Tonight was the third and final concert of the ’07 Racine Symphony Lakeside Pops season, and believe it or not the most thrilling thing about this concert was not Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (which nonetheless was fabulous) or Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” (which was exquisite) or the suite from “Oklahoma” (which was a blast.)
Nor did it come right off the bat when I mentioned the neat story of a guy in the audience who was there celebrating his 30th birthday. . .whose parents brought him to his first Lakeside Pops concert TWENTY years ago to celebrate his tenth birthday. (What a great story- and the audience really gave him a fine ovation when I invited him to stand.)
No, as fun as all of that was, the biggest thrill of the night came courtesy of a gentleman in town – Jerry Langendorf – (owner of one of the local funeral homes) – who came up to me during intermission at the last concert with this proposal: if the RSO would take up a collection from the audience and it reached $500, he would match that himself with a check for $500. Manager Bob Sagadin loved the idea but suggested that it be done at the next concert (tonight) so it could be properly scripted, and Jerry agreed. So tonight, during the first half of the concert, I went to the mic and announced that during intermission, concertmaster Paul Lundeen would bring his violin case out onstage, open it up, and set it down at the edge of the stage. . . and at that point anyone from the audience who had enjoyed Lakeside Pops this year could come up and throw a little gift for the RSO in – and if we reached $500, then etc. etc. We did it with fingers crossed that the audience would come through, although no one was expecting it to be a slam dunk— and Bob and I fully expected that we might have to throw in a couple twenties each to reach the goal.
Well intermission came as the suite from “Oklahoma” ended- and I don’t know if it was the good-hearted music of Rodgers and Hammerstein that did it – or the sales pitch of yours truly – just the novelty of the exercise – or some combination – but as soon as that violin case appeared, people started lining up to throw in their monetary gifts. For most of intermission, it was a line of maybe ten people or more- – – and they kept coming and coming and coming. (Several people quipped that we should have used a string bass case or tuba case instead.) For most of intermission, Carol Christiansen sat there by Paul’s case and played as though she was a street musician playing for rent money. And the people came and came – and gave and gave. Eventually intermission ended and Bob took the money away to be counted by a team of five volunteers from Chase Bank (the primary underwriter of the Lakeside Pops) – and by the end of the first piece of the second half, they were STILL counting the money! I tapped danced until finally Bob showed up with the grand total written on a little piece of paper. . . and I could hardly believe my eyes . . . $3223.50! ! ! I then announced to the audience the name of the up-until-then man of mystery who had set all of this in motion- and he then came to the stage with his check already written. And just like that, the RSO had $3723.50 in its coffers.
But that’s not all. After that came Gershwin’s amazing Rhapsody in Blue with conductor Richard Carsey handing off his baton for a few minutes so he could serve as piano soloist – and he lit the place on fire with his playing. And after the tumultuous applause had died own, RC went to the mic to say that his father had been so excited about this concert and about hearing his son play the Gershwin, but he died four months ago. Richard then said – and I literally have a lump in my throat as I type this – “I know that if my dad had been here tonight, he would have been an enthusiastic contributor to the cause, so in his memory I want to also match the figure of $500.” There was an audible gasp which went through the crowd at that point, and more heartfelt applause, and the RSO’s take for the night ended up being $4223.50.
It’s not that tonight was all about the money . . . but all the same it was truly amazing to be in that room tonight and experience the electricity of a challenge laid down and then met so emphatically. And it was so nice to know that so many people are in love with the Racine Symphony Orchestra. May the love affair never end.
pictured above: Paul’s violin case, brimming with cash contributions from the audience