April 26, 2025 • 12 mins
More than a century has passed since the Melrose Symphony Orchestra started performing together, making the group the nation's oldest continuing all-volunteer orchestra. Another season is coming to an end, and the final concert is a packed potpourri of favorites, including a special guest. Conductor Yoichi Udagawa returns to the show with all the details about the upcoming show, and talks with Nichole about the season.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week we come together right here we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. I hope you're having a good weekend except
for the pollen, of course. I'm Nicole Davis. We're no
stranger to a deep history here in Massachusetts, and believe
it or not, that actually includes our live music. North
(00:29):
of Boston, the Melroe Symphony Orchestra is an all volunteer
venture and they have been performing for more than a century.
In fact, the orchestra is the longest continually running volunteer orchestra,
not just in Massachusetts, not just in New England, but
the entire country. You're about to wrap up season one
hundred and seven, yes, one hundred seven years of this
(00:50):
leading the way. Yuichi Utagawa, they're faithful conductor and a
friend of the show. He returns now to talk with
us about everything going on at the Mso, Yuichi, it's
great to have you back. For those who may not
know much about the orchestra, maybe they haven't listened to
our previous shows, just tell us a quick bit more
about the work you do and the music you play well.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
The Malroo Symphony is one of the oldest volunteers continuously.
It is the oldest continuing, continuously operating volunteer orchestra.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
In the nation.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And we perform in the beautiful Memorial Building in downtown Melrose.
And I am the conductor of the orchestra this season.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So far, this is going to be here in May
on the third. This is about to be the show
that wraps up your season. Tell us a little bit
about what you've covered so far this year.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, typically during the season we give two classical concerts,
one family concert and.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Then a holiday pops series.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And then the Dismay Pops that we're going to be
doing on the third, and on the classical concert. This year,
we had a soloist in November that he used to
be a formerly student at Melrose High School and he's
all grown up now. He went to Harvard and he's
now the principal cellist of Louisville Orchestra, Nick Finch, and
(02:13):
he came back to play with us, and then we
had Holiday Pops and then in earlier on the season
in March, we had we featured a symphony by actually
a local composer, Amy B.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
To one of the most famous women composers of America.
It was very interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I asked the audience, how many of you have heard
of Amy b To Nobody had, but at the end
of the at the end of the performance, everybody gave
a standing ovation for this. She actually lived in call
she lived on com Asss and she had works premiered
by the Boston Symphony and very famous in her day,
but not so well known today.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
But the amazing composer.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And then that same concert we had Victor Romanol, who's
an amazing violin is.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
He just retired from the Boston Symphony.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
But oh my gosh, he's an incredible violinist. And then
we had a family concert and then this concert on
May third will be our final concert.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It would be a Pops concert.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, And there's plenty on the menu for people to
enjoy if they come to the show. You've got everything
from Henry Mancini, You've got musical selections from Oklahoma, You've
got John Williams, and you've also got a very special
guest for this show as well. Tell us a bit
about Karen Walwyn and how you got her to take
part in the May Pops.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Well, Karen Walwin is a fabulous penis. She's a professor
at the Berkeley College of Music and she.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Actually now lives in Melrose, So.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
She's a fabulous tennis So we have to have her
some play with us, and she's going to be the
featured solos the very famous Warsaw Concerto.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
By Adam Zel.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
If people haven't heard it, they'll probably recognize it. It
sounds very much like Rugmano off very romantic and gorgeous themes.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And we are really looking forward to performing with her.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And speaking of movies, because I know from what you
had mentioned the Warsaw Concerto was composed for a film
from back in the forties. John Williams, you cannot beat
him when you're talking about movie music. So what will
you be performing from him?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Well, we're going to be doing two works of his,
his Liberty Fanfare and then a work I always love,
have always loved is his people.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Are recognize it's called the NBC Mission theme.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And if you've ever watched like you know, Tom Broke
Hall or something, I mean, yes, don d.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
D exactly, that's longer how long of a pieces that
I mean I knew obviously they use it for the news,
but I didn't realize it was a full fledged piece.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
It is. Yeah, he actually wrote a little suite of
pieces and they are so nice and in total, it's
about ten minutes of music, maybe a little bit.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
More, a little bit less.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And this particular the you know the NBCV you know
the ones yet they used on the newscast, it's about
four minutes long. But of course they only you know,
on TV, they only showed twenty seconds, you know, they
only played twenty second snippets of it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Sure, a four minute long news intro would probably not
be the best idea. Oh the music would be great,
but probably not the best for viewership.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah, not on network news.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Oh although you know, if they have a suggestion box,
I might actually write in that now that I know
it's a four minute long songs.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, play the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Music levers would love.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
It, right, Oh, man, and you know another classic Mancini.
