Master of the house

During last year's Brucemorchestra extravaganza, guest concertmaster Luke Witchger blew us away with his artistry and interpretation. Our Hoopla review said: "His violin sings with an enthusiasm that nearly raises his body off his chair."

We blew him away with our sheer numbers.

He thought Ed Karr, Orchestra Iowa's chief operating officer, was joking when he said as many as 6,000 people could turn out for the orchestra's annual season launch on Brucemore's front lawn.

"I said, 'Ha, ha, ha – you're joking. This is the middle of Iowa – we can't get 6,000 for a concert in New York.' So that was incredible, to walk onstage and certainly see that amount of people there," Witchger says. "That was great."

That sea of support made quite an impression on the Juilliard student from Omaha. The event marked his first of three concert "auditions" as guest concertmaster. Sunday night (9/8), he'll return to the massive outdoor stage as Orchestra Iowa's fulltime concertmaster. At age 21, he's one of the youngest professional principal violinists in the nation.

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