Iowa Wesleyan-based symphony orchestra faces ‘big question marks’

MOUNT PLEASANT — In the hour before 7 p.m. Monday, a low hum of strings and woodwinds and horns began to swell and scatter and sway through the vaulted Iowa Wesleyan University chapel auditorium.

The nearly 80 musicians greeted one another while tuning their instruments for what will wrap the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra’s 72nd season and could mark the final performance in their Wesleyan home.

“It creates big question marks because we're based here,” longtime conductor Robert McConnell told The Gazette about last month’s news that Iowa Wesleyan — the second oldest university in Iowa, older than the state itself — is closing after 181 years since opening in 1842.

Pointing to music stands and percussion instruments and chairs arranged in a half-moon across the stage, McConnell said the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra — which he’s been directing for 33 years — owns much of the equipment.

“And a lot of symphony supporters put a lot of money into renovating this facility with the idea that we would use it for decades to come,” he said. “So we're hopeful that will still work out.”

Of course, McConnell and his orchestra colleagues — like the more than 1,000 Iowa Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff — are stuck in limbo right now as the university careens toward closure May 31, passing ownership of the 60-acre campus to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We’re waiting, and the president has assured me that they will let us know,” McConnell said. “Everybody is really waiting.”

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'Play at a pretty high level’

Organized in 1950, the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra has gained repute as a premier community-based ensemble supported by boards of directors in three cities: Burlington, Ottumwa and Mount Pleasant, home to Iowa Wesleyan.

The orchestra typically carries 55 to 60 players — although it’s nearing 80 for this weekend’s season finale, which includes three “masterworks” concerts in each of its host cities: a 7:30 p.m. show in Burlington on Saturday; a 2 p.m. Sunday concert in Ottumwa and a 6:30 p.m. Sunday performance in Mount Pleasant.

The performances, lasting about 100 minutes each, will feature Igor Stravinsky’s famed “Rite of Spring,” which is where the group began rehearsal Monday night with McConnell’s simple instruction, “Let’s go to bar two on 142.”

Without hesitation, the instruments rushed in on queue, which McConnell later noted is remarkable, given the community nature of the ensemble and the few times it rehearses together. Monday was only the third rehearsal before the concert.

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“People have to be able to jump in, they have to prepare the parts,” he said. “We don't call it a practice, we call it a rehearsal. Because they should have things practiced. We’re putting it together here.”

The players, who don’t necessarily try out for the orchestra but determine themselves if it’s a good fit, receive the music a month or more in advance, McConnell said. The musicians include a mix of current and former professionals, amateurs, instructors and students of all ages — from high school to 60-plus.

“But they have to play at a pretty high level,” he said.

Given the group annually performs three masterworks series, two pops concerts, a children’s symphony, a winter event and one on the Fourth of July, the players are kept busy — reaching more than 12,000 people every year.

Given this could be the group’s final bow in the Wesleyan chapel, orchestra organizers said they’re pushing to break the 1,200-audience record — even offering a $1,200 prize to a concertgoer.

“We’re hoping to fill it,” orchestra Executive Director Jeffrey Phillips told The Gazette.

'Where do we go?’

Phillips’ path to head the orchestra started in high school in the 1990s, when he started playing violin with the orchestra. He left town after graduation but eventually found his way back as an adult — taking the helm several years ago, while continuing to play.

Upon learning of Wesleyan’s looming closure, Phillips said he was surprised and upset.

“I immediately was like, ‘OK now where do we go? Where do we base ourselves?’ ” he said. “The symphony has been based here at Wesleyan for pretty much our entire existence. … It's gonna be a huge change.”

He and McConnell affirmed the orchestra will continue — whether Wesleyan forces it out of the chapel or not — though they would prefer to stay in the Wesleyan chapel.

“We've had other offers already from other entities,” McConnell said. “There are cities that would like us to have our headquarters there, but we'd prefer to stay here because that's how we've operated and a lot of our musicians commute and this is a central location.”

Relocating its home base would pose challenges not just for the orchestra but for the community, which sees a swell in visitors every time the chapel hosts a rehearsal or concert.

“This is a big deal for rural Iowa,” McConnell said. “We've seen this decline in rural America because resources are being pulled out of these communities.”

Iowa Wesleyan adjunct professor Derrick Murphy, 54, of Burlington, has been playing trumpet with the orchestra for 26 years and was dismayed to learn of Wesleyan’s end.

“It’s a terrible thing for southeast Iowa,” he said.

Although he, too, would like to keep the group stationed in Mount Pleasant, Murphy said he’d drive wherever the orchestra finds a home to continue playing — and expects others will, too, including those who commute from as far away as Missouri.

“We have a pretty big radius,” he said.

For that reason, Murphy suggested it would be worth the time and money to do the “bare minimum” to let the orchestra keep using the space.

“It's a nice performance venue,” he said. “It's got great acoustics, and it’s one of the biggest halls in southeast Iowa.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com