Striking a Chord in Paducah
Paducah Symphony Orchestra going strong in 22nd season

Founded in 1979, the Paducah Symphony Orchestra was formed by a community group for a one-time outdoor event, and yet 22 years later the group still strikes a chord with the community. That one-time event was so successful that the founders decided it was time for the region to have an orchestra of its own, and so the Paducah Symphony Orchestra was officially born.

While today a successful PSO has a roster of more than 175 professional musicians, reaching this point has not been an easy road. During those first few seasons, the founding board members signed personal bank notes to make payroll. However, the community made the venture a success story. Initially offering only three concerts a season, PSO now performs 15 or more each season.

Community is an important concept to the PSO organization. It serves over 73 communities in Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, and Missouri. PSO is ranked third in its budget category in terms of attendance, number of concerts, and educational activities despite the fact that Paducah and McCracken County have a combined population of only 60,000 compared to the average population of over 500,000 served by comparable organizations. It is community support that makes this possible.
“Active, working board members are by and large the secret to PSO’s success,” says Leslie Rude, general manager. “Our board members have done everything from cleaning the concert area restrooms to successfully raising operations funds. It’s this ‘leadership by example’ that has created a vested interest and support on the part of other community members. In addition, business leaders have long recognized the existence of a symphony to be an economic development tool.”

High notes
While community support is important to PSO, the Orchestra also offers a great deal in return. The PSO season includes five subscription concerts, two Christmas concerts, two school concerts, two summer pops concerts, and three or more out-of-town concerts. These concerts provide access to some outstanding musicians. More than 75 percent of the orchestra’s musicians are music educators at the high school or collegiate level and most hold master’s degrees in their instrument. They are also given talented direction. PSO shares conductor Dr. Jordan Tang with the Jackson, Tennessee symphony. Tang’s conducting credits include leading orchestras and music festivals throughout the United States, ranging as far afield as the Hong Kong Philharmonic. In addition, he has composed more than 70 works that have been performed throughout the United States as well as in Hong Kong and England.

Giving back
However, PSO’s contributions don’t stop with those 15 or so productions each year. In addition to the Symphony Orchestra, the organization also offers the Symphony Chorus as well as a Children’s Chorus and Youth Orchestra. The 75 auditioned singers who make up the Symphony Chorus toured Europe last summer to great acclaim.

In its fourth year, the Children’s Chorus is comprised of 80 auditioned children in grades 4-8. The Children’s Chorus performs at least three concerts each year as well as joining the adult chorus at the Gala Christmas Concerts. This group toured Europe in 1999 and will return by request in 2001.

The Youth Orchestra performs at least two concerts each season including a mixture of traditional classical music with popular tunes such as movie themes.

Each year the Symphony sponsors a Young Artists Competition with both piano and orchestral divisions. Winners receive cash prizes and the opportunity to perform with the Orchestra.

Looking ahead
Some challenges still remain for PSO. Although a successful orchestra, PSO performs its season concerts at Tilghman High School auditorium in Paducah because it is the only space that can offer the necessary audience capacity. However, a group of area citizens has organized to build a performing arts center in Paducah. The Four Rivers Center for the Performing Arts is projected to be completed by 2003.

“The new venue creates many changes and challenges for PSO. First, a new performing arts center will provide PSO with its first opportunity to perform in an acoustically designed facility. Second, the grandeur of the new facility will undoubtedly increase ticket sales, at least on a short term basis, and perhaps provide PSO with the option of increasing the number and types of performances,” Rude says. “Nevertheless, the performing arts center will also rely somewhat on community contributions, which has the potential to have a negative impact on PSO. The fact is, there is only so much money in the region to support the arts, and a performing arts center has the potential to become a significant ‘vacuum’ of that money.”

However, despite potential obstacles and worries, PSO has more good than bad to look forward to in the coming years and Rude says she hopes that comfortable and productive relationship with the community will continue to thrive for the benefit of the community and PSO.
 

Deanna Mascle is a staff writer for The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

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