Like many wonderful towns, Walla Walla is home to a fabulous symphony orchestra. How lucky we are, and since 1907, no less!
Music: Can it save the world? Yes, but only if we permit. . .The Walla Walla Symphony, minutes before the concert commenced, February 3, 2026.
Wow, that’s a really long time ago!
Back when our grandpas were 10-year-olds and our grandmas were toddlers, 9! Nearly 120 years later the Walla Walla Symphony is still going strong, currently under the guidance of music director and conductor Dina Gilbert. She’s an incredible, energetic presence, truly electric and innovative in her role. If you have a chance to see her work, take it! I believe we are the luckiest town of 30,000 +/- on earth to have her. You can read about her amazing achievements here:
https://wwsymphony.org/music-director-conductor
Quite impressive.
So true, Lily. Dina Gilbert certainly deserves to have many blogs written about her, but today I’m exploring a tangent that occurred to me during the February 3rd concert.
A realization came to me at intermission. I recognized many of the people milling around in the lobby. In cities this size it’s pretty easy to know who favors which side of the political fence. Town is predominately conservative, but there is also a strong representation of those with liberal points of view (of which I am one).
The realization is this: even though our country seems to be in an unprecedented political divide, people from all sides of the political spectrum had come together in this concert hall to experience live orchestral music. People were having perfectly civil interactions with each other, sipping wine, waiting in long lines at the restrooms. No one was screaming or yelling or accusing. An atmosphere of mutual respect, or at least of mutual tolerance, had magically enveloped these few hours in honor of artistic beauty.
I then extended this thinking to the members of the orchestra, 48 of them according to the program. Many live in Walla Walla, but others come from other cities in Washington, and probably some from Oregon and Idaho, too. These 48 musicians came together to create a gorgeous offering of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Elegia Andina and Carmen Suite by Rodion Shchedrin, regardless their individual political views.
So playing in an orchestra took priority over personal biases and opinions?
Exactly, Lily. They gave their energy to art instead of conflict.
The second half of the program featured guest artists OKAN, musicians of Afro-Cuban ancestry who blend chants and rhythms from that heritage with jazz, classical and indie pop. Their music, some of it backed by the full symphony, was irresistibly beat-driven yet played with incredible nuance and mastery. The four OKAN musicians are Cuban-Canadians, classically trained from childhood at a Cuban music conservatory that was the opposite of the ‘hood they lived in day-to-day. The front person of the group, vocalist and violinist extraordinaire Elizabeth Rodriguez, shared some of their history and credited her studies at the conservatory with literally saving her life when she was a teen. I doubt anyone in the audience, regardless of personal views about immigration, was left unmoved.
Music: February 3, 2026 program, featuring guest artists OKAN.
Plus, a handful of us couldn’t resist the invitation to dance in the aisles!
That’s worse than Mom tap dancing at the grocery store!
A badge I wear with honor, 9.
Hey, people, it doesn’t have to be a world filled with divisiveness and hate! In the concert hall of your mind (an image you can superimpose on any shared space you enter), check your fear, anger and biases at the door.
Keep your eyes on the prize of the beautiful things we can create and enjoy together.
