EVERGREEN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
William Hill | Music Director
Bill Hill's Letter to Sponsors
Dear Friends of the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra,
The Evergreen Chamber Orchestra is one of the brightest highlights of my life. I consider the members of the orchestra dear friends and colleagues, and their commitment to making excellent music and to the success of the organization is an inspiration. Our extended family of Board members, volunteers, supporters, and loyal audience members make my work with the ECO a constant joy, and I’m privileged to participate in this amazing endeavor with all of these dedicated and wonderful people.
Rehearsals are a particularly enjoyable time for me. To watch and listen as we work together to bring to life pages of lines and spaces, notes, rests, key and time signatures, is an experience that I wish every person could have; because it is simply astounding. There is nothing in life like it, and the same music always has a slightly different feeling, every single time. It is one of those beautiful ironies, that as conductor my job is to help the musicians coordinate their individual artistry into a cohesive highly developed group sound, yet I don’t produce any sound myself when we play.
One of the most obvious and yet fleeting things about hearing and performing live music is that it is such a time limited experience. We can listen to a recording over and over, stare at a painting or sculpture for hours and see it again days or years later. A live concert is a one time event, even if you come hear the same program a second time it will never be exactly the same. As you listen to the final notes of a concert you are literally hearing something so special that it can never be replicated.
Before recordings became a common part of our lives, audiences went to hear a Mozart or Beethoven symphony, and they would have never heard this particular music before, and they would probably never hear it again in their lifetime. I love to remind the orchestra of this so that we approach every minute of every rehearsal and concert with this feeling of the wonder of producing this amazing art form right here and now.
An orchestra is one of the most highly developed examples of teamwork that our civilization has ever produced. Every individual has to contribute their part with the highest skill and artistry, and at the same time be aware of every other player’s part, and how all the parts work together. One moment the first violins have the most prominent music, then the oboe, then violas, and so forth. And, at any given moment there is a sophisticated hierarchy of volume, style, precision, and yes, freedom of interpretation, that all are a part of this incredible living and breathing organism that we call an orchestra. Every player has to be totally focused in the current moment of music, and at the same time be anticipating what is coming up next, and relating it all to what was just played a few seconds ago. All this thought process is within a small part of any composition. There is of course a large scale architecture to every piece, and this also has to be given a lot of mental and physical energy, and stylistic knowledge.
I’m very proud to be the Music Director of the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra and hope to continue to work with these fantastic people for many years to come. We have made unprecedented progress in the last five years musically, organizationally, financially, and as an ever more present member of the Evergreen, Conifer, and western metro area arts and education scene. We collaborate regularly and successfully with the Evergreen Chorale (Ovation West), various churches, Center for the Arts Evergreen, private and public music teachers, and other area businesses and arts organizations. We have lofty goals for our future and the future of performing arts in the areas we serve.
I want to personally thank all of our current sponsors, businesses, foundations, and individuals without whom we simply cannot exist. It is through your generosity that the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra will continue to grow and prosper, and most importantly continue to share our love and commitment to performing extraordinary concerts of some of the greatest art music from the last four centuries to the present. We will continue to feature and encourage highly talented young local musicians and composers, and support music education in our schools and privately. And we promise to do all of this with an attitude of informal elegance. Everyone will find something to love at our performances in a comfortable, inclusive, and family friendly atmosphere.