You cannot go wrong with a Mancini song. So what
do we have coming up from him?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, there's it's a whole bunch of stuff written by Mancini,
including Pink Panther, and so everybody everybody knows those pieces.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I think even.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
And one of the players in the orchestra was telling
me that his father used to play in the Boston
Pops and that he did a tour with Henry Mancini conducting,
And were you know, talking about the funny connections there are,
I'd say, so.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
My goodness, six or what is it six degrees of
Henry Mancini, I guess.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Right, right, right, And and then we're going to be
finishing the concert with the very famous.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Ballero by Maurice Ravel. It was featured in that movie ten.
I don't know if you can remember that far. I
don't know if anybody remembers that movie.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No, but it's it's there's two melodies in it that
get repeated over and over and over, and it starts
off very soft, and then it gets louder and louder.
It's just it's an amazing piece. So we're looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Doing that too. If you heard it, you would know it.
I'm going to very badly saying.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yes, I know, right, yes, yes, exactly, I was. I
was just about to pull up YouTube and thank you
for that, because now I don't need to I know
exactly what you're talking about, and I'm sure you know,
the listener in the car. Oh yeah, yeah, I know
that one.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Everybody knows that.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
You like half the time I talk with you about
the concerts and I'm like, oh, yeah, I know that.
And that's the beautiful thing about the Melrose Symphony. It's that,
you know, I think that people, and we've talked about
this before in the past, going to the symphony sounds
very hoity toity, high falutin, but over at the Melrose Symphony,
it's just not that way. It's super approachable.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
We you know, we we take it seriously, but we
think that it should be fun.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
It should be serious fun or you.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Know, funnily serious.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, funny serious.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And you know, when you when you think about it,
I mean, all these composers, I mean, and even when
you think about Beethoven and most are we think of
it being so stuffy today.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
But they didn't think of themselves that way, right.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
They were kind of the the uh, you know, rock
stars of their generation and kind of you know, scandalous
lifestyles and all that kind of stuff. You know, I.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Would shudder to think what they think of I don't know,
Katy Perry or something like that. My goodness, that have
a heart attack, those poor.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
No, but I mean, you know, I'm sure each compositor
would react differently, but but yeah, they were.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
They were breaking barriers, you know, in their day. So yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
You know, I appreciate the fact that you over the
Rose Symphony make it a point to highlight so many
different types of music for people to come and enjoy.
And you know, that's what makes it a great experience.
It's just going out to the show and seeing what
there is to see and maybe you'll go home with
a new favorite composer in mind.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Absolutely, And when you think about it, there has an
every time and every place in history people there have
been just great, incredible geniuses right who have written amazing
music that will stand, will be played for, you know,
hundreds of years to come. I'm sure that they'll still
(09:35):
be playing Star Wars one hundred years from now. It's
amazing music and we're doing the music. Some arrangements of
Irish tunes by Leroy Anderson. Le Roy Anderson is the
person who wrote sure.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah. He was born in Cambridge.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I did not know.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, and you know his music is probably gonna be
I always like to joke that he's the most famous
unfamous composer, right, because everybody knows his music, but they don't.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Know his name. Yeah, like, oh yeah that song. Oh,
these poor people they put so much effort in, right,
It all comes back to, oh yeah, I know that.
I feel really bad for these composers sometimes, especially the
more modern composers, because music is so easily shared these days,
and yet you don't always put the name to the
song because you hear it in a social media post
(10:34):
or you hear it on a commercial and think, oh, yeah,
I like that song, and I've heard that song. But
the poor schmell at the Music Sessions place wrote it said,
oh look, but it's mine.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
That's interesting you talk about that.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I mean, that really is a kind of a issue
for all kinds of media today, right, including news, right,
I would imagine for your field because there we can
access so many different types of sources of information now today,
but fascinating stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
So that's that's a long, long sue.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
That's a whole other podcast, my friend, whole other conversation.
One thing I can tell you is that you can
access the Melroe Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, May third at
eight pm. And I would love to know how people
can get tickets and where they should go for the show.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I think the.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Easiest thing to do is just go to our website
Melroesymphony Orchestra dot org Melrosympthy dot org. And and if
you go there all the information if you want to
call instead of you know, doing it online, that would
be that you could just go there and get the
phone number seven eight one six six two six four
one seven eight one six six two six four one oh.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Six four one. And yeah, this is it for the season.
And then when do you start back up again.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
We will be starting up again rehearsal in September beginning
of September, and then our first concert will be the
first Saturday in November. Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Well, enjoy the final show of the season and enjoy
your summer. If I don't get to talk.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
To you, and well, thank you very much, get.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Some rest and get ready for whatever season this is
going to be. What season one oh seven one away
coming up? One eight wait goodness, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
We've got some good things planned, including an opera night so.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
With some amazing singers.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So it'll be a great, great year coming up.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
That's going to be so much fun. Well, Yuichi, it
is always a pleasure to have you on the show.
