Tarrant County volunteer orchestras promote musical outlet, free concerts for community
Three community orchestras in Tarrant County will perform free and low-cost concerts in early May. The groups are made up of volunteer musicians from the community.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts, community orchestras can be a point of local pride for residents and performers. The orchestras also act as a bridge to bring people from different backgrounds together.
“In addition to the benefits for those who play in the ensembles, community orchestras add to the richness of their communities as a whole,” according to a report by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Kurt Sprenger, music director for Fort Worth Civic Orchestra, said their volunteer-based group consists of amateur musicians from all walks of life, brought together by the love of music.
Fort Worth Civic Orchestra performs free concerts at the Birchman Baptist Church, located at 9100 N. Normandale St. in Fort Worth. About 60 members make up the orchestra and the group rehearses once a week.
The pandemic shut down concerts and practices for Fort Worth Civic Orchestra Sprenger said, but the group has been up and running for about a year now with their latest concert scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 7.
They typically do about four to five concerts a year and host two competitions for children twice a year: a holiday carol competition and a young musicians concerto competition. Sprenger said there is a entry fee for the competitions that is under $30. The winner of this year’s young musicians concerto competition will perform with the orchestra at its concert on May 7.
Those interested in supporting Fort Worth Civic Orchestra can make donations online or in-person during the concerts.
Two additional community orchestras performing in May are the Northeast Orchestra and the Mansfield Wind Symphony.
Mansfield Wind Symphony is an all-volunteer organization established in 2004 and performs free concerts for the public. Donations for Mansfield Wind Symphony can be made on the group’s website.
Mansfield Wind Symphony collaborates with Mansfield Philharmonic, another all-volunteer ensemble made up of high school students and older.
Thao Pham, concert master and board president, and co-founder Fletcher Rudd started Mansfield Philharmonic in 2017, inspired by their love for community orchestras.
“The thing that I really love about playing with this group is we’re all like a family,” Pham said. “We have the Fort Worth symphony and then the Dallas symphony, but Mansfield is just kind of like right in the middle, so it’s more accessible to people living in this area and in Arlington.”
Mansfield Philharmonic has about 50 members in its orchestra and performs around four main concerts along with side concerts throughout their season. Concerts performed at the group’s main venue, First United Methodist Church in Mansfield, are free. The orchestra performed its last concert in early May, but the group will resume in the fall.
Mansfield Philharmonic also accepts donations, which can be made on the organization’s website.
Northeast Orchestra has a concert scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 13 at Peace Lutheran Church at 941 W. Bedford Euless Road in Hurst. Tickets for the all-volunteer orchestra’s performance can be purchased on the group’s website, and are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and free for children 6 and younger. The orchestra accepts donations on its website.
Travis Calvert, Northeast Orchestra board president, said the group of about 50 to 60 musicians meet weekly to rehearse and put on five concerts each season, which runs from October through May.
During the pandemic the Northeast Orchestra had to scale back operations significantly, but it brought on a change as members of the community have embraced — concert streaming.
Northeast Orchestra streams its concerts for free on Facebook. Calvert said the option has been helpful in making performances accessible to seniors and for musician family members unable to attend a concert from out of state or country.
Since the orchestra relaunched its full orchestra concerts last year, Calvert said the response has been positive and the Northeast Orchestra intends to keep the streaming option available on its Facebook.
“I think the great thing about the Northeast Orchestra, or any of the community orchestras really, is the fact that it gives non-professional musicians opportunities to perform and to stay involved with music and to have a community of musicians you can interact with regularly,” Calvert said. “It’s a really important aspect for those of us who love music but are not able to make a career out of it.”
