The Holland Symphony Orchestra will perform its final concert of this season on April 27. It’s also the last under the leadership of
co-founder Kay Walvoord, who is stepping down after 36 years with the organization, which also includes the Holland Symphony Youth Orchestras.
Her successor is expected to be named in May.
Walvoord has treated the role more as a calling than a job, says Johannes Müller Stosch, who has worked with Walvoord for 17 years as HSO’s music director and conductor.
“It’s really amazing how she helped professionalize and grow the organization while laying down a really strong foundation,” he says.
Her prowess is evident in the nonprofit’s
platinum rating from Guidestar, which provides transparency about nonprofits.
Ambitious program
Orchestra members will be stepping up with the Saturday night performance, Night at the Opera.
“We’ll be doing some repertoire that is a little bit larger in terms of forces. We’ve got a large wind section, a large string section, a large brass section, and the works are late Romantic. So that is repertoire that is a little bit harder to do because the forces are bigger, and it's not something we can afford to do all the time because of the added expense. But it's something that we have been wanting to do for a while,” says Müller Stosch.
The concert will feature Marina Harris, soprano, and Richard Wagner’s Prelude to “Die Meistersinger”; Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs; Georges Bizet’s Suite No. 1 from “Carmen”; Arthur Foote’s Air for Strings; and Richard Strauss’s Suite from “Der Rosenkavalier,” Op. 59.
Müller Stosch and Concertmaster Amanda Walvoord Dykhouse discuss the selections in this
pre-concert talk.
Steady support
Müller Stosch says the concert will feel bittersweet since it will be Walvoord's official farewell, as
steps into retirement.
“We've had such a great relationship from the beginning,” says Müller Stosch. “I've been there 17 years. While she treats me like family, this is also a respectful working relationship. Kay supported my vision, and I couldn't have done this without her. I do not deserve the credit for growing the orchestra. It is truly a team effort and takes support from the president. We have gotten along well for so many years, and that's crucial for an organization's health and growth mindset."
HSO has about one-twentieth of the budget of the Grand Rapids Symphony, a professional orchestra.
“HSO is good enough for some people who want to enjoy great classical music that they don't have to look outside of the city limits. That's pretty good,” says Müller Stosch.
He adds that most of the musicians have local ties.
“I would say a majority of our musicians live in Holland. That is very different from some other orchestras,” Müller Stosch says. “This is really a community-rooted orchestra, but we'll probably play at the level of a small regional orchestra. We do major repertoire. We take this very seriously to bring new repertoire to our audience and sort of expand their understanding and push boundaries a little. I think the whole orchestra feels that we're growing.”
Tickets for the concert are available
online or at the door. Special gifts to commemorate Walvoord’s service may be made to the
Walvoord Endowment Fund at Holland Symphony.
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