Thank you for your time.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Nichall, have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me
again next week for another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week we come together right here we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. I hope you're having a good weekend except
for the pollen, of course. I'm Nicole Davis. We're no
stranger to a deep history here in Massachusetts, and believe
it or not, that actually includes our live music. North
(00:29):
of Boston, the Melroe Symphony Orchestra is an all volunteer
venture and they have been performing for more than a century.
In fact, the orchestra is the longest continually running volunteer orchestra,
not just in Massachusetts, not just in New England, but
the entire country. You're about to wrap up season one
hundred and seven, yes, one hundred seven years of this
(00:50):
leading the way. Yuichi Utagawa, they're faithful conductor and a
friend of the show. He returns now to talk with
us about everything going on at the Mso, Yuichi, it's
great to have you back. For those who may not
know much about the orchestra, maybe they haven't listened to
our previous shows, just tell us a quick bit more
about the work you do and the music you play well.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
The Malroo Symphony is one of the oldest volunteers continuously.
It is the oldest continuing, continuously operating volunteer orchestra.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
In the nation.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And we perform in the beautiful Memorial Building in downtown Melrose.
And I am the conductor of the orchestra this season.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
So far, this is going to be here in May
on the third. This is about to be the show
that wraps up your season. Tell us a little bit
about what you've covered so far this year.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, typically during the season we give two classical concerts,
one family concert and.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Then a holiday pops series.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And then the Dismay Pops that we're going to be
doing on the third, and on the classical concert. This year,
we had a soloist in November that he used to
be a formerly student at Melrose High School and he's
all grown up now. He went to Harvard and he's
now the principal cellist of Louisville Orchestra, Nick Finch, and
(02:13):
he came back to play with us, and then we
had Holiday Pops and then in earlier on the season
in March, we had we featured a symphony by actually
a local composer, Amy B.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
To one of the most famous women composers of America.
It was very interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I asked the audience, how many of you have heard
of Amy b To Nobody had, but at the end
of the at the end of the performance, everybody gave
a standing ovation for this. She actually lived in call
she lived on com Asss and she had works premiered
by the Boston Symphony and very famous in her day,
but not so well known today.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
But the amazing composer.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And then that same concert we had Victor Romanol, who's
an amazing violin is.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
He just retired from the Boston Symphony.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
But oh my gosh, he's an incredible violinist. And then
we had a family concert and then this concert on
May third will be our final concert.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It would be a Pops concert.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, And there's plenty on the menu for people to
enjoy if they come to the show. You've got everything
from Henry Mancini, You've got musical selections from Oklahoma, You've
got John Williams, and you've also got a very special
guest for this show as well. Tell us a bit
about Karen Walwyn and how you got her to take
part in the May Pops.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Well, Karen Walwin is a fabulous penis. She's a professor
at the Berkeley College of Music and she.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Actually now lives in Melrose, So.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
She's a fabulous tennis So we have to have her
some play with us, and she's going to be the
featured solos the very famous Warsaw Concerto.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
By Adam Zel.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
If people haven't heard it, they'll probably recognize it. It
sounds very much like Rugmano off very romantic and gorgeous themes.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And we are really looking forward to performing with her.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And speaking of movies, because I know from what you
had mentioned the Warsaw Concerto was composed for a film
from back in the forties. John Williams, you cannot beat
him when you're talking about movie music. So what will
you be performing from him?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Well, we're going to be doing two works of his,
his Liberty Fanfare and then a work I always love,
have always loved is his people.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Are recognize it's called the NBC Mission theme.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And if you've ever watched like you know, Tom Broke
Hall or something, I mean, yes, don d.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
D exactly, that's longer how long of a pieces that
I mean I knew obviously they use it for the news,
but I didn't realize it was a full fledged piece.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
It is. Yeah, he actually wrote a little suite of
pieces and they are so nice and in total, it's
about ten minutes of music, maybe a little bit.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
More, a little bit less.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And this particular the you know the NBCV you know
the ones yet they used on the newscast, it's about
four minutes long. But of course they only you know,
on TV, they only showed twenty seconds, you know, they
only played twenty second snippets of it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Sure, a four minute long news intro would probably not
be the best idea. Oh the music would be great,
but probably not the best for viewership.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah, not on network news.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Oh although you know, if they have a suggestion box,
I might actually write in that now that I know
it's a four minute long songs.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, play the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Music levers would love.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
It, right, Oh, man, and you know another classic Mancini.
