(inspiring music) (inspiring music continues) (inspiring music continues) (gentle piano music) - Welcome.
My name is Frank Lawatsch.
I am a first violinist in the Willmar Orchestra and I'm also president of the Orchestra Board of Directors.
Now you're gonna have the opportunity to meet members of the Willmar Orchestra.
They're gonna show you their instruments.
They're also gonna tell you why they decided to learn how to play an instrument, and also tell you how they feel about playing in the orchestra.
So here they are.
(upbeat music) - I love playing in an orchestra and one of the best things is when we all practice, work on our parts, learn our music alone, and then come together and tell a story or create a mood, and it creates a sense of almost magic.
Especially when we're on stage with a wonderful audience.
- What I love most about my violin is that it's been with me for over 55 years and it's kind of like a friend, and it also brings me together with other friends.
It's like a voice and I can make music that you can't put into words.
- So if you're in a spot where you aren't in an orchestra or aren't in a group, you can still play this instrument and enjoy making music by yourself.
And then maybe get into a group later on.
(gentle violin music) (gentle violin music continues) (upbeat music) - I started playing the cello when I was 10, 'cause in my school, like Willmar Public Schools, in fourth grade you can choose a string instrument if you want to.
I kind of like this one that was bigger than the violin and I've been playing that ever since.
I love the cello because of all the music it can play.
But I'm gonna play a piece from "That Carnival of the Animals."
And I want you to silently, in your brain, guess which animal the cello is trying to describe.
(slow melodic cello music) (gentle music) - Doing the orchestra is something I enjoy.
Getting to work with people and make awesome music and get to play for wonderful audience people, like yourselves.
So I'll be doing part of the first movement of Fran Schubert's "Arpeggione Sonata."
(melodic viola music) (upbeat music) - One thing that I love about the string bass is that you can use it to play basically any style of music you want.
Almost anything that you listen to already, any song, has some kind of string bass instrument in it.
And I'm gonna be playing a song written for me by my friend, Kim Osberg, and it's meant to sound like the morning of a fun wedding dance.
(upbeat whimsical bass music) (upbeat music) - When I start I was 13 years old.
The trumpet, it's tubing as I can show to you, with the end like a bell.
You can make this with your parents and you can have some fun.
Maybe you can create some music.
(upbeat music) (handmade trumpet music) The piece that I'm playing right now, it's "Brazilian Bossa Nova."
It's a very calm and peaceful melody.
(gentle trumpet music) - I feel very lucky to be a french horn player.
The beauty of the french horn is it has a more mellow tone.
So I have played in brass groups, but I've also been able to play with woodwind instruments.
The piece I'm playing today is called "Wild Hunt" by Schubert.
I chose it because the origins of the French horn go back to when there were no valves or keys, and they were used to signal the start of a hunt.
(upbeat French horn music) (gentle music) - This is my trombone and I enjoy this instrument because it's very simple.
There are no valves.
The trombone is known as "the voice of God" in the orchestra.
So I'm not sure that this is really how God sounds, but that's our tradition.
I'm going to play two very short pieces that demonstrate the types of music that can be played on this instrument.
(slow melodic trombone music) (upbeat march trombone music) (upbeat music) - What's so special about playing the tub in the orchestra?
I'll tell you, you're the only guy there playing the tuba.
But the real reason that I enjoy playing for the orchestra is playing with all the other musicians around you.
We're all doing different crazy things at the same time and yet when it all comes together, it's beautiful.
So I've got a little folk number that that I'm gonna play for you.
It doesn't really have a name, that's why it's called a folk tune.
(upbeat tuba music) (upbeat music) - I've played the flute for 53 years.
I started playing it when I was 10 years old.
When I was a real little girl, my mom took me to a live orchestra concert in Kansas City and I got to hear "Peter and the Wolf."
A few years ago the Willmar Area Symphonic Orchestra played "Peter and the Wolf" for a children's concert and I got to play the part of the the bird on my flute.
So that's what I'm gonna play a little bit of for you.
(whimsical flute music) (gentle music) - The oboe looks like this.
And it can play very high notes.
(lively high octave scale music) And it can play very low notes too.
(lively low octave scale music) And we make sound by blowing through this double reed, which is essentially two very, very thin pieces of wood.
Bob and I are gonna play a little bit from "Pavane" composed by Gabriel Faure.
(slow melodic oboe music) (melodic harmonized oboe music) (upbeat music) I think the clarinet is the coolest instrument because it can play low notes like a trombone.
("The Imperial March") (ominous low tone music) Loud notes, like a trumpet.
(bright fanfare music) And crazy high notes like a flute.
(whimsical high tone music) With my clarinet I have had the privilege to travel all over the world.
Now I share my love of music by teaching kids on Zoom and in classrooms.
I get to play fun music all the time.
(upbeat playful clarinet music) (upbeat percussion music) - I love playing percussion.
You can play any genre, any style of music with percussion, which makes percussion so flexible because you can play anything with it.
Why don't we sample some percussion instruments?
(rapid rhythmic snare drum music) (rhythmic timpani drum music) (rhythmic marimba music) (cymbals clashing) (rhythmic bass drum thundering) (whimsical xylophone music) (reverberating tubular bells music) (rhythmic tom music) (rhythmic wood blocks music) (whimsical chimes music) (warm glockenspiel music) (gong reverberating) (triangle chiming) - Well, we're back.
You had the opportunity to hear from members of the Willmar Orchestra and the purpose in doing that was to possibly create some interest on your part to think about learning an instrument and maybe potentially being a part of the orchestra in the future.
We'd also like to thank Graywood Films for putting this film together.
We'd like to thank our music director, Steven Ramsey, and the musicians, and board members of the Willmar Orchestra.
We'd like to thank the Willmar Public Schools for being able to use the WEAC for rehearsals and performances.
We'd like to thank our community for the support that they have provided us in the past and in the future.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
Thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you soon.
(upbeat music) (birds chirping)