"Your destination is on the left" the GPS voice told me. And so it was. A high school that looked as though it had been deposited in the middle of a corn field. "Definitely the middle of nowhere", I thought. Attached to the far end of the school is a recently built auditorium. I've come to attend a performance of the Midland Community Orchestra. One of the members is a friend from church and I'd promised to show up.
He had asked before and I always had great intentions of attending past performances, but they are on Sunday afternoons and I often find myself trapped by my easy chair. I get lazy on Sundays after church and am content just sitting at home. But there was added incentive. The guest soloist with the orchestra was Brad DeRoche a wonderful guitarist and old friend.
I went inside and was immediately impressed by the place. The lobby was spacious and quite pretty and the auditorium itself was much larger than I expected. The seats were comfortable and I don't think there was a bad place to sit. More impressive was the audience. These were families. Many were dressed as though they were at a movie theater. Dressed for comfort and not for the event. There were children, old people, and teenage couples. All had come to hear the orchestra play music by Brahms, Faure, et al. Even the little ones were well behaved. I don't know how many were in attendance but I would guess more than five hundred were there to get their classical music fix. As a performer I would view this as a near perfect audience.
I appreciated the thought that went into the program also. The theme, "Music from around the World", is tried and true. They had chosen shorter pieces and so they were able to play a larger selection. The program moved along at a quick pace and was over 75 minutes after it had started with no intermission. I was happy that I had overcome the seduction of my easy chair and made the trip.
Due to diligent fundraising there was no admission charge. There was no "passing of the hat" or any pressure of any kind to pay money. There was only an announcement that there was information available in the lobby about their fundraising activities. I suspect I may become more involved. And the next time I hear someone refer to the National Endowment for the Arts as "welfare for the rich" I'll think of the family of five that sat near me. I doubt they think of themselves as rich but they did seem grateful for the experience....as did I.