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Being a classical music novice, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I attended a concert put on by the St. Croix Valley Orchestra at Elim Lutheran Church in Scandia this past Sunday. Hearing pleasant, well-played music in a beautiful venue turned out to be a great way to relax on a weekend day.

I’m not going to pretend to be able to review the music itself. Again, it sounded pleasant. And it was presented unpretentiously. The conductor, Randolph Elliott, who’s also the founder and director of the orchestra, previewed each piece by telling the audience a little about the life of its composer and how the composer came to compose the piece the orchestra chose to perform.

The highlight of the afternoon was a piece by Mozart (Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414) that included a piano solo. The 125 souls in attendance gave the piano soloist, Stephanie Schmidt, an enthusiastic standing ovation at the end of the piece, and Schmidt seemed genuinely overcome with emotion.

The orchestra also played the Il Signor Bruschino Overture (by Gioacchino Rossini), Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (Unfinished, by Franz Schubert) and Der Rosenkavalier Waltz (by Richard Strauss).

The St. Croix Valley Orchestra came into existence late in 1991. Three St. Croix Falls pastors asked Elliott to play in a group playing Handel’s Messiah for the Christmas season. Elliott looked at the opportunity to play alongside his daughters, who would soon be going away to school. When Elliott showed up for practice, they asked him to direct the group in the production. After the production, group member Linn Slattengren (who was a judge in Minnesota’s 10th Judicial District at the time) was so excited he suggested making the orchestra permanent. Elliott said, “Three weeks later, we were officially incorporated, with bylaws, a board of directors and everything.”

In its early years, the orchestra practiced at Chisago Lakes High School in Lindstrom. In recent years, they’ve practiced at St. Croix Falls High School in St. Croix Falls, Wisc. When asked where the orchestra members come from, Elliott replied “For this concert, we have members from as far west as Cambridge, as far east as Turtle Lake, as far north as Grantsburg and as far south as Marine.” So this truly is an orchestra that represents the St. Croix Valley and beyond.

The orchestra, a non-profit organization, played three concerts in the area this past weekend. In addition to Sunday’s concert in Scandia, they played Friday night in Grantsburg and Saturday night in St. Croix Falls. In June, they’ll switch to outdoor venues for their summer concerts. I plan to seek them out again, just for the joy of listening. You can visit their web site at www.scvorchestra.org to learn a little bit more about the orchestra. Check back with the web site and in the Chisago County Press later this spring for program announcements about their June concerts.

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