St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra’s Love and Loss Program Inspirational

During the past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sandy Nadeau, The Executive Director of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra.  Sandy visited our WJON studios and joined me for an online interview of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra. We discussed many things about the individual players, the music, the amount of time that goes into such an incredible performance.  I thought...wow.  I've been to many concerts in the past, and enjoyed many different scenarios...but I couldn't recall ever attending a professional Symphony Orchestra presentation....So I thought...I'm going!

I made this a family affair, as all three of my children have play or have played woodwind instruments in school band, and my significant others son has recently taken up violin in school.  I thought...What a perfect opportunity for all of us to experience this together, and  listen to professionals that really know what their doing.

We arrived early so that we could sit in on a pre-program forum, where Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor Clinton Smith, was discussing the various pieces that the symphony would be performing.

Just listening to him describe the music, discuss the era's and lives of the composers, and the feelings that people of the times were feeling when this music was being created, was a wonderful experience, that all of us enjoyed.
As the program began, I was immediately impressed with the dynamics and feeling these incredible musicians were able to bring to life through the instruments they performed on...The violins, cellos,violas, and harp....the flutes, clarinets, bassoons... The percussion and horns....You'd think they were all one being...All of the players and instruments working together in perfect time, pitch and harmony to create such vibrant sounds.

The best way to describe the symphony sounds to someone whose never been to a concert, is like listening to the soundtrack of your favorite movie...but with 10 times the dynamics and feeling as if you were right in the middle of the movie...with the sounds whirling all around you.  It was a fantastic concert.

All of the pieces were incredibly artistic...Each song bringing it's own special meaning...The Opera Soprano Karin Wolverton had an incredible voice, as well as the addition of vocal sounds that were added by the Great River Chorale.

I encourage everyone to attend a concert with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra.  The next scheduled performance will be December 7th, with a Children's Holiday Concert at 10am and a Holiday Concert at 3 pm.  All concerts are held in Ritsche Auditorium at St. Cloud State University.  There will be two more concerts taking place this season, those taking place March 22nd, 7:30pm "Spirituality", and "Overcoming Adversity" on May 3rd, at 7:30pm.  If you are looking for inspiration to be "all that you can be"....It's a great honor to be able to have these fantastic players right here in our community.  I encourage everyone to take the time to experience The St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra.