Molly Phelan

Community Music
Bartolome
12/09/2018

Community Music Seminar Mini Study: The Awesöme Orchestra Collective

When I was first invited to an Awesöme Orchestra Collective session in 2014, I had no idea what to

expect. I arrived to a huge cement art gallery with an open back wall, and found an orchestra set up inside

and next to the info table was a bucket of beer and a man selling barbecue. Once I had fully stocked

myself up on snacks, I found a metal folding chair in a corner and settled in to listen to a wonderfully loud

and joyous, if not technically perfect, performance of select movements from The Planets by Gustav

Holst. Thus began my fascination with the group that calls itself “The Bay Area’s adventure seeking

orchestra”. The purpose of this mini study was to examine the form of the Awesöme Orchestra Collective

and investigate if and how it could be applied to a community chorus setting.

HISTORY

Nearly ten years ago, the Awesöme Orchestra Collective’s Conductor and Founding Artistic Director,

David (Dave) Möschler had a friend whose father had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had

expressed once that he would love to try conducting the overture from Le nozze di Figaro. Dave called up

every musician he knew, formed an orchestra, found a space big enough to hold them all and they

surprised his friend’s father by inviting him up to the podium. After the event, Dave received an

immediate response from the musicians expressing how excited they were to play “just for community,

just for joy”. So in 2013 Dave ran the first Awesöme Orchestra session with “Beethoven, Bolero and

beer” with fifty local San Francisco Bay Area musician friends and colleagues, and an activist orchestra

dedicated to making an orchestral playing experience accessible and joyous was born.

THE AWESÖME ORCHESTRA FORMAT & COMMUNITY

The Awesöme Orchestra Collective is a reading orchestra, meaning they read through works of music for

an hour and usually end with one complete run through. The Bay Area collective is made up of over 2000

players who have participated in at least one session. The group requires no commitment from session to
session, eliminating one of the biggest dilemmas community orchestras face, time. AO announces their

upcoming sessions on social media as well as in an email blast to their mailing list and from there, players

are directed to the extremely easy-to-navigate AO website. There they will find a list of repertoire with a

link to sheet music, a YouTube video of the piece, and a link to a Google sign-up form. That form is sent

to their ambassador (AO’s answer to “section leaders”) who will follow up with the players by sending

part assignments (the section chairs constantly rotate), and from there it’s the player’s responsibility to

decide how much work they need to do to musically prepare.

If it’s a player’s first session (they estimate that 30-35% of any sessions participants are new

players), their section’s ambassador will reach out to get background information and find the best way to

add them to the upcoming session. Brass section ambassador Allison Gomer noted that “if there is a solo,

I know who it’s going to and it’s never going to be a new person. But if there is a relatively new person

and I’ve been able to hear them play and vet them and they’re like, superstars, hell yeah I’ll let them do a

solo on the second session that they’ve ever done! But it’s all done fairly…that is to say that we have

good systems in place to vet people and find their strengths and then I always am sure to put them where

they are best suited.”.

Possibly the only notable barrier to accessibility with Awesöme Orchestra is that players must

bring their own stands and instruments, except for pianos and some large percussion. When players arrive

at the session AO provides chairs, sheet music, water and as much as they possibly can, lots of free beer.

The sessions are usually around three hours in length with three musical works evenly splitting the time.

The total number of players who have ever participated in a session is over 2000 now and players

are a mix of professionals and amateurs representing extremely diverse backgrounds, easily exceeding

that of most professional orchestra makeups. They also feature gender diversity in their instrumental

sections (notably their brass, percussion and string bass sections) rarely seen on professional stages. In

our interview, Dave made it clear that representation and accessibility were of the utmost importance to

him; “I try to think about okay, as a straight, cis, white male, what can I do? What I should do is create as

much space as I can for everyone else. I take up so much space, I create a sandbox for other people to

come (but not in a white savior way). If I have space, I want to make it a space for everybody.” The

players represent an equally impressive range of ages, from ten to eight-five. The players are always
encouraged to wear name tags “so we aren’t awkward” as Dave put it, and while generally taken

seriously, often the name tags become a canvas for musical jokes.

Regarding the accessibility of ability, multiple group members referred back to the group’s

collective sense of self-policing. Because the sheet music is available ahead of time and players are

supplied with a recording, most people are able to accurately gauge their playing ability. They noted that

if someone was given a part that was really over their heads, they would quickly admit it and ask for help

and the section would work together to get the piece up to the highest possible level. As Allison Gomer

effortlessly summed it up, “I think because it’s a reading session and it’s low pressure… it’s all about fun.

We’re not getting together to impress anyone, we’re there to have fun. But part of that means we can play,

because we have fun when we play well so it’s this expectation that’s put on every member of the

orchestra that we’re all there to have a good time and part of that means, be prepared with your music and

not sounding like shit. So…if you can just not sound like shit, we can drink beer and have a good time

and make good music together.”

The low pressure environment was mentioned by all three players I spoke to in addition to Dave.

As Operations Director and violin player, Corey Johnson put it, “It’s the first time working on something

together, so it's never going to be as polished as an orchestra meeting every week for a few months before

performing; that takes some pressure off. At the same time, it's the only time you get to do it, so there's an

incentive to try REALLY HARD to make it worth your time.” Both Dave and Lily Sevier (Percussion

section ambassador) pinpointed AO’s unique quality of being focused on the players experience rather

than the audience’s. Dave expanded on this player-centric orchestra format, saying “There’s basically four

things players care about right? Do they like the people they work with, do they like the music, do they

like the people they’re playing under and it is convenient/accessible. In the real world you can just throw

money at whichever of those four problems is a deficit and “cover” it. To make people accountable, you

have to take all accountability away. Make it easy, make it fun, make it a culture of encouragement, the

conductor has to be super prepared, make venues easy and choose interesting, adventurous music.”

