Well when this project came my way, I jumped all over it! There could not be a more perfect way to demonstrate these things I’ve wanted to show. Add in the fact that both Collective Soul and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra are both from my home state of Georgia- well, to me that’s a perfect article! (No, I’m not biased at all…)
"Home" is the title of the DVD that Collective Soul will be releasing on February 7th, 2006. They performed this concert live in Atlanta in April of 2005 with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. While this is not the first time a rock band has played with a symphonic orchestra, it is the first time one has done so with a group of teens. Of course this is not your everyday group of teenagers. We aren’t talking about the local high school marching band (although there are some excellent ones around!) When I was watching the orchestra rehearse I would not have been able to tell the difference between the Youth orchestra and the Senior orchestra had it not been for the faces I was looking at. There were harps, tons of violins, cellos, a grand piano (over which I was trying not to drool), timpani, French horns, clarinets, flutes, trumpet, tuba, and I know I’m missing some so please forgive me- but I was blown away. These kids can audition at the age of 13 and stay in the orchestra until they graduate high school. 113 students played in the Collective Soul concert.
Music Director Jere (pronounced Jerry) Flint has conducted the youth symphony for 25 years. He also plays cello in the main Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and is on the board of conductors. He attributes his longevity in the role of youth conductor to the fact that the kids keep graduating, so they don’t have time to get tired of him! He may tease about this, but it is obvious the teens are in awe of him, and have a great amount of respect and genuine fondness for this gruff (acting) leader.
Both Maestro Flint and program coordinator Melanie Darby were very proud of the fact that Collective Soul’s coordinators had come in with music prepared for the kids to play with the band; but left with the same music in hand. Apparently they had underestimated the talent in this group of youngsters, and had to go back and re-write the music so the kids wouldn’t have to “play down”. “Our kids were much better than they realized!” Melanie beamed proudly, like the mother duck she has become to this group.
But the band members of Collective Soul are no slouches when it comes to music, either. No punk high school rock band put together in a garage are these guys, (although they did rock together in high school)! Talking to Will Turpin, the band’s bass guitar and percussion player and one of the founding members of the group; I found out that the guys were all interested in music early in life. “I started playing drums and piano around the same time, I guess I was about 9 years old.” When I asked if he was a band geek in high school, he laughed, “Yeah, I was. I studied music all through college, went to Florida state for about 2 years – performance major.” I know all you UGA fans may have a fit about that, but FSU gave him the better scholarship! And besides after 2 years he transferred back up to Georgia State, and got back together with some of his old high school buddies and future band mates. (Thank goodness!)
The rest of the group is similarly talented, besides singing, Ed Roland (lead singer/guitar/keyboards) used to play the clarinet. Now we know where he got his amazing voice and breath control – those reed instruments are tough! His brother Dean, (lead guitar) played the sax through Jr. High, and the original drummer Shane played on the drum-line with Will.
Will said the group had started talking about recording with a symphonic orchestra back in 1995. But, although their albums were tremendously popular with their fans and their singles were consistently in the Top 10; legal problems with their previous recording company did not give them enough freedom to do as they wished with their music, either musically or monetarily. “Now we have our own record label, and we have the freedom to do the projects that are close to our hearts.” Will said they had originally talked to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra about recording with them, but during the talks the idea was brought up – what about the Youth orchestra? “We had just put out the album "Youth". It fit.”
And if any of the guys had reserves about recording with a bunch of teenagers, they were soon put to rest. Comments Ed Roland: "Working with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra was really a unique experience. I never imagined that all of these young musicians could make our songs sound so beautiful in the most classic sense."
"The kids really brought everything up a level by helping to create another dimension in the music" states Dean Roland. "Those two nights were one of the highlights of my career thus far. After the first night of rehearsals, both the band and symphony found an amazing blend of two musical entities."
Adds Will Turpin: "We had been dreaming about this idea for a decade, to finally perform Collective Soul songs with a full orchestra was truly a dream come true. Performing with the Youth Symphony was a big part of the energy level, the kids and the band felt excited and privileged to be a part of that evening."
Given the response of the audience; so did they!
The Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestrapicture courtesy of Melanie Darby
