While Waukegan Symphony Orchestra music director Stephen Blackwelder said he supports the new direction the Waukegan Park District wants to take with the ensemble, he resigned this week saying, “New initiatives deserve fresh, new leadership for the orchestra.”
Park district officials are meeting with symphony members this week to discuss the future and also begin a search for a new conductor.
“It’s quite a legacy that (Stephen) has had with the symphony, conducting the group for over 18 years,” said Ty Rohrer, cultural arts museum supervisor for the park district. “He’s been really instrumental to the success of the annual Do-it-Yourself Messiah.”
Blackwelder praised the Waukegan Park District for its continued support to fund the orchestra.
“With the retirement of Cultural Arts Superintendent Claudia Freeman (last year) and with new executive leadership at the Waukegan Park District, it seemed a natural time for me to consider my future with the orchestra,” Blackwelder said.
Rohrer was promoted from museum supervisor to his new role upon Freeman’s retirement.
Blackwelder will complete his tenure May 20 when he directs the last concert of the 2017-18 season. He sent a resignation letter to the park board, as well as a longer letter to symphony members the same day.
Concertmaster Michael Kleinerman said when he learned of Blackwelder’s departure, he was “very sad.”
“We are good friends. We have the same views on the music,” said Kleinerman, one of a handful of symphony members who get a small stipend to perform with the orchestra, which consists mostly of amateur players.
When asked if he will continue performing with the orchestra after Blackwelder’s departure, Kleinerman said, “Let’s see who it will be (the new leader). Then I will decide.”
He added, “I think I can play with a new leader. I’ve played with many conductors.”
Kleinerman said he would like the orchestra to have more than four concerts a year, and that could happen, according to Rohrer.
Blackwelder’s resignation took him by surprise, Rohrer said. He, Blackwelder and other park district officials met recently to discuss the symphony’s future.
“With the transition that’s occurred here with me taking over at the cultural arts, we had the opportunity to step back and look at everything,” Rohrer said. “We have some new approaches, and within that, we are very mindful of looking for new ways to reach more people.
“A lot of what my mindset is to really find ways to get children involved, get families involved, help children find that love for music early in life so that they can take on that challenge of learning an instrument,” Rohrer added. “That’s the goal.”
The symphony presents an annual young people’s concert, with the last one held in February.
Rohrer said he would have been happy to have Blackwelder continue leading the symphony.
“Really, we’re not asking to change what the symphony is fundamentally. We’re looking to do more,” he added, saying he would like to see the orchestra, “become an entity that is really available for everybody in the community to come and experience.”
“I hope to someday be able to have the symphony play at other places besides the Trapp Auditorium (at Waukegan High School) — perhaps down at the lakefront for concerts and other venues,” Rohrer said. “This is an important part of the city’s legacy. I want that to continue, and I want that to only grow.”
He and Blackwelder agree that lowering prices and eventually offering free concerts could help bring more of the community to the performances.
Rohrer, who played string bass in the orchestra when he was growing up, said he’d like Waukegan schools orchestra players to join the symphony in a concert, with the adults serving as mentors to the children.
The Waukegan Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1974, and comedian and violinist Jack Benny returned to his hometown to appear in the group’s first performance.
Blackwelder was hired as the symphony’s new music director in 2000 to replace Richard Hynson, who served as music director for eight years. When Hynson left, the symphony was in the hole by nearly $78,000 due to paying “ringers” to perform with the group, according to a Chicago Tribune article. Blackwelder worked to bring the orchestra roster from about 35 to more than 50 members and to maintain its amateur status.
“It’s been a real pleasure to lead players who really want to express the music rather than merely impress the audience,” Blackwelder said.
He remembers several special concerts, including the orchestra’s 40th anniversary season in 2015 when the group performed a Beethoven Mass with the DePaul Community Chorus.
“The impact of having 175 committed community musicians filling the Trapp Auditorium with glorious sound was something none of us will ever forget,” he said.
Blackwelder continues to serve as director of the 120-member De Paul Community Chorus. The Chicago resident received a master of music in orchestra conduction in 1979 from Northwestern University.
Over the years, he has served as conductor and guest conductor for various city and suburban music ensembles including Ars Musica Chicago and the Illinois Valley Symphony.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
