If you have never been to a concert of LSU Symphony Orchestra, I advise you to give it a try this week — we are having a concert on Wednesday, March 3 at 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church in downtown Baton Rouge. Tickets are $5 for students and can be found at www.blacktie-louisiana.com.I understand you may not be much of a classical music person, and the only time you actually listen to an orchestra is in the background soundtrack of a movie. Or maybe you find orchestras fascinating and would love to go to concerts more often, but never really took action to attend one.Either way, I invite you to go because there are more reasons than just the classical music to see LSU Symphony in concert.LSU Symphony is composed of undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Music. These students are pursuing a career in orchestral playing — how weird is that? But what I really want to highlight is the fact that this orchestra is a well-painted portrayal of the international student community at LSU. There are musicians from Brazil (yes, I’m in it), Venezuela, Romania, Bulgaria, Honduras, Costa Rica and so on.I’m probably leaving out some countries here, but it was not my intention to have the precise number of nationalities involved. I think it’s remarkable that schools of music and orchestras in the U.S. give space for such diversity among their musicians. In the world of art music, the international boundaries become a virtual concept. Of course each country has its individuality, but when it comes to putting together more than 50 people with a musical goal, everybody belongs to the same territory, the vast wonderland of orchestral music.But, as with everything in life, there’s a side of this process that is not so fantastic. It is hard and demanding work to make so many different parts sound like a musical whole. Sometimes, when we see a beautiful house, we don’t think about the workers who built it and how many different materials and processes were necessary to bring the construction together. Well, bringing together a symphonic “building” demands hard and collaborative work from the musicians and leadership from the conductor — in this case, Venezuelan maestro and professor Carlos Riazuelo, an incredibly energetic and passionate figure, who spares no talent or effort to make LSU Symphony a strong university orchestra and a source of learning for the students.But a student orchestra has something else. I’m not trying to compare LSU Symphony to other professional orchestras in Baton Rouge or Louisiana, but there’s a different energy in the music made by young people who are striving to weave their hours of individual practice through the fabric of an orchestral piece. They are not just working, they are learning, trying to make it sound as professional as they can. When you go to the concert, remember the people on the stage producing that amazing sound are students just like you. All they want is to have a fun college life and succeed in their studies and careers.I am certain that LSU Symphony is one of the best things LSU has to offer to Baton Rouge and to the LSU community. Much more than a piece of entertainment, a strong and competent student orchestra is a symbol of the strength and beauty that reside in the knowledge a university can produce. Check it out. Come to the concert this Wednesday, close your eyes and enjoy.
Marcelo Vieira is 32-year-old a jazz cello graduate student from Brazil. Contact him at [email protected]
 
––
Contact Marco Vieira at [email protected]