Size, skill of orchestra surprising for Butler
Ever since they were in the high school orchestra, Vincent and Claudette Sanzotti have not only loved playing music, but also pairing their skills on the clarinet and the piano, respectively, together in concert.
Claudette Sanzotti said getting to perform still at the age of 86 is exciting for the married couple, and they each credit the Butler County Symphony Orchestra Association with keeping their musical ability sharp.
“One of the things we have been able to experience is playing music for most of our lives,” Claudette Sanzotti said. “It doesn’t matter how old we are.”
Vincent Sanzotti played in the symphony with its founder, Ed Roncone, in the 1950s. Since then, he has seen it grow season by season, to its current iteration which has concerts featuring nearly 100 players, and also educational programs that showcase only two to four players at a time.
“It’s amazing a town the size of Butler has an orchestra, a paid orchestra, and also has an organization that supports it so well,” Vincent Sanzotti said. “We have a very high quality orchestra for a regional amateur orchestra. I think it’s 74 years that the orchestra has existed, which is amazing in itself.”
According to the symphony’s website, the Butler Orchestral Association was established in 1949, and the first board of directors meeting took place Dec. 15, 1949. Its first concert was on April 17, 1950, which Roncone conducted.
John Furman, executive director of the symphony orchestra association, said the organization has stayed afloat through the years thanks to continued interest from its musicians, many of whom have played with the symphony for decades.
While the musicians are paid for playing in the association’s regular season concerts, Furman said many do extra promotional work for free.
“Everybody volunteers to do outreach because we don’t have the budget to pay everybody,” Furman said. “People in our concerts are paid, as well as those who go out to play at the schools.”
Jim Cunningham, a trumpet player from Butler, first played with the orchestra in 1964, when he, a sophomore in high school at the time, filled in for an absent player. He said that somewhat impromptu situation may not happen in today’s orchestra, because of the skill and dedication displayed by many of its members.
“I have watched it grow from a pure community orchestra that pretty much accepted anyone who owned an instrument to a top quality group,” Cunningham said. “It has become an amazing group. It’s highly competitive now.”
According to Furman, the association plans out the regular season, which typically begins each July, and then puts a call out for musicians. The musicians and even the instrumentation may differ from show to show, he said. New members can join the symphony by contacting the association, who will then organize an audition process.
“Typically, they would send us an audition tape, we would review it, and, based on what our needs are, we would recruit them,” Furman said.
Cunningham said the musical ability of the musicians who play in the symphony makes every show unique. The individuals also help bring in money, which Cunningham said is always on the organizers’ minds.
“The challenge is paying for it,” Cunningham said. “We could fill the auditorium for every concert and still not even cover half the cost.”
The regular season concerts played by the symphony typically follow one theme a year, according to Furman. A lot of the music is standard classics written by composers recognizable by the average person, like Beethoven, Bach and Vivaldi, but Furman said listeners may be surprised by some of the selections.
“There is a pretty big variety that we do — contemporary, Broadway, some rock. There is a whole variety,” Furman said.
The list of concerts planned for this year include “Bravo Broadway,” “Voices of Nature,” “Holiday Traditions,” “Symphonic Dances,” “The Inextinguishable” and “The Golden Age of Hollywood.”
Vincent Sanzotti said that even though he personally likes the classics, the variety of tunes he plays with the orchestra keeps things interesting.
“They are programs that are very diverse and some things you never hear anywhere else,” Vincent Sanzotti said. “I enjoy classical music much more; it’s more of a challenge.”
The Sanzottis, Cunningham and Christie Kecskemethy, a violin player from Butler, agreed that some pieces are challenging to play with the symphony, but the skill level of the musicians makes it seem effortless.
“We do play some new pieces, but most of it is the standard that everybody sort of knows,” Cunningham said. “We might rehearse three or four times before a concert and then do it. Players are expected to practice on their own.”
Kecskemethy said the scale and skill of the orchestra makes any piece fun to play.
“I really enjoy the challenge of a big symphony, but it’s also just a lot of fun to play Christmas or Hanukkah music,” she said. “When it’s working and everyone is thinking and watching and we’re all breathing together, it’s quite a feeling. It’s a special feeling.”
In addition to its regular season programming, the symphony association also plans community outreach events which are free and performed by volunteers from the symphony. They include concerts at Alameda Park and performances inside the symphony building that are projected to Diamond Park on Fridays.
The association also plans educational concerts where members perform in schools to introduce children to classical music. Cunningham said children are usually receptive to the music, even though it is the first exposure for many of them.
“We find especially with young kids when they actually hear it, the sound of an orchestra is like a living creature,” Cunningham said. “Sitting in the middle of it is incredible. I tell people come once, and I can almost guarantee you will really enjoy what you’re doing.”
According to Kecskemethy, the orchestra plays selections from musicians like Mozart and Tchaikovsky, who are both good introductions to orchestral music and even operas.
Vincent and Claudette Sanzotti’s daughter, Christina Savannah, a viola player originally from Butler, also plays in the symphony. She said there are many reasons to attend the symphony, and encouraged people to go at least once to get the concert experience.
“There shouldn’t be any one reason people go to concerts,” Savannah said. “They should go because they love the music, the theme or because they know someone in the orchestra.”
Even after playing with the symphony for decades, Vincent Sanzotti said he still gets enjoyment from playing and even rehearsing for concerts. He said he hopes more people will get similar enjoyment from the organization, whether they listen to its music in the park, or decide to join for themselves.
“I enjoy clarinet, I like the sound of it, I have a reasonable amount of success playing it,” Vincent Sanzotti said. “At some point you have a pretty good mastery of it, and you enjoy exploring those aspects of music that are written to that instrument.”
For more information on the symphony and its programming, visit its website at butlersymphony.org.
