Olympia Symphony’s summer outdoor concert on Saturday plans to ‘Rock the Lake’
The Olympia Symphony Orchestra is taking its summer concert in a surprising direction: The group intends to rock.
The concert, happening at 7 p.m. July 1 in Heritage Park, will feature collaborations between the orchestra and musicians from Olympia’s The Bridge Music Project, which empowers youths through songwriting. It will also feature a medley of Nirvana songs.
“It is going to feel a lot different,” said Jennifer Hermann, the orchestra’s executive director. “It’s not going to sound like a classical concert by the Olympia Symphony.”
More than that, the concert won’t feature the typical breaks between compositions. Instead, the orchestra will transition from one piece to the next.
“It will be one hour straight of music,” Hermann told The Olympian. “The music won’t stop once it starts; it just keeps on going. It will feel less like a concert and more like a party.”
The event won’t just feel as though it was put together by a DJ: There’ll actually be one. Tor Caspersen will play with the orchestra on the pieces composed by Bridge director Bobby Williams and young artists Shayla Jasmin of Tacoma and Amanda Ransom of Grays Harbor.
Jasmin will sing both her own song and Ransom’s, because Ransom’s vocal cords were injured. The Bridge pieces, with orchestration by violist/composer Austin Schlichting, also will feature electronic drums by Matt “Smoke M2D6” Smokovich.
Those songs and the Nirvana tribute, also by Schlichting, will take the program — which also includes The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” and selections from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” — well beyond that of a typical pops concert.
“We are unpredictable,” Hermann said. “We are leaving the door open for creativity.”
“It’s a great opportunity to mix those two worlds of pop music and classical music,” said Alexandra Arrieche, the orchestra’s music director. “Don’t forget: Beethoven was a rock star.”
The meeting of pop and classical is familiar territory for Arrieche, who herself has been called a “rock-star conductor” for her work with the European concert series “Night of the Proms.”
The collaboration with the Bridge is an extension of a 2019 project that teamed the nonprofit’s young artists with small ensembles of orchestra musicians.
“It’s a rare experience to have an entire symphony orchestra backing up your music,” Williams said. “We’re really excited about it.
“The collaborative process was really cool,” he said. “It was more collaborative this time, because the orchestra will be playing parts that are outside of the original music we presented.”
Another young artist featured on the program is 14-year-old violinist Yukino Sokolik, an incoming freshman at North Thurston High School who will be featured on “Summer” from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.”
Other community members will have the chance to play with the orchestra — and hear some of Saturday’s music reprised — on July 9. The orchestra’s “Come As You Are,” at the Olympia Armory, will be a chance to join the orchestra or just watch and listen from a different perspective.
“It’s not a performance,” Hermann said. “It will just be the symphony on repeat in the drill hall, and people are welcome to come listen and join in. It will be a chance to hear a large ensemble in that large room.”
Rock the Lake has been scheduled in the evening to avoid the possibility of overly hot weather and to avoid a conflict with Capital City Pride, which has a festival ending at 6:30 p.m. and a variety show beginning at 8.
“We want don’t want to compete with any other wonderful activities in downtown Olympia,” Hermann said. “People can do everything.”
Rock the Lake
What: The Olympia Symphony Orchestra’s summer concert features mostly pop music, including three collaborations with the Bridge Music Project.
When: 7-8 p.m. July 1
Where: Heritage Park, Fifth Avenue and Water Street, on the shore of Capitol Lake
Admission: Free, with donations welcome
More information: https://www.olympiasymphony.org/summer2023
Come as You Are: Play with the Olympia Symphony
What: The orchestra will play some pieces from the July 1 concert and pieces that local elementary and middle school students played last school year. Students and community members alike are invited to join in or just come to listen and watch.
When: 3-4:30 Sunday, July 9
Where: Olympia Armory, 515 Eastside St. SE, Olympia
Admission: Free
