Director Kim Randinelli leads the Auburn Community Orchestra in a recent performance at the James Cultural Plaza in downtown Auburn. The orchestra will return to the plaza for a concert Aug. 19.
AUBURN — The new DeKalb County Community Orchestra is practicing this summer, preparing for a public performance next month.
Instructors Kim Randinelli and Linda Kummernuss started the orchestra program two years ago to fill a gap.
“You’d be amazed how many people in town play stringed instruments,” Randinelli said.
“We have a lot of kids in this community who take private lessons, but don’t have an opportunity for ensemble playing.
The orchestra program began rehearsals on Sunday afternoons in Auburn Presbyterian Church. Over the course of two school years, it has grown to more than two dozen member.
For its second season, grants and sponsorships from the James Foundation, DeKalb's VOICE and individual donors made it possible for the program to be free of charge.
“It was really very phenomenal that we have a community that supported this group,” Randinelli said.
DeKalb's VOICE grant paid for a Fort Wayne Philharmonic professional musician to visit the program once a month to instruct bass and cello players.
To wrap up its second season, the orchestra program presented a concert in June at the James Cultural Plaza in downtown Auburn.
Heading into year three, the program has expanded into three segments.
DeKalb County beginning orchestra class, the DeKalb County intermediate orchestra class for those who have played for a year or longer, and the DeKalb County Community Orchestra for advanced players.
The new orchestra, which will perform in public, counts approximately 14 members, about half of whom are adults.
The orchestra will play Aug. 19 at 11:30 a.m. at the James Cultural Plaza during a community celebration of the arts.
“Within three years, we’ve got three groups,” Randinelli said. “We’re very excited about this.”
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