St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s music on the move

-- Vickie Lee-Her

The nation’s only full-time orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO), celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and proves why their motto, music on the move, is taking them places they’ve never been before. New and old audiences can enjoy the SPCO all around the Twin Cities this season as they show us why they’ve been so successful these past 50 years while demonstrating their promise to enlighten audiences for many more years to come.

The orchestra performed their second annual concert on Dec. 21 here at Metropolitan State University. The special concert also featured a traditional Hmong qeej player, courtesy of the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT) which is a partner organization of ASO. There was a high rate of attendance and a hope that the SPCO will return next year to perform on campus again.

The concert on the Metropolitan State campus may be one of several ways SPCO is reaching out to a younger audience. SPCO recently developed a new program, club2030, which is geared toward people in their 20s and 30s. People in this age range are able to purchase tickets to SPCO concerts for only $10 at the Ordway Center and Ted Mann Concert Hall. Since 2002, the SPCO has increased its member base by 40 percent. During the 2007-08 season alone, the subscriber base increased by 7 percent and it’s believed the younger audience subscribers are a factor in this increase.

This month, don’t miss the SPCO’s International Chamber Orchestra Festival. During this four week long festival, the SPCO invites the strings of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the London Sinfonietta, the Orchestra of the Age of Englightment and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra to join them here in the Twin Cities.

According to the SPCO website, the festival “will take an in-depth look at what it means to be a chamber orchestra in the 21st century, and why the institution is as vital today as it was five decades ago.”

For SPCO fans, the festival will highlight what they’ve always loved about the SPCO. For new listeners, the festival will make them fall in love with the SPCO. And for all audiences, the festival will show what the SPCO has in store. This event is the centerpiece of the 50th anniversary season celebration.