Sitka Community Orchestra, an inter-generational ensemble, is playing its annual concert at the Performing Arts Center, 7 p.m. Friday night.
Admission is free for the orchestra’s hour-long performance of music that span different centuries of orchestral music. Local musicians will be playing strings, brass, woodwind and percussion instruments in the performance.
The concert will begin with chorale pieces from the Baroque Period, SCO Director Drew Larson said. The orchestra will then transport audiences to the Classical Period with Beethoven, compositions from the Romantic period, and ending with a 20th-century musical theater piece.
Larson says the ensemble stands out because it features local musicians of all ages.
“Whenever you have a group that’s across-ages, the people who want to be there are there because they really love what they’re doing,” Larson said in a recent interview.
Sitka Community Orchestra started several decades ago, originally as a youth orchestra.
Over the years, the organization has morphed into an ensemble of 35 members of all ages, from middle schoolers to retirees.
Larson said that since he took on the role of director in 2020, he’s seen more adults have joined the orchestra.
Following the pandemic, "people are just looking for a way to engage with one another not through electronics … especially through the dark days of winter,” Larson said
He said the low-stress environment creates a welcoming, positive atmosphere and a connected community.
Sitka Community Orchestra meets every Tuesday, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., from mid-January to late-April.
Anyone interested in joining next year can contact the Sitka Parks and Recreation Division — or show up on the first day of rehearsal with a bow and a smile or a horn and a grin.
