Symphony ready to move into renovated home

There's no place like home - just ask the Richmond Symphony.

After five seasons of playing "on the road," musicians, staff and support personnel are looking forward to their return to downtown Richmond and a renovated concert hall in which to play.

The renovation of the Carpenter Center - which has gone through several fits and starts since the work began in 2004 - is almost complete. The Carpenter Theatre is set to reopen in September as part of the Richmond CenterStage performing-arts center.

While the symphony will not be the only fine-arts element to benefit from the new center, it will perhaps be the most deserving.

Having played at a number of venues - mostly churches - the past five years, the orchestra has had to provide its own stage, as well as move equipment such as music stands, kettle and bass drums, bells and other percussion equipment by truck. And while the orchestra has sometimes made its way through snow, sleet and rain to get to these venues, it hasn't missed a show.

"We are extraordinarily grateful to the churches for letting us use their buildings for concerts," said David Fisk, executive director of the symphony. "Because we've been going out into the community, we've seen people coming who didn't necessarily attend our concerts when we played downtown."

While the Masterworks and Pops series will move back downtown, the chamber series, now known as the Metro Collection, will continue at various venues, including the Modlin Center, Collegiate School, Bon Air Baptist Church and KingsWay Community Church. And the orchestra still plans to use Blackwell Auditorium at Randolph-Macon College for its Sunday afternoon repeat performances of these works.

For the final Pops concert in March, the orchestra will feature renowned trumpet player Arturo Sandoval. And in April it will be joined by Gil Shaham, one of the world's greatest violin players.

For those young in age (and at heart), there will be three Saturday-morning concerts in the new LolliPops series, which will be at 11 a.m. and will be preceded at 10 a.m. by an instrument petting zoo where youngsters can visit with the musicians and get some hands-on experience with various instruments. Associate conductor Erin Freeman will conduct these as well as several other concerts and the annual performance of Handel's "Messiah."

Three Masterworks concerts and several of the other events will feature the final three conductor candidates for the orchestra's music-director position: Alastair Willis, Christian Knapp and Arthur Fagen.

Fisk said the orchestra will move as swiftly as possible to name its new music director after the last candidate's performance.

Freeman, who is entering her third year as the orchestra's associate conductor and music director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus, is looking forward to the season.

"I've never conducted at the Carpenter Theatre or even heard the symphony there," Freeman said. "But I think it's wonderful that the players now have a place to call home. Moving from venue to venue has been somewhat difficult, because each place produces its own sound and the players have to adjust to that. Here they will have steady acoustical surroundings, more room, dressing rooms, lockers to store their instruments and clothing if they wish. And on a day when we have multiple rehearsals, they can go out to dinner at a number of nearby restaurants.

"Also, the youth orchestras will be able to perform at the Carpenter Theatre," Freeman said. "That's going to be huge for them because they've been rehearsing and performing mostly in high school auditoriums for the past five years."

A trained musician and veteran listener can understand the difference acoustics make.

"Early in the process, CenterStage hired JaffeHolden as acousticians to be sure the elements all were in place to provide the best possible sound," Fisk said. "And they will be fine-tuning the process up until the last moment. We will be working with JaffeHolden in the weeks leading up to the opening to be sure that all has been done to provide the proper acoustical setting."

While it's been a long five-season odyssey that the orchestra has endured, Fisk is proud of the musicians and staff.

"When we reach the end of this season, the first thing we will do is raise a glass of champagne to thank all of those who have made it possible for us to survive these five years," Fisk said.

"When we were planning ahead for this, I went to someone who is viewed as sort of a guru in this profession to get some advice about what to do as we moved forward. I asked him: 'What would you do if you were me?' He said: 'Forget it. You can't do it. No orchestra can survive without a home for five years.'

"We're like a swan," Fisk said. "It looks smooth on the surface, but underneath there's been a lot of paddling going on."

Contact Walt Amacker at (804) 649-6247 or .