Community Orchestra becomes ECSU Albemarle Symphony Orchestra
Kesha Williams
November 17, 2005 A string of public performances in the last year gave the ECSU/Albemarle Community Orchestra the kind of publicity their conductor, Dr. Michael Weaver, hoped for. Performances such as the downtown Harbor Nights series, the Farm-City Banquet, "Handle’s Messiah" with the Evelyn Johnson Singers, Business After Hours, an Elizabeth City Chamber of Commerce event, and the Christ Episcopal Church concert series placed students in positions to learn important lessons. "They learned how to work in the profession–the business of playing different jobs, how to make the contact, how to put the group together, how to organize their music, how to time it and how to present it. I talk with them about those things." Dr. Weaver said. "Our primary goal for the orchestra was to make it a symphony orchestra, including winds, brass and percussion (sections) which we’ve accomplished." On November 18, that symphony orchestra made its debut in the Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center. Now the orchestra has a new name, the ECSU Albemarle Symphony Orchestra. They performed "Rondo" by Charles Jones, a resident of Hertford who has published and sold his compositions. This composition was written especially for the ECSU Albemarle Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Weaver said his next goals for the orchestra are to present more music written by African American composers and to increase the number of performances in the 21 surrounding counties.