Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

listen live donate
listen live donate
listen live
donate
  • News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
    Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
  • Podcasts & Shows
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
    Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About
  • Close Menu

Classical Communiqué Classical blog

Discussing the way classical music touches the mind and the heart.

subscribe

 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • Arts and Lifestyle
  •  

American River College Orchestra: A Symphony Of Cultures

  •  Steve Milne 
Friday, March 11, 2016
Listen
/
download audio
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

Dr. Steven Thompson conducts the American River College Orchestra at a rehearsal on Wednesday, March 9.

Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

When you see the words “college orchestra” you probably think of a group of student musicians. But students are only a portion of the people who play in the American River College Orchestra, a unique and worldly mix of student, amateur and professional musicians. The orchestra performs tonight and tomorrow night in Sacramento.

On a recent Wednesday night, inside a rehearsal room at the ARC Music Department, Orchestra Director Dr. Steven Thompson leads the musicians through a practice of “Rhapsody in Blue.”

“Tonight we’re going to rehearse the Gershwin first,” says Thompson to the orchestra. “Okay? Okay, here we go.”

Thompson says he works with a lot of orchestras, including semi-pro groups in the Bay Area and college symphonies.

“But this is really something that’s kind of wacky,” says Thompson, “and way out there in a way.”

Wacky, he says, because this orchestra is an eclectic mix of 75 student, professional and amateur musicians who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. It’s an orchestra where a middle school violinist is sitting next to a former member of the Mongolian National Orchestra.  

“I will run into situations that I might not have run into at another place,” explains Thompson. “Maybe a part needs to be simplified for someone so that they can be part of the group.”

And English is not the first language for many of the musicians.

“I see a lot of pointing,” says Thompson. “And the communication on a musical level is pretty good. Sometimes the language level is a little more difficult.”    

Some of that pointing is done by the orchestra’s first-violinist, or concertmaster, Bolormaa Damdinjav from Mongolia. “Instead of saying the words in English,” says Damdinjav, “for myself it’s better playing and showing them. I think it’s a very easy way to understand each other, because we have one language, a music language.”

Another professional musician is principal cellist Yuriy Klyushnik. He’s from Ukraine where he played with the Dnipropetrovsk Symphony Orchestra. Klyushnik says it feels good to pass his knowledge onto his younger colleagues.

“I am surrounded with people who play next to me with different levels of playing (abilities),” says Klyushnik. “And I try to organize, for each semester, how to give some good knowledge to play parts to understand them.”  

At 59-years-old, Klyushnik is one of the ARC Orchestra’s older musicians.

One of the youngest is violinist Ardalan Gharachorloo. He was born in Iran in 1993 and started playing when he was six years old.

“My grandfather was the concertmaster of Tehran Philharmonic, the capital city philharmonic,” explains Gharachorloo. “After the revolution, they disbanded the whole symphony orchestra. But he was my first teacher. I mean he is the primary reason that I’m in this field, because of the love that I have for music and also for him.”

Gharachorloo is among a dozen ARC Orchestra members who will be spotlighted as soloists during the orchestra’s performances tonight and tomorrow night.

“I’m playing a very unique piece – Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto.”

ARC Orchestra Director Steven Thompson calls this unique ensemble of musicians an orchestra for everybody.

“You have to want to be and enjoy being in an orchestra for everybody,” says Thompson. “But I think it’s a very wonderful thing. It’s kind of an intergenerational group of people who put on these wonderful concerts together.”

Both concerts, tonight and tomorrow night, will be at 7:30 in the American River College Theater.

 educationfeatures

Steve Milne

Morning Edition Anchor & Reporter

Steve is the Morning Edition anchor for Capital Public Radio. He covers stories on a wide range of topics including: business, education, real estate, agriculture and music.  Read Full Bio 

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More From CapRadio Music

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Women in Music: Casey Lipka

March 31, 2023
We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

More From CapRadio Music

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Women in Music: Casey Lipka

March 31, 2023

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    •  
      (916) 278-8900
    •  
      (877) 480-5900
    •  Contact / Feedback
    •  Submit a Tip / Story Idea
  • About

    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Stations & Coverage Map
    • Careers & Internships
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Press
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile Apps
    • Smart Speakers
    • Podcasts & Shows
    • On-Air Schedules
    • Daily Playlist
    • Signal Status
  • Connect

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen Live

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2023, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.