Youth orchestra passing the baton

SANDPOINT — After nearly 10 years instructing the Festival at Sandpoint Youth Strings Orchestra, Beth Weber is passing the baton to music instructor Karen Dignan.

"I am very excited," Dignan said. "Beth has built and amazing program."

Dignan, in fact, had the idea to start the orchestra 11 years ago. After all the details were sorted out, Weber took over while Dignan spent the years raising her six children, three of whom have been in the orchestra and one more ready to join this year. Weber said she has had two grandchildren and a daughter who participate in the orchestra as well. 

When she took on the job, Weber said she thought "all along" that Dignan would be taking over. At almost 70 years old and living in Cocolalla, Weber said she is finding it more difficult to direct the early morning classes in Sandpoint.

"So I just thought, 'Well maybe she is ready,' and she said yes," Weber said. "And the Festival is happy about that arrangement, too," Weber said.

Dignan started playing fiddle in Sandpoint about 35 years ago in a program called the "Fiddler's Hatchery," and went on to get a college degree in music education. She has taught general music, band and choir. She briefly conducted a youth orchestra in the Seattle area before coming back to Sandpoint. She taught strings at the Sandpoint Waldorf School and directed the Sandpoint fiddle camp for 10 years while raising her children. Most recently, she is co-director for the Lady of the Lake family camp.

"So I have been involved in music for a long time," she said.

Dignan said she was invited to Festival meeting 11 years ago where a group of music teachers were discussing what to do for youth and music in Sandpoint. After growing up in Sandpoint, Dignan said the one thing missing in the local schools is string instruments. There has not been string instruction in the schools since the 1970s, Weber said.

"There were so many string teachers and so many string players in town and they didn't have a place to go," Dignan said.

It took a couple years to figure everything out and organize the string ensemble, she said, but it has since flourished. One of the things the orchestra needed that was difficult to acquire was cellos and cello teachers.

"That instrument was very expensive," Dignan said. "It's not something that you would just experiment with, with no teacher and no group to play with, but to have a string orchestra, you need that bottom sound, you need that bigger instrument sound."

The Festival invested in 10 cellos that are available for youth in the community to rent for a "very, very low price," Dignan said. The Festival also invested in sheet music for the orchestra, which is also costly at about $50-$75 per piece. The Festival ensures the director is paid, and helped find a space for the program. Partnering with Lake Pend Oreille School District, the class is what Weber called the "zero hour" class, two mornings per week at Sandpoint Middle School. 

Weber said the Festival provided all these things for the orchestra, but they also make it so it is free for the students. On average, 20-25 students between the ages of 7 to adult attend the morning classes.

"It's a youth orchestra predominantly, but there are adults who are young at their music education, so they've joined us," Weber said.

The students work toward two big concerts a year, one in mid-December and one in mid-May. The youth orchestra does not perform during the Festival, but some of the more advanced students go on to pass an audition for the summer orchestra. This year, Weber said, four students who started their orchestral experience in the youth orchestra performed in the Festival's summer orchestra. Some also go on to the more advanced youth orchestras, such as the Spokane Youth Orchestra.

"This ensemble is actually the most advanced string ensemble in town," Dignan said. "It's a neat opportunity ... They develop the skills that they can go on and be in even more advanced orchestras that don't exist in Sandpoint."

All ages and levels are welcome to join the youth orchestra, which is solely for string instruments at this time — no wind instruments.

The youth orchestra starts Sept. 13, and registration is open and is free. To register, contact Dignan at sandpointfiddle@gmail.com. Anyone who would like to help sponsor the program should contact the Festival at 208-265-4554.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.