This spring, the Traverse City Philharmonic launched Act 2. It's an opportunity for adults with little to no musical experience to learn how to play an instrument.
Now through June, the Act 2 participants will learn the fundamentals of reading music, how to handle their instrument and how to play in an ensemble.
Listen on demand for the entire conversation and all of the music performances.
Last month, IPR listeners met Jennifer Wesling, who is learning to play percussion in the Act 2 band.
She recently returned to IPR to give an update about how she and her fellow musicians are doing after four weeks of rehearsals.
Wesling and her friends (pictured above) Tom Wright, Nancy Giffels, Jean Callum and Marlene Robinson all joined together and even created a group text called "7th Grade Band."
In fact, they're so committed that they've added a second rehearsal together during the week.
"There's always a food component," Wesling said. "We play a lot, and we laugh a lot."
They also confront challenges as beginners.
"Nancy said she hadn't learned an A yet on the trombone, so we said we wouldn't play anything with an A in it," Wesling said. "And the second valve on Tom's horn was stuck, so he couldn't play anything using the second valve. Oh, and Marlene couldn't get her pinkies to work, and she plays the clarinet."
None of these obstacles have fazed them, however.
"We're accommodating, and we're really just laughing a lot," Wesling said. "I think we have officially become band geeks."
They're not the only ones who are loving the Act 2 band.
Although a final public concert featuring the band was not in the original plan, one is being added because so many people have asked for it.
Details for the final concert will be announced later. Jennifer Wesling has her suspicions about why the details aren't public yet.
"I think they're worried about the Taylor Swift effect, like when her ticket sales opened up and Ticketmaster crashed," she said.
The Traverse City Philharmonic's Act 2 band is meeting weekly through June 10. Classical IPR will provide regular updates from participants in the program.
