Friday evening, I enjoyed an outing a friend. Penning this essay today, I began writing a movie review of the 1939 film classic The Wizard of Oz. That is until I realized that this evening was in fact a Victoria Symphony performance. It was unusual in that the only part of the Symphony orchestra I could see were the feet of most of the musicians, and the conductor not at all. Outside the edge of the screen on one side was a violinist and on the other side a cellist. A movie screen had been lowered in front of them for the showing of this movie classic starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. The musicians played the score of this movie skillfully and very beautifully becoming the musical soundtrack of the movie.
A narrow, and somewhat, isolationist belief that a symphony performance will always involve the classical music of the ages has been dashed by the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. This belief of course involved the stereotypical wearing of formal evening clothes. Audiences in attendance do not follow that stereotype but attend to hear the music not be part of a fashion show.
Anyone can expect to hear and see wonderfully diverse music and musical theatre from Victoria Symphony Orchestra. This move outside of an expected norm to marvellous musical creativity has certainly offered me a musical ‘yellow brick road’.
“Follow the yellow brick road.”
~ The Wizard of Oz
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