MUSKEGON, Mich. — The West Michigan Symphony is returning to performances with an in-person audience at the Frauenthal Center in Muskegon Friday, Nov. 5.
The "Beethoven and Blue Jeans" performance will feature the West Michigan debut of violinist Randall Goosby, the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Auditions winner.
"Just seeing the marquee and seeing our name up there again for the first time in such a long time is exciting," said the symphony's executive director and CEO Andrew Buelow. “We're so looking forward to having our audiences back."
Symphony members stayed busy during the 20-month break from performing to in-person audiences.
“During that entire period we've been performing virtually online for our subscribers and for as many people as we could get to join us for that," Buelow said.
"The audience is part of our extended family," said the symphony's music director Scott Speck. Friday's grand reopening is a chance for symphony members to again feed off the energy an in-person audience brings to a performance.
"The orchestra feels it,” Speck said. “50% of the energy in a concert comes from the audience itself."
The "Beethoven and Blue Jeans" performance is also a chance for the symphony to eliminate a "perceived" barrier that some community members believe you have to dress up to see the symphony.
"We feel strongly that classical music is for everyone," Speck said. "It brings in a whole new group of people who then experience the orchestra for the first time and then they want to come back."
Tickets for Friday's performance are $25 - $62 for adults, and student tickets are $10.
The WMS has created a new Safe Nights at the Symphony health policy for indoor gatherings. This includes providing proof of vaccination, with the last dose administered at least 14 days before concert admission. Unvaccinated patrons will be admitted with a negative COVID-19 test administered within 72 hours of each concert. Masks will be required regardless of vaccination status while Muskegon County's transmission risk remains at substantial or high, according to the CDC’s system. Children under the minimum age for vaccination are welcome with face covering masks and proof of a negative test.
In August the WMS launched the Play Your Part campaign to raise $5 million to expand the symphony's endowment and support its music education program for underserved youth.
More information can be found at West Michigan Symphony.
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