(or Jackson Symphony’s ‘Salute to America’ and small-town delights)
By Ken Wyatt
Jackson Symphony Orchestra has officially launched its 75th concert season. It took place, however, not in its traditional Potter Center venue in Summit Township, but last weekend on a lovely Friday evening at Horace Blackman Park in downtown Jackson.
Matthew Aubin, conductor, began the concert amid a sometimes-chaotic scene. Children were dancing, cars honking, people wandering in and out of the concert venue, a homeless man sorting through trash bins for cans and bottles.
And yet it was an idyllic scene. Overall, there was an air of civility, of neighborliness, of smiles and greetings.
The music began with the orchestra playing the National Anthem. Hundreds of attendees stood for a truly salutary tribute to the flag and to what is the best of small-town America.
After preliminaries, Aubin directed the orchestra in a full concert program, introducing each number in a personable fashion. The items ranged from classics such as Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide Overture” to the “American Civil War Fantasy” by former JSO director Jerry Bilik.
Introducing John Williams’ stately “Midway March,” Aubin recalled his boyhood “shadow conducting” to Williams’ recordings with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Though the orchestra has plenty of volume in its enclosed concert hall, the concert was amplified with a sound system. I happened to choose a location at first near a speaker tweeting predominant higher tones, which troubled my ears. That prompted my move to an area where nearby woofers were more pleasant to the ear – and where I found two old friends seated. I joined them.
It was difficult to judge the size of the crowd, for the audience was spread out over acreage of the park. I would guess there were at least 500 people present, maybe as many as a thousand. They were a frisky crowd – full of fun and movement, but responsive at all the right times. At times some stood to applaud.
According to the JSO’s web site, the orchestra was actually founded by Conductor Pedro Paz in 1949 – just shy of the 75-year mark. But the first actual concert took place in 1951 at Jackson High School’s auditorium. It drew 1,200 people, with bad weather preventing about 600 ticket holders from attending.
That was no problem for this concert. The nearby JSO building was backup in case of inclement weather, but the weather was ideal. Indeed, the western skies provided a beautiful background toward the end of the concert.
I reviewed a number of JSO concerts for the Jackson Citizen Patriot. In my review of the 1987 summer pops concert, I wrote about the orchestra’s concluding number – the same as the concluding number at last week’s concert: Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”
That 1987 concert had also included a John Philip Sousa march – “El Capitan.” This more recent concert featured Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” march.
In my concluding paragraph for the 1987 review, I had written: “The overture stirs the soul and makes you want to go out and fight the War of 1812 again. I guess that’s why it’s good to have a pop concert in mid-summer. Instead of marching off to war, you can lead off with the American march king, Sousa, and end up with the Russian nationalist, and walk away feeling as though all’s right with the world.”
Well, that remains true. Pop concerts stir the passions – in a good way. While America is hopelessly divided by political passions this summer, the JSO’s Salute to America highlighted some of the many things that are enduring and good about the country, whether you’re left or right on the political spectrum:
The music of America is right and good: Aaron Copeland, Leonard Bernstein, Morton Gould, John Williams and many others.
Those two ever-competing universities – Michigan State and the U of Michigan – they are part of what is good in America. Their fight songs – which the orchestra played toward the end of its program – they are mighty good, for implicit in them is the reality that we can fight on the field and do it as friends and neighbors.
It was also good to be gathered in a park that bears the name of Jackson’s founding settler, Horace Blackman. We are the legacy of those early settlers.
And finally, it is good to have an enthusiastic young conductor such as Matt Aubin in leadership, bringing so much of the fine music to the people of Jackson. Were he writing this review, he might well encourage readers to consider attending the JSO’s 75th anniversary concert season. So I’ll do it for him, we have been occasional season ticket patrons over the years. Every concert has been well worth the investment.
If you’re interested, here are the JSO’s phone number and website: (517) 782-3221, www.jacksonsymphony.org.
