As concert-goers streamed up the hillside to the overlook at the John C. Stennis Lock and Dam Saturday evening, waves of undulating heat rose from the ground, relentless, unforgiving.
The reward went to those who persevered.
The timing could not have been more carefully orchestrated. The American Wind Symphony Orchestra took the stage as the sun began its slow decline, and as the first strains of music rang out across the water, the sky blushed the palest of pinks, painting the Tennessee-Tombigbee in a palette of silvered lavender.
Some speculated that the temperatures, which soared to nearly 100 degrees earlier in the day, kept the predicted throng of more than 10,000 people away, leaving only around 2,000 of the area’s most determined music lovers to enjoy the free concert by the internationally-acclaimed group.
The effect was an almost intimate gathering in the vast open space, more like that of a concert hall than an outdoor amphitheater.
Glenn Lautzenhiser mingled with the crowd, periodically wiping his sweat-drenched face with an equally sweat-drenched T-shirt. As one of the event organizers, Lautzenhiser arrived at 3 p.m. to help with setup, so by the time the concert began, he was exhausted.
No matter. This was the moment he had waited for and he wasn’t about to miss it. His eyes glowed as he talked about his interactions with the young musicians earlier in the week.
The majority of the orchestra is comprised of 45 young people in their late teens or early 20s hailing from around the world, brought together to create a vision — and an aural amalgamation — of perfect harmony.
For most people in the crowd, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see something that seemed like it might have sprang from an Isaac Asimov novel. A 195-foot-long sleek, silver barge, sliding quietly into town and docking alongside the river bank. Then smoothly, ever so smoothly, the cracking open of the vessel’s top shell, sliding back to reveal a stage equipped with pedestal seats for an entire orchestra.
Though the concert is the highlight of the group’s stop, much of its contributions are largely unseen — in the hallways and homes of young musicians in every city they visit.
Music education is important to director and maestro Robert Boudreau, and Lautzenhiser said local students benefited greatly this week from Boudreau’s commitment and the orchestra’s generosity. They met several times and shared tips, both one-on-one and in small groups.
It was an experience area high schoolers won’t soon forget, Lautzenhiser said. It was an experience he won’t soon forget either. Emotionally moving, he said. That’s the only way he could describe watching the accomplished musicians teach their young protégés and hearing them play together.
Many members of Saturday evening’s crowd were equally enthralled.
Paul Steven David and his wife, Martha David, saw the orchestra perform in Columbus a little more than a decade ago. They loved it so much, this time they decided to bring their granddaughter, eight-year-old Mary Kathryn David. Other grandchildren were expected to join them.
It was also a family affair for Mamie and Charlie Brown, who clutched hand-held mist-fans as they sat beneath umbrellas alongside Mamie Brown’s brother, Robert Fulton, and his wife, Janice Fulton.
The four traveled to Columbus from Brooksville for what Janice Fulton praised as a unique cultural experience for the Golden Triangle.
In the parking lot behind the crowd, vendors sold everything from shaved ice to hotdogs and hamburgers, though the shaved ice and homemade ice cream seemed most popular. Members of the Columbus East Lions Club sold chicken and sausage gumbo.
Of course, you can’t please all of the people all of the time, and the classical music won its share of fans and critics among the younger set.
Two young sisters, ages 5 and 2, pirouetted, half-serious and half-giggling, as the orchestra played a few movements of George Frideric Handel’s “Water Music.”
Nearby, five-year-old Dustin Golinski firmly clamped his headphones over his ears and played an electronic game. He emerged from his diversion just long enough to give his response to culture, putting his fingers to his ears and sticking out his tongue.
At least his parents, Rick and Tracy Golinski, enjoyed the show.
On the outskirts of the park, children frolicked on the playground and fathers and sons played basketball. Mothers rocked babies and a chorus of cicadas joined the evening serenade.
And in the distance, the orchestra played on.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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