Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra concertmaster emeritus Barry Ross and collaborative pianist Tina Gorter are presenting a free concert of Ross's favorite violin melodies at 7 pm, Friday Dec 12 at Second Reformed Church, Kalamazoo. It's a reprise of a recent live concert recording made at Friendship Village in August of this year. Ross and Gorter joined Cara Lieurance to listen to highlights and talk about the role of music in their lives.
"If music brings us together, that really refers to all good music," Ross says. The repertoire includes Fritz Kreisler's "Liebesleid," Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5, an adaptation of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," and film music from "Schindler's List" and "Somewhere in Time," as well as the folksy "Orange Blossom Special."
Ross, who came to Kalamazoo from Boston in 1972, served as the Kalamazoo Symphony's concertmaster for 32 years and founded what is now the Kalamazoo Philharmonia at Kalamazoo College. He continues to perform on his 1743 Lorenzo Guadagnini violin, which has been "the voice of the symphony" since 1960. The instrument originally belonged to his predecessor and was purchased for the symphony through a gift allegedly facilitated by Irving Gilmore and others. Ross acquired it personally in 1980.
Gorter describes their musical partnership as natural and intuitive. "It's just like a conversation," she says. "I can just feel it, how I feel it." Ross echoes this sentiment: "Whatever we do together feels right."
A freewill offering will be accepted at the concert, which is part of Second Reformed Church's Listening Room series. Copies of the live recording are available by contacting Barry Ross at barry.ross@kzoo.edu.
