The viola player of the OLLI Orchestra gives voice | Entertainment

The OLLI Orchestra has been performing since 1978. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) adopted the group in 2005. Musicians live locally and pay a fee to join the group. OLLI is multigenerational. The youngest musician this year is 12; the oldest is in his 80s.

Geraldo teaches English and music at Sierra Academy for Expeditionary Learning, a college preparatory high school in Nevada City. He conducts a two-week music intensive that includes exploration of genres.

Geraldo is the only member of the family who can play music, and he has played the violin since the third grade. His family bought a violin in installments. “The day I came home from high school and told my mom I wanted to switch to viola, I remember the look of shock on her face. She had just paid the final payment on the violin. It started a new payment plan.”

He continued to play the viola. “I like being useful. The viola provides the body for the orchestra. I really like the sound of the viola.” He still has the first violin. “I occasionally take it out for experiments.”

“OLLI was the only formal music venue where I was a student,” Geraldo said. “Music is just right for my level. Every semester, there is a piece that challenges me and forces me to practice something that I may have forgotten. To get into that state and really feel it in the hard parts – I wouldn’t use it in exchange for the world.”

Geraldo had two answers to the question of what brought him the most pleasure. “First and foremost, it’s community, getting together with other people who are strangers at first. Everyone is kind and happy to be there. All of us are there because we want to be there.”

Second, he said, “As a full-time teacher, I work with teens all day. During two hours of rehearsals at night, I was in a different space that was isolated from the world. I locked down. I was there just for the music. The setup at OLLI allowed for that to happen in a stress-free way. That time was sacred.”

Maestro Wayland Whitney, maestro of the OLLI Orchestra, is a professional viola player. He reports more inside jokes about the viola player than any other musician. He quipped: “How do you keep your violin from being stolen? Put it in the viola case.”

The viola joke originated in the eighteenth century. At that time, the viola was mainly used for relatively simple parts and accompaniment. Find hundreds of viola jokes online, but don’t tell the viola player—they’ve all heard it, Whitney cautions with a smile. “The only thing a violinist does better than a viola player? Playing the viola.”

OLLI Orchestra viola player Sophia Roach started off as a violinist. “I switched to viola within two months of starting violin. The violin was too high-pitched for me,” she said. “I’m glad I switched. The viola is a very special instrument.” She has been playing bass and viola at OLLI since 2017.

Sophia said: “I really enjoyed playing with OLLI. When we rehearsed together, I was so happy to hear how wonderful it sounded. I just had to smile.

“In fact, everyone seemed happy to be there. The atmosphere was very peaceful.”

OLLI’s spring concert is dedicated to violinist Joyce Berthiaume, now retired from the orchestra. “I’ve been in an orchestra since I was six,” she said. “That’s 80 years of violin playing!” She and her late husband, Dan Berthiaume, joined the band shortly after moving here in 1999. The Orchestra is grateful for Dan’s long-term tenure as Principal Trumpet Chair and for the musicianship of Anne Callaway, who passed away this year. She played flute in orchestras for nearly twenty years.

The OLLI Orchestra’s “Mozart, Mason, and More” concert will be held on Sunday, May 7th at 2pm in the Sierra College Multipurpose Hall, 250 Sierra College Dr., Grass Valley. Parking is free and there will be a sign entrance pointing to multi-purpose room N12 in the academy.Although the concert is free, you Must register for ticket purchase. Tickets are limited.Visit the OLLI Orchestra website www.olliorchestra.org Get full concert details and links to free tickets.