ABOVE: Members of Summer Symphony rehearse Thursday evening at Fairmont Elementary School under the direction of Katie Hoaglund. The group will perform this coming Monday night at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– A Summer Symphony will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, July 10 at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont. This is the third year the community performance will take place.

Katie Hoaglund is the orchestra teacher for the Fairmont Area School District and also the director of Summer Symphony. She explained that the concept stemmed from a grant that the school district received in 2018 from The Schmeeckle Foundation which allowed the district to purchase new band and orchestra instruments.

“Part of the idea for the grant was that instruments could be used by community members as well so a community orchestra was a really natural extension of that,” Hoaglund said.

Summer Symphony has continued to grow year after year. It’s open to anyone in the community entering grade 8 through adult who wants to play. Hoaglund said there is a good mix of students and adults.

“I’ve been seeing more and more alumni come back. They’ve been to college and are back in town for the summer and jumping in to play with us,” Hoaglund said.

It’s free to play but people were asked to register ahead of time through Fairmont Community Education and Recreation and 42 people ended up registering.

The group began practicing in the orchestra room at Fairmont Elementary School on June 12 and has tried to meet twice a week to practice.

At the end of last year, Hoaglund said she asked for suggestions and that many of the pieces they’re playing this year are requests from members. There is both movie music and classic pieces and all different kinds of instruments including strings, brass and woodwind. While most people bring their own instruments, they have some on hand for people to use if they don’t own one.

The orchestra will play four pieces and there will be one solo by Fiona Green.

“It’s so cool to see people of all ages and experience levels working together,” Hoaglund said.

This year she said there’s a mother-daughter team, a set of triplets and several friends participating.

Hoaglund said that practices were purposely scheduled around Fairmont City Band performances in case anyone want to participate in both. There is, however, some overlap between Summer Symphony and the pit orchestra for The Fairmont Opera House’s summer play: “The Sound of Music.” Hoaglund is co-directing the pit orchestra for that along with Molly Bleess.

“Between the three opportunities there’s a lot of community members involved,” Hoaglund said.

One person, Ethan Grunewald, a Fairmont High School graduate, is in all three.

“I’ve been very grateful for the range of musical opportunities Fairmont has during the summer,” Grunewald said.

He’s been in Fairmont City Band for a number of years and said there’s nowhere else in town that someone can show up, rehearse and then perform alongside such experienced musicians and that he appreciates the constructive environment.

“As far as Summer Symphony, I’ve found it to be one of the most accepting musical environments for people with differing levels of experience on their instruments and a great place to learn,” Grunewald said.

While he mainly plays the saxophone, he’s been able to play clarinet and bass clarinet with Summer Symphony.

Hoaglund said she hopes that Summer Symphony can continue each year moving forward.

“As long as people want to play, I’ll hang out with them,” she said with a laugh. “We’re always looking for people to join so if they’re interested, they can get on the list for next year and we’ll loop them in.”