You cannot go wrong with a Mancini song. So what
do we have coming up from him?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, there's it's a whole bunch of stuff written by Mancini,
including Pink Panther, and so everybody everybody knows those pieces.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I think even.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
And one of the players in the orchestra was telling
me that his father used to play in the Boston
Pops and that he did a tour with Henry Mancini conducting,
And were you know, talking about the funny connections there are,
I'd say, so.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
My goodness, six or what is it six degrees of
Henry Mancini, I guess.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Right, right, right, And and then we're going to be
finishing the concert with the very famous.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Ballero by Maurice Ravel. It was featured in that movie ten.
I don't know if you can remember that far. I
don't know if anybody remembers that movie.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No, but it's it's there's two melodies in it that
get repeated over and over and over, and it starts
off very soft, and then it gets louder and louder.
It's just it's an amazing piece. So we're looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Doing that too. If you heard it, you would know it.
I'm going to very badly saying.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yes, I know, right, yes, yes, exactly, I was. I
was just about to pull up YouTube and thank you
for that, because now I don't need to I know
exactly what you're talking about, and I'm sure you know,
the listener in the car. Oh yeah, yeah, I know
that one.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Everybody knows that.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
You like half the time I talk with you about
the concerts and I'm like, oh, yeah, I know that.
And that's the beautiful thing about the Melrose Symphony. It's that,
you know, I think that people, and we've talked about
this before in the past, going to the symphony sounds
very hoity toity, high falutin, but over at the Melrose Symphony,
it's just not that way. It's super approachable.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
We you know, we we take it seriously, but we
think that it should be fun.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
It should be serious fun or you.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Know, funnily serious.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, funny serious.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And you know, when you when you think about it,
I mean, all these composers, I mean, and even when
you think about Beethoven and most are we think of
it being so stuffy today.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
But they didn't think of themselves that way, right.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
They were kind of the the uh, you know, rock
stars of their generation and kind of you know, scandalous
lifestyles and all that kind of stuff. You know, I.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Would shudder to think what they think of I don't know,
Katy Perry or something like that. My goodness, that have
a heart attack, those poor.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
No, but I mean, you know, I'm sure each compositor
would react differently, but but yeah, they were.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
They were breaking barriers, you know, in their day. So yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
You know, I appreciate the fact that you over the
Rose Symphony make it a point to highlight so many
different types of music for people to come and enjoy.
And you know, that's what makes it a great experience.
It's just going out to the show and seeing what
there is to see and maybe you'll go home with
a new favorite composer in mind.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Absolutely, And when you think about it, there has an
every time and every place in history people there have
been just great, incredible geniuses right who have written amazing
music that will stand, will be played for, you know,
hundreds of years to come. I'm sure that they'll still
(09:35):
be playing Star Wars one hundred years from now. It's
amazing music and we're doing the music. Some arrangements of
Irish tunes by Leroy Anderson. Le Roy Anderson is the
person who wrote sure.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah. He was born in Cambridge.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I did not know.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, and you know his music is probably gonna be
I always like to joke that he's the most famous
unfamous composer, right, because everybody knows his music, but they don't.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Know his name. Yeah, like, oh yeah that song. Oh,
these poor people they put so much effort in, right,
It all comes back to, oh yeah, I know that.
I feel really bad for these composers sometimes, especially the
more modern composers, because music is so easily shared these days,
and yet you don't always put the name to the
song because you hear it in a social media post
(10:34):
or you hear it on a commercial and think, oh, yeah,
I like that song, and I've heard that song. But
the poor schmell at the Music Sessions place wrote it said,
oh look, but it's mine.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
That's interesting you talk about that.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I mean, that really is a kind of a issue
for all kinds of media today, right, including news, right,
I would imagine for your field because there we can
access so many different types of sources of information now today,
but fascinating stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
So that's that's a long, long sue.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
That's a whole other podcast, my friend, whole other conversation.
One thing I can tell you is that you can
access the Melroe Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, May third at
eight pm. And I would love to know how people
can get tickets and where they should go for the show.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I think the.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Easiest thing to do is just go to our website
Melroesymphony Orchestra dot org Melrosympthy dot org. And and if
you go there all the information if you want to
call instead of you know, doing it online, that would
be that you could just go there and get the
phone number seven eight one six six two six four
one seven eight one six six two six four one oh.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Six four one. And yeah, this is it for the season.
And then when do you start back up again.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
We will be starting up again rehearsal in September beginning
of September, and then our first concert will be the
first Saturday in November. Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Well, enjoy the final show of the season and enjoy
your summer. If I don't get to talk.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
To you, and well, thank you very much, get.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Some rest and get ready for whatever season this is
going to be. What season one oh seven one away
coming up? One eight wait goodness, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
We've got some good things planned, including an opera night so.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
With some amazing singers.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So it'll be a great, great year coming up.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
That's going to be so much fun. Well, Yuichi, it
is always a pleasure to have you on the show.
Thank you for your time.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Nichall, have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me
again next week for another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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