Opus 2 orchestra prepares to open season with new conductor, free concert
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When the Opus 2 string orchestra hits the first notes of its 2022-23 season, the baton will be in new hands.
South Hills native Evan Reichenfeld, 26, will take over as the orchestra’s conductor, continuing the mission his great-grandfather Eugene started nearly seven decades ago.
“My great-grandfather taught music in public school and at private lessons, and he started what he called the Reichenfeld Sinfonietta to showcase his students,” Reichenfeld said. “And since ‘opus’ is the nomenclature to classify a composer’s works, eventually after he stopped leading it, it became the Opus 2 Orchestra as sort of a tribute to him.”
Reichenfeld couldn’t have escaped music if he wanted to in his younger years.
“I grew up in a family where it was at the forefront of what we did,” he said. “My dad was music teacher and I was going to marching band practice with him when I was a little kid. A grandmother and grandfather were both orchestra teachers. A lot of the formative figures in my life were all teaching music.”
After earning a music education degree from Middle Tennessee State University, Reichenfeld began teaching at the Dickson Preparatory STEAM Academy in the Woodland Hills School District.
Taking on the conductor’s role means that Reichenfeld’s Tuesdays are a lot longer these days. But he said the main challenge is choosing pieces that are challenging but also accessible for the orchestra, which ranges from sixth-grade students to seniors in their 60s. The orchestra includes both adults as well as students from the Franklin Regional, Plum, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Gateway and Woodland Hills school districts.
Opus 2 will perform “Across the Generations” at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at Christian Life Church in Trafford, a free concert featuring the music of Mozart, Bartok and Rodgers & Hammerstein along with a tribute to military veterans.
Reichenfeld said it will be quite a change from the days when he was in the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra facing the audience.
“Now, standing the opposite direction, facing the orchestra and leading a group that’s putting a musical message out there giving people this opportunity to create music in a meaningful, challenging way is really special,” he said.
“Across the Generations” will take place at 2:30 p.m. at the church, 900 Seventh St. Ext. in Trafford. A voluntary donation at the concert’s conclusion will help support the orchestra’s expenses and provide scholarships to graduating high school seniors each spring.
For more, see Opus2Strings.wixsite.com/opus.