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PROMUSICA LOOKS TOWARD THE FUTURE WITH A CREATIVE POINT OF VIEW

BY ROBERT PASCHEN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT CUNNINGHAM

The Tibetan Cultural Council told Bob Spring the drive into the Gobi Desert would take two hours. Eight hours later, “we were passing yak herders living in caves.” Finally, in the treeless expanse, the bus stopped at a little hotel next to a large inland lake ringed with prayer poles. “The air was so thin,” says Spring, a renowned clarinetist, “we almost didn’t play.” Brightly clad families with weathered faces poured into the hotel. After a meal of roast yak, Spring and his fellow musicians tuned up and played. The little hotel, in one of the most inhospitable corners of the world, erupted in applause. “Music happens in the moment,” he says.

When not playing at off-the-beaten-track locales like the Gobi Desert, performing in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, or teaching at Arizona State University (ASU), Bob Spring plays clarinet for the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus. ProMusica, now in its 31st season, attracts the top musicians in the nation and, sometimes, the world. The ensemble talent can be split into thirds by location: the first third lives in Columbus, the second in other Midwestern cities like Chicago and Louisville, and the rest are scattered elsewhere across the country – a unique concept that’s difficult to coordinate.

“When we have an open position,” says ProMusica Executive Director Janet Chen, “we post the audition nationwide.” During ProMusica’s season from October to May, these musicians gather in Columbus like a storm. “It’s a lot of people with real strong personalities doing something together,” Spring says. “A chamber orchestra is a whole different animal.” “It can be very intense,” says Chen, a concert flautist and former member of the Taipei Symphony. “But it’s fresh.” While full orchestras have 80 to 100 musicians, ProMusica has 34. Its smaller size makes it a bit more demanding on the musicians. “Everybody has to be involved or it doesn’t work,” Spring says. “It stretches you as a person. That’s why a lot of us come back.” ProMusica Chamber Orchestra was co-founded in 1978 by Tim Russell, who still serves as the ensemble’s conductor. Russell now teaches with Bob Spring at ASU. ProMusica’s concerts typically take place twice a month and are principally held at the Southern Theatre downtown. They play classic tunes from the era of Mozart before orchestras ballooned in size in Beethoven’s era.

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composers.”

Still, keeping orchestral music relevant to a general audience takes consistent effort. “It’s actually something we talk about quite often,” Spring notes. Chen echoes the same idea, explaining that ProMusica has performed arrangements of rock, blues and jazz music. Spring has even played Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” and Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog,” swapping guitars for clarinets and getting back-up from other wind instruments. “Boundaries have to be crossed,” muses Spring. If you listen to contemporary music and know what to keep an ear out for, you can hear its classic roots. “Alicia Keys has a song based on a work by Bach,” Chen says.

When not in the concert hall, ProMusica is engaged in the community, spending time in the schools and libraries of Columbus. “We go into social service agencies and after-school programs and work with elementary school kids,” Chen tells. “We have musicians in 16 urban and suburban high schools.” Last year, ProMusica’s “Musicians in the Schools” program doubled in size. They’re teaching composing software, coaching young musicians and performing the songs of popular films like Pocahontas and Aladdin. They’re also exploring a new program called Creative Hybrids in which ProMusica performs songs composed by Columbus students. “We’re trying to bring music to everyone’s daily life from an early age,” says Chen.

In 1997, Bob Spring stood in front of the Peoples Liberation Army Military Band and played a Rossini piece for a huge crowd in Beijing. As the president of the International Clarinet Association, he went on to found an affiliate in China. He still holds a guest professorship at the Beijing Central Conservatory, but each year he returns to Columbus to play with ProMusica.

With ProMusica, he says, “You can’t do things the same old way when the guy next to you is coming up with something creative. That’s the joy of the whole thing. Without that freedom, I wouldn’t play anymore.”

For more information on ProMusica, showtimes or performances, visit www.promusicacolumbus.org. Tags: Robert Paschen

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PROMUSICA LOOKS TOWARD THE FUTURE WITH A CREATIVE POINT OF VIEW

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