CityView Magazine

30 | April 2016 Symphony in the Spring art BY TAYLOR AUBE M usic is a powerful medium that can touch the hearts and minds of eve- ryone- no matter their race, religion or gender. Celebrating the history of music and continuing the excellence of art is the role many symphonies play in their commu- nities. e Cape Fear region is home to the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, whose mission is "to educate, to entertain and to inspire." Christine Kastner, the CEO of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, was kind enough to speak to CityView about the values and visions this magical group of musicians bring to our community. e Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra is the oldest arts agency in Fayetteville. It was founded in 1956 by a group of community volunteers and began as a community orchestra, but is now a regional professional orchestra. e orchestra puts on five major concerts a season: two chamber concerts at St. John's Episcopal Church, a fall concert series at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden and a free Memorial weekend concert in Festival Park. Kast- ner explained her vision for the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, "as part of our strategic planning process, the board, the staff and the musicians worked together to develop a vision for FSO to become the leading musical resource for our region of North Carolina through con- certs, education programs and community outreach." e symphony truly goes above and beyond to bring a unique piece of culture to the Cumberland County area. It may seem that today's youth have lost touch with classical music. Tablets and iPods have taken the place of violins and flutes. Music lessons have become a nui- sance to teenagers and an average high schooler prob- ably hasn't heard of Chopin, but can easily sing every song on the radio. e key word here is seem. Although the style of symphonic music is discounted among the younger generation, the FSO is sealing that gap and cre- ating more opportunities for the youth to both learn and play instruments. Kastner said, "In the area of mu- sic education, we work in the Head Start program, with Cumberland County third graders and in the middle schools and high schools mentoring band and orchestra students. We started a youth orchestra in the fall of 2014 and will be setting up an instrument lending library over the summer. We also provide a summer camp for rising eighth graders through college level musicians. is is not a general band or orchestra camp, but rather is an in-depth camp which provides individualized instruc- tion, master classes and small and large ensemble work." The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra's Exciting New Plans Photography by Matthew Wonderly

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