Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.
 
 
BATTLE CREEK, MI — Looking for “Fantastic Beats” (not Beasts) and where to find them? Look no further than the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra and the opening concert of its 2024-25 season at 7:30 p.m. on October 5 at W.K. Kellogg Auditorium.
 
“There was a lot of buzz about the programming with our staff and board for all the concerts this season,” says Anne Harrigan, Music Director of the BCSO and the Billings (Montana) Symphony. “However, Fantastic Beats really jumped out as the one the widest variety of people wanted to come to. It seemed like a great fit to kick off our 126th season with it.”
 
The concert will feature orchestral works including the “Game of Thrones” orchestra suite, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” and “Symphonic Suite from Lord of the Rings."
 
Glenn Getty will be performing on theremin, an electronic musical instrument with a "spooky" sound.Joining the BCSO musicians are Jordan Hamilton on cello and Glenn Getty on theremin which is described as a “spooky instrument heard in the “Star Trek” theme and in some old sci-fi movies.”
 
In addition to playing the cello, Hamilton is also a vocalist, described as a “mix of mastery and maverick musicality; hip-hop influenced, rhythmically layered, melodically robust. Avant-garde, folk-soul music, a key to navigating space, time, and change, gracefully, for those who use it. Driven by diversity, drawn to the cello’s tone, cosmic strings calling souls home.”
 
He is a cellist with the Last Gasp Collective, an Indie music collective originating in Southwest Michigan, and also is a member of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He earned a Master’s degree in Musical Performance from Western Michigan University.
 
Cellist Jordan Hamilton will be performing with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 5Hamilton also was listed in the “New York Times” as six songs you should hear now. He is no stranger to Battle Creek and the Music Center which has hosted him numerous times for different events and activities.
 
The BCSO operates under the auspices of the Music Center.
 
“We put together this year's programming on the heels of the success of our 125^th anniversary season, feedback from our community, and research on audience trends nationwide,” Harrigan says. “We're finding that our concertgoers are very eclectic and like a variety of styles in our performances. I started with a theme for each concert, then identified guest artists and finally chose individual pieces of music. This year's themes are "Fantastic Beats", "American Veteran", "Holiday Magic" "Vivaldi by Candlelight" and "Dynamic Duo."
 
“Fantastic Beats” will offer audience members the opportunity to wear cosplay attire. as costumes are not only welcomed and celebrated with a prize drawing offering multiple gifts and a Grand Prize of a $100 Amazon gift card, says Susan Balbaugh, Executive Director of the Music Center.
 
Cosplay (a portmanteau of the words “costume” and “play”) is a hobby that is becoming more mainstream as nerd culture dominates more of people's media consumption. 
 
A storied history
 
The BCSO has deftly performed its way through two World Wars, the Spanish Flu epidemic, the Great Depression, and the more recent pandemic.

The Symphony’s ability to ride out moments in history that could have silenced it makes it, at 126 years old, the longest continuously operating orchestra in Michigan and the 18th oldest in the United States,” says Anne Harrigan, who this year begins her 21st season with the BCSO as its Music Director.
 
Anne Harrigan, Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra's Music DirectorHarrigan, the Symphony’s ninth conductor, has a reputation for presenting innovative and memorable programs which have included Battle Creek native and Broadway star Doug LaBrecque, a semi-staged production of Mozart’s Magic Flute, star cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and multimedia presentations of an aerialist, film scores, and Peter Boyer’s Grammy Award-nominated Ellis Island. 
 
She credits her parents with her out-of-the-box thinking and willingness to offer the unexpected.
 
“I am what's considered "first generation off of the farm." My parents forged their own way and encouraged all of their children to do the same,” Harrigan says. “Unlike many conductors, I didn't come from a family background of professional musicians, so I had no pre-existing expectations of what symphonic music was or should be. In my opinion, it's constantly evolving. As I heard from Chris Thile lately, "Tradition is innovation that sticks."

In November 2021, Harrigan conducted the orchestra in a concert version of the musical “Guys and Dolls” which featured a cast of artists who identified as People of Color.

CourtesyThe Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra's 125th season will feature five eclectic concerts.At the time, she said, “This concept had been eight years in the making. When I started talking about this, I looked up ‘Guys and Dolls’ and did a Google search and there was one artist of color in a white cast. I thought about doing it the other way around. What you’ll see in this production are two white artists with the rest of the cast being artists of color. It is a diverse cast."

In keeping with her commitment to bring unique experiences to the Symphony’s audiences, in March Harrigan conducted the musicians in a concert that featured some of the best Cirque de Soleil performers in the world. They executed combinations of strength and acrobatics, aerial silks, straps, a flying pole, and lyra all choreographed to — and over — live symphonic music, turning the concert into a three-dimensional entertainment extravaganza.

Time spent with the Cirque performers included a teaching moment for Harrigan.

“We started to see how they use their social media as a website,” she says. They shared with her that performing is their life and told her that social media plays a major role in their ability to secure performance opportunities and see the number of people following them.

“What was learned is now being incorporated into the Symphony’s social media and will continue to ramp up,” Harrigan says. “This is part of an overall effort to decrease the hesitancy some people feel about attending a concert and creating an atmosphere of accessibility and inclusion.”

Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra performs "Fantastic Beats" on Oct. 5.“The symphony was designed for everybody,” Harrigan says. “Mozart and Beethoven were not wealthy by any means. Somewhere along the way, the notion of the symphony became elitist. There was a period of time in the United States in which there was a separation between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots'. There was an elitist mentality and orchestra music got attached to that. Musicians are some of the poorest people on the planet and they love music. We’re trying to bring things back to the original intention of music.”

Along with overviews of each concert on the BCSO’s website, there is information for audience members that answers questions about the length of the concert, when it’s appropriate to clap, and what to wear.
 
These overtures are designed to remove any intimidation that people may feel, Harrigan says.
 
“Equity, diversity, and inclusion is one of the pillars of our strategic plan. It informs everything we do, from programming selections with artists of color to attracting orchestra musicians from many backgrounds to presenting diverse guest artists and programming music to appeal to a wide range of audience demographics,” Harrigan says. “Our goal is to normalize diversity.”
 
The “Fantastic Beats” symphony will be followed by “American Veteran” on November 2; “Holiday Joy” on December 14; “Vivaldi by Candlelight” on February 22; and “Dynamic Duo” on April 12. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. at Kellogg Auditorium. The entire season can be viewed here.
 
When asked which concerts she recommends for those who are only able to attend one or two, Harrigan says, “That's a tough one because every program is so unique. If you're really into movies, television, and video games, then "Fantastic Beats" is a great choice. However, if you want to hear two of the most charismatic classical musicians in the country, "Dynamic Duo" would be perfect for you. If you want a more intimate setting, then "Vivaldi by Candlelight" would be a great option. There's really no wrong decision - every concert is designed for the occasional concertgoer and the loyal audience member.”