My Orchestra
From Beth Etter, Erie Philharmonic Keyboardist
“My orchestra.” That’s what I say. I explain that the Erie Philharmonic is a regional symphony orchestra whose players come from Erie, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Buffalo and sometimes further. Then I report that we often sell out our concerts held in an historic theater in downtown Erie with 2400 seats. By this time, I’ve usual got their interest.
“Really? Isn’t that kind of unusual,” is usually the way the conversation goes. “Very,” I say. Many orchestras like the Erie Phil shut their doors during Covid, or declined in ticket sales causing a crawling comeback. “So, why is that…what do they do?” comes next.
Beth Etter, Erie Philharmonic Keyboardist
As a long-time member of the orchestra, I’ve tried to figure it out. During Covid some very creative thinking happened and a whole lot of perseverance. We gathered, spaced, and masked, with no winds and made some recordings to keep the memory of us alive in our audience. Like the rest of the country (and world) we felt it deeply. We wrote stories, interviewed musicians, posted blogs and stayed the course.
But the real answer is so much more than that. It begins with our maestro Daniel Meyer who oozes pride for us and shares that with our audience. Our rehearsals are a tightly run ship working over minute details against the ticking clock. We all want to work hard: to use our lifelong technique and musicianship to contribute to “our” sound. We work with inspiration rather than fear.
Then there is our Executive Director Steve Weiser (a musician himself) who seems to wave a magic wand and gather the crowds as well as the critical support to run the show. We love it when he shows up pre-concert and makes us laugh a bit, easing the pre-performance jitters. He exudes ambition, devotion, and commitment and happens to know what he’s doing - in spades. Put that together with our Operations Director Chris Newlun who with undying respect communicates and organizes the whole shebang giving us the tools to make the logistics work like a well-oiled machine. If there’s a problem, Chris will fix it.
The three of them work some kind of magic. And it shows. During pizza night with the musicians, I sat next to an elderly couple who had never gone to a symphony until a couple of years ago. They tell me they started out with Star Wars and Mary Poppins from the Pops series, and that caused them to try a symphonic concert. Now they’re more than hooked—and working on hooking others.
Yes, folks, this is OUR orchestra. So much to love.