Butler Symphony’s Mahler performance highlights students
BUTLER TWP — As musicians with the Butler County Symphony Orchestra filtered in and out ahead of Saturday’s show, Matthew Kraemer shared backstage that the night would be tinged with some nostalgia.
And not just because Saturday, March 2, marked Kraemer’s final performance as guest conductor after years of leading the symphony.
It was the five high school students who would accompany the orchestra for its performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan” on Saturday in the Butler Intermediate High School auditorium who reminded Kraemer of his years as a young musician.
“I remember myself when I had that experience,” Kraemer said. “For me, it's a little bit of nostalgia to, you know, remember my early experiences sitting next to a professional musician in a professional orchestra. It opened up a lot of new avenues for me as a musician.”
Saturday evening, local high school students Ella West, Gabriella Boudreau, Zakk Boyer, Will Tamburri and Nate Deemer joined professional musicians during the show as part of the annual Side-by-Side Honors Symphony. They played two selections from Edvard Grieg’s orchestral suite, “Peer Gynt,” composed after the Norwegian fairy tale.
“The young musicians are along for the ride, and they’re all very talented,” Kraemer said.
The students accompanied musicians immediately after the program’s opening piece, which showcased a composition inspired by the Romantic Era titled “Valor” created by Westminster College professor Daniel Perttu.
Like before, orchestral members — now flanked by students of Mars Area School District, Grove City, Pine-Richland and Armstrong — began tuning their instruments until they reached concert pitch. Then they began.
To start came Grieg’s first movement, “Morning Mood,” followed by “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”
From the back of the auditorium, students and seasoned musicians were indistinguishable.
The violinists all appeared up to the task; Ella West, a junior and 11-year violinist at Grove City High School, fit right in.
“It's pretty satisfying,” Pine-Richland senior and trumpet player Gabriella Boudreau said about the different instruments joining in concert. “Parts come together like how they're supposed to and how you've heard them played.”
As the music transitioned into the last half of Grieg’s fourth movement, the violins quickened to a pace viola player and Mars Area High School freshman Nate Deemer described as faster than he’d ever played before.
Ahead of the show, Nate admitted to feeling nervous.
“I just try and think of it like any other concert,” Nate said. “You can’t build it up in your head.”
Will Tamburri, French horn player and junior at Pine-Richland, said he reminds himself to breathe before he plays his instrument.
“With all the other musicians on stage, we're all playing together, and that kind of helps me be (grounded),” Will said.
Concertmaster Tanya Satteson, who is in her 11th season with the symphony, said mentorship is critical to the orchestra.
“A lot of us in the orchestra are educators as well, so I think it feels natural to take on sort of a mentorship role,” Satteson said. “And of course, it's always fun to play with other excellent musicians. I suppose we all really enjoy just coming together and making beautiful music together, especially if it’s like Mahler that just relies on a huge orchestra.”
Later on in the program, Collegiate Concerto Competition winner and Slippery Rock University student Taylor Pastore took center stage with “Ballade” by Albert Perilhou on the flute.
Pastore said she began playing the flute in fourth grade and stuck with the instrument for over 10 years in large part because of her teachers.
Now a music education student at SRU, Pastore plans to pass the torch and her passion for music to the next generation.
“It's what we do as humans,” Perttu said as he reflected on youth involvement in the arts. “We pass on culture from generation to generation.”
“Kids can move on experience the magic of a live orchestra,” Perttu said. “And then over time, you know, get to know some of these wonderful works of art that are so transformative.”
