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Music Next Door

The William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series

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What is it like to attend a Neighborhood Concert? You'll enter and take a seat of your choosing, just a few feet away from the action on stage. Come early and watch the musicians stroll in carrying instruments hundreds of years old. A jumble of sounds will arise as they tune and practice, transforming into a symphony when the conductor takes takes his place on the podium and the show begins.

Throughout the Neighborhood Series, founded in 2010, the orchestra travels to play programs in seven communities across Metro Detroit – Southfield, Grosse Pointe, Plymouth, Clinton Township, Beverly Hills, Bloomfield Hills, and West Bloomfield.

The series was conceived to expand the reach of the DSO by taking the symphony experience out into communities. What started as a hopeful experiment fraught with potential risk—could a world-class sound be achieved outside Orchestra Hall?—has evolved into a series much anticipated by patrons, which irreversibly broadened the DSO's definition of music accessibility.

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Attending a Neighborhood Concert is an opportunity to get close enough to the music to see every section playing, among an intimate audience of patrons gaining priceless perspective on what it means for the entire orchestra to join together. And you'll likely see lots of friendly musicians, greeting patrons and answering their questions.

Setup for a Neighborhood Concert begins seven hours before showtime, with the stage crew at Orchestra Hall loading everything from basses to percussion instruments on a truck that then travels to the day's concert location.

Every venue is unique, with its own history and sound to discover, and each is a reflection of the specific Metro Detroit community it was built in.

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Now in its ninth season, the 2018-2019 Neighborhood Series will include 28 performances. Opening and closing week of the Series, arrive early for a pre-concert talk, included in your ticket fee. Presented by a music expert, talks provide information and anecdotes which make the work on the program resonate even deeper.

Single tickets and subscriptions are available, and subscribers receive the perk of attending William Davidson Chamber Recitals for free. Concert dates and program information are available online at: dso.org/neighborhood

"A friend and I attended [the Tchaikovsky "Little Russian" program] in the Southfield venue, and I can tell you that I have NEVER been moved to tears by a classical music performance like this. I personally have only seen someone 'feel' the music in the manner that [guest cellist] Edgar Moreau did a handful of times. For me, that was as much of a wonderful experience as the music was itself.

During the intermission, we were talking to the couple seated in front of us and I looked at the gentleman and said: 'What a ride, eh?' He replied that it was a perfect way of explaining the performance. It was an honor to be in that kind of presence. We were both wiping our eyes, as were those around us.

The DSO has much to be proud of; this touring [series] is nothing short of amazing. Thank you for putting this kind of thing on for us!"

-DSO patron, Bill Schmidt

 

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