rather than wasting time lecturing us on the nuances of ecclesiastical Latin, Don likened each syllable to the thrusting of a wheelbarrow. And just like that, we all understood the reference and executed it perfectly from then on.

Being on the other side of the baton was electrifying; the entire audience was eager to hear us perform. And there was the maestro, Courtney, at his podium, conducting me–and the rest of the symphony chorus and orchestra. I felt starstruck and at the center of attention at the same time. For the three years I sang with the Symphony Chorus, we performed Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Zadok the Priest, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Coronation Mass, and Requiem (Levin completion), Faure’s Pavane, Bizet’s Carmen, and Mahler’s Resurrection, to name a few.

Besides performing, the symphony became a source of community for me in Jacksonville. I met fellow musicians and composers, petitioned benefactors, and found opportunities to write more music. I will forever be grateful for the music I made with the Jacksonville Symphony, and I look forward to returning to make more someday.