Symphony thinks creatively to provide classical music while concerts are canceled

Though the rest of its season has been canceled because of COVID-19, the Olympia Symphony Orchestra has lots in store for fans of classical music.

The orchestra is selling “Musical Notes,” classical selections with personalized messages that can be sent as gifts.

Also on the way: a video featuring 48 of the orchestra’s musicians playing “Pomp and Circumstance” alone together. And maybe, just maybe, an outdoor concert in July.

Violinist Jason Leng of Chehalis is putting together a video of the best-known part of the graduation classic “Pomp,” composed in 1901 by Sir Edward Elgar. The musicians played in their own homes, as social distancing requires; the video will combine the soundtracks and visuals.

The piece was chosen as a gift to high school seniors who won’t be walking across a stage come graduation time, said Jennifer Hermann, the orchestra’s executive director. She’s hoping to post it to YouTube on May 20.

“I’m the mother of a graduating high school senior,” Hermann told The Olympian. Her son, Nathan Hermann, 18, attends Olympia High School.

“I know how difficult this is for him to not have his high school graduation, this thing that he’s imagined since he was little. As a parent, I’ve imagined this. You know that moment is going to happen for your child, and this year, it’s not happening.

“I thought how great would it be for our musicians to fill that void … to give students and families and loved ones the opportunity to celebrate with this traditional music.”

The Musical Notes, meanwhile, are music videos performed by the orchestra’s musicians.

For Mother’s Day, a small selection of solo pieces is available. Orders must be placed online at http://www.olympiasymphony.org/ by 6 p.m. Saturday for Sunday delivery.

The orchestra will eventually also offer pieces that feature multiple musicians, combined after the performances happen in the same way as the orchestra’s “Pomp and Circumstance” video.

“We will just keep adding to the menu,” Hermann said. “We’ll have patriotic music for Memorial Day, and for Father’s Day, we’ll have some fight songs.”

The musical selections, which also will include popular wedding selections and pieces appropriate for any occasion, can be ordered alone for $15 each or can include a personalized video message from conductor Huw Edwards or Hermann for $20.

Hermann plans to take the Notes live once the governor permits small gatherings, something that’s included in Phase 2. At that point, patrons will be able to order trios or quartets to perform on their streets or sidewalks.

She’s also thinking about the possibility of offering an outdoor summer concert toward the end of July, if restrictions aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus have been loosened sufficiently.

“If we do it, it would be on July 26,” she said. “We’ve always had that summer concert on the last Sunday in July.”

If that concert happens, it will be Edwards’ last time conducting the symphony he’s led since 2003. If it doesn’t, the Feb. 9 concert will have been his last.

“We did talk about having him conduct on the screen for ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’ ” Hermann said. “It would have been fun for our community to see him doing that. But he didn’t want his last time conducting the Olympia Symphony to be virtual.”