livTrr,,rr-mmk,
Maze!
Toy!
,„
•
;; , ; kskia•
\ N'`OV•441`
sans'ar
maw
- -A
•
a MUM
Craig Allen, conductor of
the Oak Park Symphony,
sees'the group as "an
ambassadorship for the
community."
MAKING
USIC
Musician/rabbi resurrects Oak Park Symphony.
DIANA LIEBERMAN
StaffWriter
y
ou won't hear Antonin Dvorak's "New World Symphony" performed by the Oak
Park Symphony Orchestra — at least not anytime soon.
The orchestra, resurrected in March after more than 10 years of inactivity, attract-
ed only 15 musicians to its first rehearsal. That's not enough to perform the music
of Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, John Philip Sousa or even the suite from the Sound of Music.
However, this doesn't bother conductor Craig Allen. A composer, arranger and performer
— and also an ordained rabbi — Allen has other plans for the group.
'As a composer, I can orchestrate for whatever instrumentation I
Top to bottom:
have," Allen says. "Then, as the orchestra grows, I can peel off layers
Craig Allen conducts the Oak
from one section and give them to new players as they join."
Park Symphony Orchestra.
For example, he says, what had been a passage for a string section
Orchestra members Marianne
will become a solo for cello — just as soon as the group has a cello.
Margolin of Southfield and
In orchestra members' folders right now are works by various corn-
Marie Takemoto of Berkley
posers as arranged by Allen — Claude Debussy/Allen, Maurice
Ravel/Allen, even Charles Ives/Allen and Elliot Carter/Allen.
John H Esselman of Oak Park
.
\\N
I