North Worcester County Symphony Orchestra

Fitchburg State University and the North Worcester County Symphony Orchestra have formed a new partnership that both the school and regional musical performance group are very excited about.

“This partnership is going to ignite a fire throughout the college community and our corner of the music world,” said Micheal Hoffmann, President and Executive Director of North Worcester County Symphony Orchestra (NWCSO).

In March of 2023, Fitchburg State University Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choirs Jonathan Harvey had learned that the NWCSO was searching for collaborators and reached out to eventually form the partnership that is now getting off the ground.

Part of the orchestra’s mission is to provide educational opportunities to music students in the area, as well as to reach and foster new relationships with underserved parts of the community via professional classical music, like students on the Fitchburg campus and area residents.

It also fits the university’s goals of bringing the community together on campus.

Weston Auditorium is a large, state-of-the-art performance venue for the orchestra and it already has percussion instruments and a new Steinway Model D grand piano on site. The performing partnership with Fitchburg State’s Humanities Department, concert and chamber choirs, and concert band was already in the works, so it was a natural progression.

“I am always seeking opportunities for our music students to work with new musicians and new venues…  Students tend to love these collaborative opportunities — to make music next to someone new always yields growth, and often new friends,” Harvey said.

The choir and band students will be performing with the orchestra throughout the concert season, which will be scheduled around the university’s academic schedule so both the needs of the college and the orchestra are met.

“Benefit to the music students at Fitchburg State will be tremendous. Collaboration is all about learning and growing from working with each other, so it’s a great learning experience to see how different organizations function, how different artists approach their craft, and to perform alongside new and different folks,” Harvey said.

He continued, “It’s always exciting to bring the wider community onto Fitchburg State’s campus — as a regional public university, we strive to be a resource and a hub of cultural activity. Finally, I am optimistic about future professional learning for our music students, such as student interns working with the orchestra on marketing and publicity, non-profit management, and other experiential learning opportunities in arts entrepreneurship.”

The benefits to the orchestra include community engagement, increased visibility of the orchestra in the region (and in a new city where they haven’t previously performed), diversified musician demographics, and nurturing a passion for music on campus and in the wider community. They also save money with the instruments already available for use at Fitchburg State and get to perform in a large, modern auditorium with excellent acoustics.

“This collaboration will create learning opportunities for students as well as providing another source of cultural enrichment for the campus and wider communities. We want members of the community to feel a sense of ownership and belonging on our campus, and hosting performances is just one means of accomplishing that,” said university President Richard S. Lapidus.

It’s also about accessibility of the performing arts, for students and the community.  Student musicians should be able to see and perform with professional musicians, students of other stripes should be able to enrich themselves with live music, and they shouldn’t have to travel long distances to do that. Tickets are free of charge to students, staff, and faculty of Fitchburg State so there is no financial barrier, which there often is with other live music.

Community members should also be able to consistently attend local performances at affordable prices.

“Live performances of classical music are very important because you are there in the moment to experience music in a  way that can not be replicated through tv programs, YouTube, Apple Music or other recordings,” said Camie Hoffman, NWCSO Director of Education and Outreach, retired teacher, and Fitchburg State University alumni. “Live performances are where the real sound is heard.  It is a far more powerful and meaningful experience; there is nothing like it!”

Their first concert together will be “A Symphonic Christmas Carol” on Dec. 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Weston Auditorium on the Fitchburg State campus. Fitchburg State students, staff, and faculty are free with valid college ID. Tickets for the public are VIP seating for $30, adults are $25, seniors are $20, and non-Fitchburg State student tickets are $15.  All seats are reserved.

It will be an evening of music based on Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” which features music of Christmas past, present & future.

In that concert, they will be playing “music of the future” with a portion of the show being five selections that reimagine old classics. Most of the pieces will be in the style of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra which incorporates rock and roll music into the songs, providing a different sound for the audience to enjoy.

There will be up to 300 musicians on the stage at once during the performance. Additional ensembles such as the Greater Gardner Community Choir,  Nashoba Valley Chorale, Westford Chorus, and local rock band Perfect Alibi will also be participating.  They intend it to be an annual tradition.

“Music is by nature a collaborative effort and to be able to bring all of these performers together is very exciting,” said Jared Bloch, musical director of MWCSO.

The logistics of getting so many musicians together have been daunting, but the orchestra and the university will be ready, with lots of rehearsals and pre-planning for easy musical and physical transitions between numbers in the show.

“This is a huge group performing together, but it is worth it through every challenge due to the opportunity it will create for all involved, musicians and audience members alike,” said Olivia Minchello, NWCSO board member.

“Rarely in our region do you see concerts of this magnitude”, Hoffmann added, who said it would be a “holiday spectacular.”

The university has public funding, endowments, and its own capital campaigns, but NWCSO relies on financial support from people and businesses in the community to continue to thrive. They would love to broaden their financial base with donations, sponsorships, and other monetary assistance for their future endeavors and contribute to their success.

NWCSO will still be partnering with Leominster City Hall and the mayor, with their main concert season taking place there; they are also attempting to renovate the auditorium in city hall with grants and the Massachusetts Cultural Council to make it more accommodating to the performing arts.

Their ancillary concert series will be at venues throughout Leominster and other local towns.

“It is our goal in the future to also collaborate with high school [and college] bands, choruses, and other professional orchestras throughout Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire,” Mike Hoffmann said, as well as other musicians, groups, venues, and organizations.

To contact NWCSO, collaborate, donate, or buy tickets for any of their concerts, please go to nwcsorchestra.org.