Bemidji Symphony Orchestra Rings in Holiday Season with ‘Holidays at Home’ Concert

The holiday season is currently in full swing with festive tunes permeating the air, and holiday music could be heard from Bemidji High School’s auditorium Tuesday night as the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra’s holiday concert spread yuletide cheer with its musical arrangements.

“We try to play a lot of familiar holiday music,” explained Bemidji Symphony Orchestra Conductor and Music Director Dr. Beverly Everett. “So some of the music is the same from year to year, but then we vary it up a little bit.”

Tuesday night’s concert was titled “Holidays at Home,” which was meant to serve as a nostalgic reminder of holidays spent wherever one calls home.

“I feel like maybe it’s kind of calling all of us to remembrances and to our loved ones, and to those feelings of home even when we can’t physically being there,” said Everett.

In order to evoke that feeling, a performance requires the right combination of passion for the music they’re playing, and a sense of community among all the orchestra members.

“There is a spirit, or magic, if you will, within the room, within those musicians, and they all take such great pride in what they do,” explained Everett.

“There’s a human behind every single instrument in there,” said “Holidays at Home” guest performer Michael Cartwright. “It’s not like music that you hear on the radio that’s been canned and recorded, and we hear it over and over, this is live, this is real, there is heart and soul. So it really gives you an adrenaline rush being in front of all that, and I’m very excited and very honored.”

The Bemidji Symphony Orchestra will be holding three more concerts this season, with their next set to take place Feb. 19. More information on the orchestra can be found on their website.