>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Observer file photoBRINGING CULTURE: The Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra performs at a recent concert under thedirection of Leandro Espinosa. ().

By Jeff Petersen

Staff Writer

Traditionally the November concert of the Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra has included an extra performance in Baker City.

This year, however, out-of-town concerts will not be possible.

What's more, because of budget concerns, the second of two performances of each concert may also be in jeopardy.

The reason?

Money.

The cost of gas, music, printing programs and publicity are all on the rise.

It's to the point where the symphony is running a small deficit.

That's a bitter pill to swallow for the oldest continuously running orchestra in Oregon. It's especially tough coming this year, the orchestra's 57th season, and at a time when it is helping Eastern Oregon University celebrate its 75th anniversary in a grand way.

The 50-member orchestra is not an EOU institution, as some people think.

Instead, it is composed of students and community members all striving to bring classical music to Northeast Oregon and to enrich people's lives.

Students are mostly from EOU. The orchestra has offered and wants to continue to offer a strong scholarship program, typically $300, to help students play in the orchestra rather than seek other part-time jobs.

The rising cost of tuition and fees, however, will force students to choose a part-time job over the orchestra if scholarship funds dry up.

Community, in orchestra terms, refers to a very wide area. This includes Union, Wallowa and Baker counties. Some key players come from even farther away. Through snow, rain, hail and wind, like the postal service, musicians deliver.

For example, take Ed Carwithen, the symphony's principal horn player. The French horn expert is a retired high school music teacher who drives from John Day every week of the season for rehearsals.

"He spends his own money for nights at a hotel and is real heroic," says Leandro Espinosa, symphony

conductor.

Another hero comes in the form of Fanny Fitzgerald. The first clarinet player lives in the Monument area, off the grid, and risks her neck in winter to drive to La Grande to practice with the orchestra.

"She never misses a rehearsal and is one of our strongest players," the conductor says.

Espinosa fears the symphony will have no money to help Carwithen, Fitzgerald and other players from places like Baker City and Joseph with their gas bills. He is afraid that playing in the symphony will become too big a financial burden and some players will resign their posts.

"This is an extremely difficult threat for us," Espinosa says. "Some big businesses that used to help us with gas have merged, and the new businesses are not as generous."

Espinosa encourages residents to support businesses that give money to the orchestra.

The orchestra is trying to write grants and do other fund-raising efforts to make ends meet. It's important that individuals give what they can as the more individual donations the orchestra gets, the easier it is for the orchestra to get grants.

And money is needed. The least expensive choice of music scores for this year still totals $1,400.

Another handicap is lack of school support. Many public schools in Oregon started dropping orchestra programs following the passage of the anti-tax Measure 5 in 1991. Band and choral programs were retained in La Grande, but the loss of orchestra programs has meant a chronic shortage of strings players from which the local orchestra can select.

It could be worse.

"Some heroic individuals such as Janelle Skinner and Swannee Herrmann have stepped in to provide training," Espinosa says.

The big symphony also helps sponsor the youth orchestra, which provides some quality string players.

So, too, does the interest in bluegrass fiddling and fiddling competition in the areas.

"There are violinists here who are also award-winning fiddlers," says Regina Braker, president of the board of the Grande Ronde Symphony Association.

The EOU Fiddle Ensemble is another feeder group.

The orchestra also needs, and is now without, some other important instruments, such as the contra bassoon and harps.

"We cannot play 35 to 40 percent of all repertoire because of this shortage," Espinosa says.

Some of these musician shortages are alleviated because the local orchestra coordinates well with others in the area such as the Oregon East Symphony headquartered in Pendleton, Espinosa says.

If cost were less of a concern, Espinosa said, the Grande Ronde Symphony would like to move around to more venues and play for a broader audience.

The Baker City concert at the cathedral was canceled this year due to the rent doubling.

"It used to be that non-profits could reasonably rely on tax-supported institutions to give a break on rent, but a lot of those are disappearing," Braker says. EOU does offer the symphony a big break, giving it use of rehearsal and performance halls and paying the salary of its conductor, she says.

The Grande Ronde Symphony Association, a tax-exempt non-profit, helps keep the symphony financially above water. One of the association's main missions is providing scholarships for students.

It's not time to panic, Espinosa says. But it is time, he says, for community members and businesses to pitch in and make sure the symphony continues to have a strong voice in the community and its quality of life.

"We rehearse less than a professional orchestra," Espinosa allows. "Despite working against lots of obstacles, the quality of people and players we have is extraordinary."