An orchestrated effort: The all-volunteer Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City give time and talent

SANDY — Sundays can be time for congregating, but it's not church that brings 60 to 70 musicians together at Sandy's Parks and Recreation Building, 440 E. 8680 South, at the close of each weekend.

Members of the Orchestra and Chorus of Sandy City lay aside the cares that loom over the coming work week to rehearse Brahms and Beethoven, Mozart and Mussorgsky for 2 1/2 blissful hours each Sunday night.

They come from all over the valley and beyond — as far north as Davis County and as far south as Provo — to take part. Volunteers range in age from college students to retirees.

"You have a lot of talented people who need a means of expression," said director Joel Rosenberg. "The people who play in (the orchestra) are giving a lot of time, but I think you'd find that for some of them (rehearsal) is the nicest evening of their week."

That being said, rehearsals are extremely concentrated, Rosenberg said. The difficulty of the pieces the orchestra performs requires participants to take their music seriously and practice diligently throughout the week.

"They have to work hard, and it's a team effort," he said. "Everybody has to be prepared."

Sandy's orchestra, formerly known as the American West Symphony and Chorus, which has been in place for nearly two decades, isn't the rural second-rate symphony some might suppose it to be. It was the first orchestra in Utah to perform world-class operas such as Rossini's "William Tell" and Verdi's "Nabucco," Rosenberg said.

"Our contribution to the city and to the entire area in the South Valley is to provide a great collection of orchestral music," he said.

While nine of the orchestra's 13 annual concerts are held locally at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church, 700 East and 8600 South, the orchestra regularly performs at various locations in Salt Lake City.

On top of musical preparations, much goes into coordinating and organizing concerts and people, Rosenberg said. The entire production process is a lot of work for something that often goes virtually unnoticed.

"I think there are very few people in Sandy who know about us, which is unfortunate," he said. "I wish (the orchestra) were better known; I don't know why it's not."

Still, Rosenberg, who has been the orchestra's director for the past 13 years, said the satisfaction that comes from performing the music of the masters makes the work worth it.

"Anybody who is conducting symphonies of the great composers is doing it because they love it," he said. "Musicians play their instruments because they love it. You don't think about the clock or the time. It's not like work where you're looking forward to your next break. The time just flies by when you're playing and when you're molding these great works together."

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