By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
After a year on the sidelines due to the COVID pandemic, the St. Joseph Symphony returned to the stage over the weekend.
New director Chris Kelts says it good to be back…and the musicians showed it. In his first week, the symphony took up a common piece of music, one that most musicians might shake their heads at, but there was none of that this time.
"I think because we've been trying to navigate this pandemic, there was not a feeling of that at all," Kelts tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "Not in the sound, not in the execution, it was exciting, I mean it was just so exciting, people were playing like they were excited."
Kelts also in his first week got the opportunity to meet with patrons of the symphony, as well as being a guest conductor for Benton High Schools orchestra class.
"They played for me and I was able to get in front of them and talk about different string techniques and ideas and try things," Kelts says. "I made them sing, they always look at me the same way any orchestra, I say could you sing that back to me, they have that look of I did not join this class to sing, but they do they try it, they try it and they get get excited and we laugh."
The symphony opened its 2021-22 season on Saturday for Kelts's directorial debut. Kelts and the Symphony will return to the stage on December 18th for the Holiday Cheer performance.
You can find more information on the St. Joseph Symphony HERE.