Olympia Symphony Orchestra launches 2021-22 season with ‘celebratory’ strings concert

On Sunday, Oct. 10, the Olympia Symphony Orchestra will once again take the stage at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts to play for a live audience.

The music will strike a celebratory note, but this is still very much a pandemic concert, performed by a string orchestra of 27 masked musicians.

The concert, led by guest conductor Roupen Shakarian, had been planned to include the full orchestra, but COVID-19, once again, got in the way.

“Some musicians didn’t feel ready to come back for a full ensemble performance,” said Jennifer Hermann, the symphony’s executive director. “We feel perfectly safe and comfortable performing on the stage at the Washington Center, but there was a concern about assembling all of our musicians in a small rehearsal space. We rehearse at Olympia High School.”

“We’re hoping that the second concert in November will be with the full orchestra,” said Shakarian, who’ll be leading concerts in November and December. “But the strings are relieved and excited to be together and to play together after a long, long hiatus.”

That excitement is reflected in the program for Sunday’s concert, which features pieces by Mozart, Telemann, Elgar and Grieg.

“It’s a light and effervescent program that will bring us back together with joy and beauty,” Hermann said.

“The pieces collectively have a wonderful positive outlook,” Shakarian, who lives in Lacey, told The Olympian. “They give us a sense of enjoyment and hope during these times.”

The conductor, who retired as music director of the Skagit Symphony in 2018, said he’s delighted to be working with the orchestra’s musicians through the end of the year. “I’ve been attending the orchestra’s concerts for a couple of years and have been enjoying them from the audience,” he said.

The rest of the season’s concerts will be directed by candidates for the music director position left vacant when Huw Edwards retired. Alexandra Arrieche will lead the Feb. 13 concert, Kelly Kuo will conduct on March 20, Zoe Zeniodi on April 24 and Adam Johnson on May 22.

Shakarian, who has four decades of experience as music director, is well suited to work with the orchestra’s musicians after the turmoil and isolation of the past 20 months, Hermann said.

“The rehearsals have been so much more than music practices,” she sad. “He is leading them with such compassion and generosity and also working them hard to get them back in shape. He’s the perfect fit to bring the orchestra back together.”

Olympia Symphony Orchestra

• What: The orchestra is launching its 2021-22 season with an effervescent program of string music selected by guest conductor Roupen Shakarian of Lacey.
• When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10
• Where: The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia
• Tickets: $6-$65
• More information: http://olympiasymphony.org
• On the program: Georg Philipp Telemann’s “Don Quixote” Suite; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Divertimento in D major, K. 136; Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20; and Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite for String Orchestra.
• The rest of the season: Shakarian will conduct concerts Nov. 14 and Dec. 23. Candidates for the symphony’s music director position will conduct concerts Feb. 13, March 20, April 24 and May 22.

This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.