News from the Noteworthy from Fenimore Chamber Orchestra

On the High Quality of Music Making

It seems amazing that Fenimore Chamber Orchestra played its first concert series in August 2021 in performances that, at the time, caused a high degree of anticipation. We are happy to say that our concerts are now a highly anticipated part of the artistic fabric of Cooperstown and the surrounding area. What began as a mere idea from three of us has turned into a world class orchestral institution. From the very beginning, it has been our firm belief that music inspires and uplifts the human spirit. Beverly Sills once averred that a great symphony orchestra and a great opera company are hallmarks of a civilized society. She would have known.

Today, the arts are too often under attack from those who undervalue their importance to the human spirit. These same folks strive to take away what is a necessity to our existence in order to meet their weak yet lunatic political agendas and greedy needs. They will never understand (I pity them) that art helps us understand the world around us and must remain unconstrained by the political and social tides of the moment. Plato reminded all of us that it is impossible to separate art from society; rather, it is deeply entwined within our culture. Charles Dickens referred art to the common welfare. He felt that human connection and welfare far outweigh mere profit. He, too, would have known.

One organization that has spectacularly understood the good for the human connection and welfare is New York State Council on the Arts. Application to NYSCA can only begin after an arts organization has been in business for one year.

Fenimore Chamber Orchestra has received grants from NYSCA for each of the past three years for which it has made application. This year, Fenimore Chamber Orchestra has been awarded the highest grant from NYSCA in the amount of $49,500.00. This is a great commendation not only regarding the exceedingly high quality of music making, but of our mission/vision and our outreach to the community that also attracts visitors from all over the world.

And this does not only refer to us. Linda Chesis and the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, which she founded 27 years ago, and Randy Smith at Cooperstown Concerts, are just two of the other organizations—along with Fenimore Chamber Orchestra—that work tirelessly to bring world class arts performances to the Cooperstown community and regularly attract audiences from all over the world. Let us not forget The Glimmerglass Festival and Fenimore Art Museum as trenchant members of the arts in Cooperstown that also regularly draw visitors to this area from all over the world. And all of these institutions present not only internationally known performers, but local performers as well.

So, Cooperstown is now considered a destination for the arts. Acta non verba! No more words, please; only musical deeds.

Thomas Wolf is the founder and board chair of the Fenimore Chamber Orchestra.