[Jeri
Lynn Johnson, music director of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra,
leads a rehearsal at the High School of the Future. (Lindsay
Lazarski/WHYY)]
March
31, 2012
By Peter Crimmins
Video by Lindsay Lazarski [2:12]
When
an orchestra is working the way it should, the music sounds
effortless. Notes just pour off the stage as though there were no
other way for them to exist. When an orchestra is
not working, it sounds like a train wreck.
Jeri Lynn Johnson
invites teenagers onto the podium to lead her Black Pearl Chamber
Orchestra into a wailing heap. As part of the organization's
education mission, young people can have their first stab at
conducting
.
"It's a lot
harder than just waving your arms around," said Johnson. She instructs her
musicians to follow the lead of the young conductor exactly, even if
that lead breaks down. Inevitably, the rhythm goes off and strings
collide with winds. The kids learn instantly, viscerally, how
important it is for an orchestra to work together, under a steady
wand.
They also learn what
it feels like -- just for few fleeting seconds -- to own an
orchestra. The Black Pearl
Chamber Orchestra has a strong populist mission. The musicians come
from a range of races and backgrounds so audiences new to classical
music can relate to the action on stage.
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