Some people still raise their eyebrows when you tell them Las Vegas has a Philharmonic orchestra.
Imagine how much higher those eyebrows go when you add: It's now in its 25th season.
And to the north, Reno’s celebrating its own orchestral powerhouse. The Reno Philharmonic has just begun its 55th season, that orchestra originally sprung from a Russian immigrant and musicians who normally played casinos.
Put together, the two orchestras help prove Nevada is no cultural desert.
Shakeh Ghoukasian, Principal 2nd Violinist and founding member of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, attributes her organization's longevity in part to enduring — and new — support, and a changing environment for the arts in Las Vegas.
"I think it's shifting," she says. "The fact that audiences are showing up, the fact that we're having sold-out concerts, the fact that we have new donors — people that move from other towns that believe that the orchestra is worth funding and supporting. So I think the culture is changing. I mean, we have a professional orchestra, we have a professional ballet company, [both] resident organizations at the Smith Center. That does say something."
Laura Jackson, music director and conductor for the Reno Philharmonic for the last 14 years, says she and her staff listen very closely to the needs and requests of the Reno/Sparks community — one that's ever-changing due to the influx of new residents.
"I'm meeting new people all the time — as you say, many of them are coming from the Bay Area," she says. "Many of them are joining the tech industry, but I would say there are a lot of people that are retirees, and that is kind of similar to what the influx was back in the '90s. But what I find now is that they want all kinds of different things. They want great classical symphonic music, and they want it played at a very high level. We have a lot of people coming in that used to hear the San Francisco Symphony, and now they want to come and hear the Reno Philharmonic, but they want us to wow them. They want great classical music, they want Mahler symphonies — everything that they might have heard there, they want to hear in Reno, [with] high-level soloists and such. But then there are lots and lots of people coming in that want great programs for their kids or their grandkids. ... And so we have worked really hard to augment those programs."
Guests: Laura Jackson, music director and conductor, Reno Philharmonic; Shakeh Ghoukasian, principal 2nd violinist and founding member, Las Vegas Philharmonic
