A group of classical musicians in Traverse City is hoping to takes on a journey that begins several centuries ago, lingers in the 1960s and ends with a world premiere.
The newly-formed Dido Ensemble will perform at 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 1 at the Mission Hill Church in Traverse City. Composer and music educator Michael McLean said the name comes from an opera by Henry Purcell.
“I was listening to ‘Dido and Aeneas’ by Purcell, and I'm like, ‘I need to start a chamber orchestra here,’” McLean said. “The arts need to thrive up here, and I have a very passionate feeling about that.”
McLean recently moved back to Michigan after living in Los Angeles for more than 25 years, and is now the co-director of the Traverse City Philharmonic’s Civic String Ensembles.
The first concert will feature Andrea Sanderson, McLean’s musical colleague from Los Angeles, as the concertmaster and soloist. They’ll play everything from “Dido and Aeneas” to an arrangement of Motown hits.
Plus, the ensemble will premiere a work by McLean called “Ground on House of the Rising Sun” that combines ideas from both musical eras. He says it all goes back to the bass line, a theme the first concert will explore on November 1.
Changes for TC Philharmonic musicians
The concert comes at an interesting time for musicians in Traverse City. The majority of the ensemble’s 15 players are also in the Traverse City Philharmonic, whose musicians voted to unionize in August.
Violinist Kaylee Erlewein said the Dido Ensemble is unrelated to union negotiations. However, it gives her and her fellow musicians more opportunities to perform following changes to this year's TC Phil season. The current season features just four concerts in their "Masterworks" series with a full symphony orchestra.
"They have same number of concerts for the public, but not symphony concerts,” Erlewein said. “It's a much smaller season than normal, so this was also wonderful in that respect to have another opportunity to play.”
McLean says it was also important to him that his musicians get compensated properly, which is why he’s raised over $6,000 on GoFundMe for the first concert.
“We practice six hours a day. We give, we teach, we play. We don't get compensated nearly as much as I think we should,” McLean said.
But tickets will be pay-as-you-can, so that anyone can come.
“We need a more creative culture wherever we live, and our responsibility as musicians is to give that,” McLean said.
