(Havre) – On Thursday November 9th the MSU-Northern Community Orchestra will be hosting a jazz concert at the MSU-Northern Little Theater. New Media Broadcasters sat down with Rhonda Minnick director of the Orchestra for MSU-N community Orchestra and asked if fewer people were learning instruments in the area.
“Well, I don’t necessarily think that the case but like where the bass player comes in, we needed to have somebody that could play bass and read music which a lot of bass players are just playing by ear and so that makes it a bit of a challenge. It just depends now string instruments we don’t teach those in the Havre Public Schools so the only time we have people who play string instruments are people who have either moved here, or you know have worked on their own. That’s why it’s kind of hard to recruit for a whole orchestra. but all of the instruments that are in the jazz band right now those are instruments that people have played in their high school years and what not.”
We also asked if the Jazz Band was a part of or in partnership with MSU-N.
“So, it is offered for credit for those who need to take it as a matter-of-fact High School Kids can take it for dual credit and college kids can take it of course. And it’s offered for the community to participate so it is sponsored by the college in the respect that they offer us a space to practice, and they pay my salary we look for donations to do the rest which means acquiring music printing our program, posters things like that, that we have to have a budget for that.”
