An orchestra fantasy comes true

Fifty-one people will fulfill an orchestral fantasy Thursday night. The amateur musicians will perform with the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Osmo Vänskä.

When they gathered for breakfast Wednesday at Orchestra Hall, they were a picture of orchestra diversity. There were violinists, woodwinds and brass players, a lot of flute players and even a percussionist. And they are all fantasists, or at least fantasy campers.

"The idea is to give the opportunity for amateur musicians to come in and experience — well, first of all, playing on stage at Orchestra Hall, with the Minnesota Orchestra, which is extraordinary," said conductor Sarah Hicks, who was running the event. "But also to see behind the scenes."

The Minnesota Orchestra Fantasy campers are all ages, from college students to retired people. They come from all over the state. One couple came from Boston.

The camp consists of rehearsals with orchestral sections, seminars in auditioning, conducting and artistic planning. It all wraps up with a concert Thursday night, when the 51 players will squeeze onto a specially expanded stage to play the Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture.

This is not for beginners.

"These people can play, absolutely!" said Hicks. "We are not talking violinists who are just learning 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.' I mean, they have played their concertos, their fair share. These are accomplished amateurs. So it makes it more fun for the orchestra, because these people can actually play."

And they all come with stories. Take Sam Grabarski. You may remember him as the former head of the State Arts Board, or from his stint as the leader of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. What you might not know is that he studied bassoon at Juilliard, in preparation for a career as a musician.

"I got sidetracked by my own version of a personal tragedy," he said. "Three men broke into my home in the middle of the night, robbed it and burned it down. And all of my musical instruments went with it."

He had no insurance. He couldn't replace them. So he began a lifelong professional career in arts administration.

"Now I am in retirement I've decided to reclaim what I thought was totally lost: the bassoon and fine music," he said. "And hopefully I am playing well enough to matter to the musicians who are around me."

Several of the musicians are teachers by trade — but not necessarily music teachers. Victoria Honetschlager of Lakeville plays flute, but teaches physics. She admitted that music often slips into her lessons.

"We always talk about waves and oscillators and open and closed pipe resonators," she said. "So I just think it is cool to be able to blend what I teach and something that kids really are passionate and care about, because music is always one of those things."

Cellist Mical Lang does teach music — orchestra, in fact. She wanted to watch Osmo Vänskä conduct close up. She's been practicing hard, but she said a lot of the experience is joining with the other musicians to play.

"I'm not going to sit under Osmo and not know my notes," she said. "You prepare for it, but certainly the experience, you can't really prepare for that. You just come and smile, and you are here for the ride."

And what a ride it is. The campers sat in their sections, and awaited the arrival of Osmo Vänskä.

The maestro took the podium, and the music began.

The Roman Carnival Overture is not a long piece, but Vänskä is known for his attention to detail. He instructed each orchestral section, often using his voice to demonstrate the sound he was looking for. At one point, to show the cellos what he wanted, he growled.

Sam Grabarski left the stage grinning. He said his section was in good shape, but he had discovered a problem: how to turn the pages.

"Because we are going so fast and sometimes we are playing constantly. So figuring it out, how to get the page turned in time, is part of the battle today," he said with a laugh.

But he was sure they would work it out.