Name: Fire and Passion!
Start: 2023-02-11T19:00:00
Location: Alexandria Area High School Performing Arts Center

Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra

Funded in part by a grant from the Lakes Region Arts Council, young musicians from area high school orchestras spent the day learning from and playing alongside members of the Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra. The concert collaboration began with this intergenerational orchestra playing Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, No. 9 “Nimrod.” Supposedly, Elgar (1857-1934) was daydreaming at the piano when a melody he played caught the attention of his wife, who liked it and asked him to repeat it for her. To entertain her, he began to improvise variations on this melody. He eventually expanded and orchestrated these improvisations into the Enigma Variations. The enigma lies in the original theme which is never stated and may not even be a musical theme. Much discussion has ensued to find the theme, but it hasn’t been discovered and Elgar never let on.