Fort Smith Symphony Blends Culture with Community
John Jeter, music director and conductor of the Fort Smith Symphony, has seen a lot in his career as he heads into his twenty-sixth season with the organization. But one thing has remained consistent over all that time and all those performances – he is as convinced as ever about the importance of the arts and as committed as ever to integrating the power of music into the community.
“The presentation of live music by an orchestra is an artistic element that is really important,” he says. “There are a lot of people who simply like orchestral music, but there are also a lot of correlations between that and other things going on in a community that contribute to the overall quality of life. When people look at quality of life issues, reasons to move somewhere, having vibrant arts is very important. So, we play a role as the community continues to try and attract new professionals to Fort Smith.
“A symphony also brings a lot of educational components to a community; it gets young people interested in being involved in something creative which pays dividends for the rest of their lives, whether they do music or not. There’s every indication to show that an involvement in the arts does everything to help kids not only academically, but also later in life.”
The upcoming season for the symphony, its ninety-ninth, fulfills all of these roles and more. In addition to a slate of engaging concert performances, beginning September 10 and running through April 22, the organization continues its close connection with youth through various music education programs and with the community at large with a free outdoor concert on April 1.
“Performances remain the main focus of what we do, but our purpose, ultimately, is about how we can help the community the best way we can,” John says. “If you just do music just for music and that’s the end of the discussion, that’s cool, but there are a lot bigger issues there.”
John’s bone-deep belief in the importance of the arts, specifically orchestral music, in the overall health of the community was never more resolute than during the pandemic. Where most entertainment options such as concerts, cinema and festivals were canceled, the symphony soldiered on, working out the logistics that enabled it to deliver its live performances as scheduled.
Those challenges largely behind them, the orchestra is diving head-first into the new season. Themed “Legends,” it offers diverse music to suit a variety of tastes allowing traditionalist and contemporary audiences to both find something to love.
“Nowadays, a lot of young people will talk about someone as, ‘That guy is legendary,’” John says. “It’s like anything that’s sort of cool, anything that’s got a history, and it just seemed like the way we were approaching our season this year. It’s a little unconventional, but I think the cool factor and the relevancy factor are pretty high for what we’re doing.”
The season starts with what John described as “a very traditional season opener” with Antonín Dvořák’s From the New World.
“Dvořák was a Czech composer who lived in America for a little while,” John says. “He’s one of the famous, great European composers and he was very influential on all American composers who came after him. He once said, ‘American composers, you need to focus on your American heritage. Don’t just copy the Europeans.’”
The second concert, “Symphonic Superheroes”, features film music from contemporary superhero movies including Black Panther and Iron Man.
“I love doing film music,” John says. “If you think about the symphony orchestra and if you think about the general public, where do the two intersect in 2022? In movies. Besides that, it’s a lot of fun and people can really relate to it.”
The third concert is the orchestra’s much-anticipated annual Christmas performance, followed by the first concert in 2023, entitled “What a Rush”, which will focus on American works.
“We’re an American orchestra and if you think about classical music, it’s mostly the European guys, right?” John says. “So, we like to perform, as much as we can, American works. The nice thing about the March concert is they’re all twentieth or twenty-first century American pieces. It’s really terrific.”
The season closes with a unique and important concert, “Native American Legends”, showcasing the work of Louis Ballard, recognized as the first Native American composer. In addition to the April concert, the orchestra has built an entire curriculum around the event to augment music education in local schools, starting this fall.
“Louis Ballard was a composer, but he was also very interested in music education,” John says. “He wrote a number of books on music education; he also wrote a collection of Native American folk songs to be used to teach kids about music.
“We were able to get permission to have some of those songs be used in the elementary school music curriculum for the Fort Smith Public Schools and we’re hoping to attract other schools in our area. It will add to the diversity component of music education for these elementary school kids.”
The project is just one way the Fort Smith Symphony connects with students. Others include Earquake, a special multimedia concert program that provides an immersive audio-visual experience. In addition, the organization offers Kool Cats, a jazz quartet that gives presentations to fourth graders on the history of the American musical art form and Symphony in the Schools, which has brought music education to thousands of third-grade students throughout the River Valley.
The symphony has even begun to explore the link between music and health, through unique partnerships with the Arkansas Colleges of Heath Education.
“The symphony is actually housed in the Arkansas College of Health Education’s Health and Wellness Research Center,” he says. “Another big component of what we’re planning on is being involved in health and wellness research that is specific to music. We’re still working through the specifics of that and we’re hoping to start sometime later this season. That’s a new emphasis for our work and it’s very exciting.
“We keep busy, and we like to get our fingers in a lot of different pies. It goes back to that whole community thing; we do what we can do in ways that are best for everybody.”
Visit Fort Smith Symphony online at fortsmithsymphony.org for details and ticketing information.
