What happens when you give an orchestra several months to prepare for a concert? It’s a performance worth the wait, as last Wednesday, the Bemidji community saw just that with the Bemidji Chamber Orchestra’s most recent concert.

“It’s a semester-long endeavor,” said Bemidji State University Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Eric Olson. “We start basically in January, we have one rehearsal a week on Wednesday evenings, and we prepare the music for late April, right before the semester ends.”

That hard work seemed to have paid off, as BSU’s Bangsberg Recital Hall was filled with an audience eager to take in classical works.

“There’s nothing more fun than getting on stage and playing for an audience that is excited to be there, you know, we can feel that excitement, we can feel the energy and the atmosphere becomes kind of electric, and that’s just really fun,” said Dr. Olson.

While this concert was meant to showcase the effort the orchestra had put in, it was also meant to present classical works, some of which are over two centuries old, to a wider audience.

“It is an absolute treat to share music with a community like this,” said Bemidji Chamber Orchestra cellist Melissa Bartlett. “Music is the language of the soul.”

Hopefully the success of this concert will fuel the fire for the orchestra, and the community will see more just around the corner.

“It’s an unspoken gift to have music like this available to the community and I’m just absolutely humbled,” said Bartlett.

“It feels great, it’s loads of fun and I always finish a concert and look forward to the next one,” said Dr. Olson.

The Bemidji Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2019 and serves as a credit-based music course featuring both BSU students and community members from the Bemidji area.

By — Justin Othoudt