How Scottsdale Philharmonic is bringing classical music 'to anyone and everyone'
Carl Reiter and Joy Partridge of the Scottsdale Philharmonic had been friends since college and were playing in another orchestra together when they started talking over lunch one day about how they would do things differently if they had their own symphony.
“We said, 'You know, this just isn’t being run right,’” Reiter says. “And we looked at each other and a little light bulb went off.”
As Partridge tells the story, “I said, 'Carl, we could do this, but here's the criteria.’”
First and foremost, Partridge says, she wanted it to be in Scottsdale, which didn’t have a symphony.
She also felt it was important that they play the sort of music that would fill a concert hall — with not just music but actual bodies.
“I said, ‘We have to play the greats, not unknowns or local composers,’” Partridge says. “It has to be music that has survived for hundreds of years that people still want to hear.’”
The third of her criteria was at the very core of what the Scottsdale Philharmonic would become.
“I said, 'Let's make it free,’” she says. “Our vision and our mission is to bring classical music to anyone and everyone.”
How Scottsdale Philharmonic went about recruiting talent
With those criteria in mind, they went to work assembling the musicians it would take to bring their dream to life, relying heavily on contacts from the string shop Reiter’s father ran for roughly 30 years in Phoenix.
“I can't take credit for that,” Reiter says. “It was my father's business. But he gave us the contacts we were able to use and get the orchestra going. They all came over to our house one day, we held auditions and that's how we got started.”
Once they got through what Reiter assumed was the final audition, he says, “The conductor looked at me and said, 'OK, it's your turn. Get your violin.' And he made me audition. It's funny because I was the one signing his paycheck.”
Reiter is the Scottsdale Philharmonic’s music director. Partridge runs the business side as its executive director.
Like Reiter, she also plays violin in the orchestra.
Scottsdale Philharmonic in its 12th season
Now in its 12th season, Scottsdale Philharmonic has started charging $20 per ticket while making free tickets available to students, veterans and children.
The nonprofit orchestra is funded almost exclusively through individual and corporate donations.
“For the first 10 years, all of our concerts were free,” Partridge says. “And we would get 1,600 to 1,800 people a concert, which was amazing. One time we did Beethoven's Ninth at Scottsdale Bible Church and we had 2,400 people show up.”
The heart of their mission remains to “let anyone come to a concert who wants to,” Partridge says. “We've never turned anybody away that I know of if we could make room.”
In recent years, the Philharmonic had been playing at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, which made the orchestra start selling tickets after its opening concert at the venue drew a crowd that far exceeded the capacity.
“We had an override of people, and it was a fire hazard,” Partridge says.
The concert that opened this season was held at the Madison Center for the Arts in Phoenix. The remaining concerts will be held at La Casa de Cristo Church in Scottsdale and North Canyon Performing Arts Center in Phoenix, both of which have a much larger capacity of 1,200.
“It's funny,” Reiter says. “Whatever the facility is, we seem to go to capacity. So we want to be as large as we can practically make work to reach more people.”
To Partridge, the attendance at their concerts speaks to the enduring popularity of the music.
“Everybody thinks classical music is not that popular,” she says. “But it's amazing how many people come to our concerts.”
They also livestream every concert at no charge.
“So we do have another conduit for spreading free classical music,” Partridge says.
'You're not going to have classical music if you don't give it to kids'
To Partridge and Reiter, making classical music available to everyone is vital to not just the survival of the music but to the quality of life in the community.
“It's all about bringing something to our community that's beautiful,” Partridge says.
It’s also about making music more available to young, impressionable minds.
“You're not going to have classical music if you don't give it to kids,” Reiter says. “Classical music is not something that the general population is just going to walk into for the first time and appreciate. It's something they have to be exposed to. And if you don't bring that to the youth, you're going to lose that culture in your community.”
The Scottsdale Philharmonic recently restarted its youth orchestra, which had fallen by the wayside during the pandemic.
“We're doing a statewide competition for students on solo instruments,” Reiter says. “And we're doing a workshop for all-state regionals to help prepare students. We're trying to be as involved as we can with young people.”
They’ve also been developing a children’s program to perform in local schools.
“They'll have an opportunity to see an orchestra performing 'Peter and the Wolf,' where it talks about the different instruments,” Partridge says. “It's about getting the program in place with the right school system. We're working right now on developing that, where children will see a full concert. You have to go beyond what a public school can do in a classroom setting.”
There’s a high school student playing in the Scottsdale Philharmonic this season.
“He's studying privately with our principal cello,” Reiter says. “And that's going to help mentor him in becoming a musician for the rest of his life.”
As Partridge says, “It's been proven that children who get involved in classical music or any music program, when they're in elementary school or high school, a majority of them will go on to college and professional careers. It seems to stimulate the mind.”
There are doctors and lawyers, for example, playing in the Scottsdale Philharmonic.
“We have lots of professional people that have been playing all their life,” Partridge says. “Music is thrilling and, for a lot of people, an important part of life.”
Partridge played in the orchestra at Cortez High School in the ‘60s.
“It's kind of funny,” she says. “I graduated with Vince Furnier, who you may know as Alice Cooper. I was in the orchestra there in the classical arts program. And he was practicing his band in a garage. So two people from the same school go off in different directions. He becomes world famous and I start a symphony.”
'This is the strongest orchestra we’ve ever had'
A lot of the professionally trained musicians in the Scottsdale Philharmonic volunteer their time and effort. Some are paid. But everybody puts in the work it takes to make these concerts shine.
“This is the strongest orchestra we’ve ever had,” Reiter says. “At our opening concert, I had 13 cellos. I had 13 first violins and every one of those violinists could have served as concert master. They're all excellent players. It humbles me when I look at these people.”
Reiter keeps those musicians in mind when he programs the concerts.
“I can't choose something where half the orchestra doesn't have any music to play if a piece just uses strings or leaves out a bunch of brass players,” he says. “Because the musicians get bored. So I have to pick Romantic-style music that involves everybody.”
As for keeping the people who pack those concert halls happy?
“I try to make it recognizable when possible, so they can relate to it,” Reiter says.
The Philharmonic’s next concert is Sunday, Nov. 12, at La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church in Scottsdale. The program includes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture and Herbert’s “Ah Sweet Mystery of Life.”
“The Phoenix Symphony has so many concerts, they have to play the entire repertoire,” Reiter says. “We only have a few concerts, so we take the cream of the crop, the most popular classical music.”
Scottsdale Philharmonic
When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12.
Where: La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church, 6300 E. Bell Road, Scottsdale.
Admission: $20; free for students, children and veterans.
Details: scottsdalephilharmonic.com.
Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Scottsdale Philharmonic is making classical music for everyone
