Every year, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera invites community musicians to take part in our Symphony Pro-Am, an education program that brings together professional orchestra members and amateur musicians. The next performance of Pro-Am is Thursday, April 3 at Abravanel Hall. Conducted by Vladimir Kulenovic, the Utah Symphony “Pros” and selected “Ams” will rehearse and perform two movements from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2: Montagues and Capulets and Romeo at the Grave of Juliet.
Three of the Pro-Am performers answered questions for us about what they’re doing now and why they love performing.
 

Christine Wolf plays the clarinet.  An alumnus from the University of Utah, Christine is currently the Assistant Band Director at the award-winning Farmington Junior Band and the Director of Bands at Central Davis Junior High School.
What is your favorite part of performing in an orchestra?
The music, first of all. I love playing that music and the challenge of that music and the combination of being part of that, the challenge of learning the music and having the performance all coming together.
What is your favorite piece to play?
I love all genres of music, but I love Gershwin, Mahler, Tchaikovsky and Mozart. I can’t narrow it down to just one piece. My husband plays for Ballet West, and they perform Prokofiev’s Cinderella frequently. I love the Cinderella suite and I’m excited to have the opportunity to play that.
What inspired you to start playing an instrument?
I started in summer band just before 7^th grade and I just wanted to play something different. I don’t remember why I chose the clarinet, but it’s what I ended up with. I’m sure I wanted to play it. It’s a very beautiful instrument that has so many different styles and a different range and different voices.

Edward Makowski, a life-long music lover, is currently the timpanist with the Wasatch Community Symphony, the Westminster College Orchestra, and the Oquirrh Mountain Symphony.
What is your favorite part of performing in an orchestra?
The actual performing itself and being able to play it correctly. It is frustrating as an amateur to get to the performance and mess up. So to do it right in the heat of the performance is the most gratifying thing. More often than not, the audience doesn’t know unless I do something when the orchestra is very quiet. The orchestra might notice, but the conductor knows and I know.
What is your favorite piece to play?
In 6 years since I have been playing, I am going to have to say Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 and it’s always been one of my favorites. There are pieces that I’ve never played that I want to. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”, and Beethoven’s 5^th. There are lots of others.
What inspired you to start playing an instrument?
I joined the high school band percussion section, and they played the last movement of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and it has a prominent timpani part. I didn’t play the timpani in that concert, but it turned me on to classical music. Down in my basement, I had a set of drums and I would play a set like you would a timpani. All of these years when I lived in NY and going to concerts to hear the New York Philharmonic, I never realized I could and I never asked myself, “Why don’t I do timpani?” I never knew there was an opportunity. I stumbled into it by accident with the Shriners Hospital band playing march music. I went to put a poster to recruit players in a music store and there was one there already for the Taylorsville Symphony. They needed percussion players, so I called them. It blows my mind that I had never thought to inquire that this was possible. I joke about the title of my biography. I’ll call it “Making Up for Lost Time”. I’m 64 and I look at this now and think wow. I’ve been doing this for 6 years now, and maybe I have 10 – 15 years to play and it blows my mind that I could have done this sooner. I’m taking advantage of it now that I can.

Kristina Willey plays the viola. Since her first performance with her mother’s orchestra at the age of 4, Kristina has always been in at least one orchestra. Currently, she leads the viola section of the Utah Valley Symphony.
What is your favorite part of performing in an orchestra?
It would have to be the … I’m not sure how to explain it… the communal sense of making music together and following the conductor. We’re all there, doing the same thing, making music together. I love that sense of community. I really like us all together as a group.
What is your favorite piece to play?
That is really hard. There are so many. There is something about Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 every time I play it. It’s so powerful. I wonder if I should pick that one as my favorite. No, wait, Mahler Symphony No. 3, though. Let’s go with Mahler Symphony No. 3. I’ve played it three times, and it’s just so amazing every time I play it. The expansiveness is just huge. That community feeling I talked about before is spread out over so many more people. There are 100 people with the same goal of getting the piece played. The music is just fabulous. It’s so rewarding when you can play and practice that piece. I don’t know if there’s anything greater
 
What inspired you to start playing an instrument?
My mother gave me my viola box when I was 18 months old. My older brother played violin and my older sister played cello, so I became the viola player. There was a time when I thought I didn’t want to continue playing, and I quit and studied piano for a year. When I went back to the viola, my teachers in college made me love the viola. They were so passionate about it. It was them and seeing what music had done for them that kept me passionate. I love playing in an orchestra. And that keeps me playing, also.
The audience is invited to watch both the rehearsal process and a final performance of the two movements. Tickets for adults are $10; Students in grades K-12 are free. All audience members must get a ticket. Call 801-533-NOTE (6683) to purchase tickets. These tickets are only available over the phone or in person. Tickets for this event are not available online.