It may be the understatement of the year, but lately it’s been a tough time for live music. Concerns about health and safety have resulted in locked doors at many clubs and concert venues. But the music must play, and, one way or another, play it will.
With the comfortable temperatures of fall still ahead of us, uncrowded outdoor options for live music are finding favor with many, including the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra Guild, who will host its first Music in the Field: Friends and Family Casual Concert in Lascassas on Saturday, Sept. 25. The late afternoon show, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m., will be held at rural and historic Sitaspel Downe, the sprawling, scenic property of Guild president Ruth Taylor and her husband, Eddy. Attendees are encouraged to bring family members, snacks, beverages and blankets or portable chairs.
According to longtime Guild member Linda Dansby, COVID-based restrictions have caused particular disappointment in regard to the Guild’s plans to heavily promote this year’s 40th anniversary season of the Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to even build a season,” laments Dansby, who says that the orchestra’s four currently scheduled concerts will be assessed a month at a time, depending on whether conditions are favorable for indoor performances (planned to begin at Murfreesboro’s Belle Aire Baptist Church on Nov. 12).
The Tennessee Philharmonic is the formerly named Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra, a recent name change that Dansby says is intended to convey the professional status of the group, which started out in 1981 as a student and community group but has since evolved into a higher-level organization that pays its musicians and draws part of its membership from the Nashville pro music community.
The former MSO and current TPO (different in name only) is one of several local recipients of financial support raised by the MSO Guild, an organization of about 50 members which was formed as a separate entity in 1981, also the orchestra’s inaugural year. Dansby says the Guild likes to “spread the joy,” distributing as much as $10,000 per year to help support the TPO, the Ethos Youth Ensembles and Rutherford County and MTSU students in need of tuition or other music-related assistance.
Traditionally, the Guild has hosted a trio of annual fundraising events, including the popular Jazz in January concert. It’s been common, too, for the MSO/TPO to present contemporary 20th-century music alongside the classics, so it’s fitting that the upcoming fundraising concert, a new addition to the Guild’s typical schedule, will span a variety of styles.
The show will feature a headlining set from Nashville’s The WannaBeatles, and a guest appearance from members of the TPO (who will also augment selections by The WannaBeatles), and will also include performances from The Bryan Cumming Swing Quartet featuring Kelli Cox, jazz vocalist Liz Johnson, Cajun-flavored Nashville favorite Les Kerr, and Atlanta-based Jonny Hibbert and the Sunliners, offering a mixture of vintage soul, R&B and Carolina-style “beach music.”
The Guild tries to present various styles of music to the community, Dansby emphasizes.
“Let’s just keep the music playing, any kind of music. We’re excited to be able to present this for the whole family,” she continues. “It’s music that everybody’s going to enjoy . . . to be able to have live music in a safe environment, where your children can come, it is a great opportunity.”
This is also a great opportunity to help support your own 40-year-old Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the city’s youth orchestra and aspiring local music students, all of whom will share the proceeds. Individual tickets are $20, with single-price family admission set at $35. Tickets and additional information about Music in the Field: Friends and Family Casual Concert can be found at eventbrite.com. Sitaspel Downe is located at 7421 Cainsville Pk., Lascassas.