Dave takes a remarkably democratic approach to repertoire selection, which according to him

comes largely from player suggestions. Their repertoire covers an enormous range of genres including
orchestral arrangements of Green Day, Daft Punk, The Beatles, Sly and the Family Stone and multiple

new commissions while maintaining an ever-changing selection of classical canon works.

Solos and rotating seating are decided by the ambassadors, Awesöme Orchestra’s substitution for

a section leader. In Dave’s words, “Ambassadors serve as personnel management. At some point in the

first year we had an in-meeting and invited all the really involved players. Every section discussed really

different values, you know, percussion needed gear, woodwinds had too many players, brass players

didn’t want to double … So after lots of beer and brainstorming we came up with this idea that like, we

need a person that’s a leader but not a section leader so we came up with the idea of “Awesome

Ambassadors”. They’re our unofficial advisory board and we meet at least 3 times a year. They have

domain over their sections- player and personnel are their call as long as they promote accessibility and

excellence.”

Democracy extends into Dave’s conducting style as well, and he will frequently poll players to

get feedback or even musical direction suggestions. I observed that players were extremely comfortable

shouting out jokes, and often broke into cheers after a good run. This joyful, laid-back atmosphere is

bolstered by an ample beer supply. Says Dave, “Grabbing a beer differentiates us from other orchestras. It

feels more like a band rehearsal and I want that feel of a garage band hangout vibe.” When he’s

conducting, he’s endlessly positive. At his most merciless, he may be driven to shout “STOP HAVING

FUN” through the megaphone he often uses for their frequent open-air locations, but even that gentle half

joke-half-rebuke comes with an easy grin.

Awesöme Orchestra Collective has no permanent performance space, but rather is constantly

changing location in order to increase accessibility across a large metro area. They move to various

locations around the Bay Area and try their best to find locations that are easily accessible via public

transportation. While some players expressed attachments to certain recurring locations, I believe the

ever-changing locations may be part of the secret to AO’s success. A nomadic orchestra requires a large

amount of organization and set up for every session and all four people I spoke to for this study

mentioned putting some kind of non-performance work into the sessions, from moving and transporting

instruments, to stage management, to working the donations/info table. There’s a distinct DIY, barn-
raising feel to the session as a brand new group of people come together to build a new orchestra each

time.

While the session is always player-centered, they’re also a free and open reading session and they

welcome observers. They frequently play in open air, or partially open-air environments where they

attract large groups of bystanders, but in smaller sessions the audience is largely made up of friends and

family. Beer is not typically provided to the audience, although the collective has begun experimenting

with selling beer for a suggested donation.

During my time in California, my husband was a frequent player and I sang with them several

times, and have written program notes for their blog. For my mini study observation, I tuned into a

session in the via Google Hangouts with Lily Sevier and immediately we experienced technical

difficulties. Within minutes I was passed along to the cell phone of an audience member, and eventually

when her phone later died, I was instantly transferred to the phone of a trombone player who was sitting

out the last piece. Once my connection was established I found myself watching Dave instruct the

audience where to best arrange themselves in the crowded extra room of the Sports Basement. Here is a

full orchestra in the spare room of a basement sporting goods store (and as Dave half-apologies/half-

crows later, "75 of you and only one of you behind a pole!”, and Dave makes sure to mention that they’re

offering 20% off of any equipment purchased by orchestra or audience members. This is clearly not your

grandmother’s concert hall orchestral experience.

ORGANIZATION AND FINANCES

Currently Awesöme Orchestra has a paid staff of four in addition to Dave: an Operations Director,

a Director of Development, a Director of Communications and Head Stage Manager & Music Librarian.

Additionally each section has an ambassador, which as mentioned earlier, serves as an advisory board

which meets semi-annually for a feedback session. In our discussion with Community Music scholar, Dr.

Lee Higgins, he described the priorities of a community music facilitator as a strong sense of identity and

knowing what you bring to the table, and a personality that people can gravitate to, and Dave’s

unmistakably “chill-but-invigorated” vibe fits this Northern California reading orchestra like a glove.
 The staff is extremely proficient with social media and in addition to their aforementioned

website, they have an active Twitter, Instagram and Facebook presence. They have frequently live-

streamed concerts in the past via Twitter and always announce their social media handles and encourage

the audience to tag them.

The Awesöme Orchestra Collective is part of a larger umbrella organization, Intersection for the

Arts, which extends 501c3 status to the group. Additionally they provide a guidance and mentorship role,

proofread grants and provided 10 weeks of mission & vision planning and finance courses. AO uses a co-

working space in downtown Oakland as well as a storage unit for instruments in Emerville and their

music library is stored in the recording studio of an AO string bassist. While their sessions are free and

open, they ask for donations throughout the session and have an annual fundraising concert where they

have an “actual rehearsal”( as Dave put it) beforehand and they perform favorite music from past

sessions. Additionally they are sponsored by Lagunitas Brewing, who provide them with beer for their

sessions.

The group is sometimes asked to participate in other projects and have been offered paid

performance and recording opportunities. Dave refers to these as “orchestral adventures” and the

participants I spoke to were highly enthusiastic about the opportunities for adventure they’ve had with the

orchestra, from playing with famous artists such as Green Day and Deerhunter to performing at

prestigious local venues such as the Fox Theater in Oakland and The Fillmore in San Francisco. Many of

the “adventures” they participate in are collaborative projects such as a Beatles/Star Wars mashup, or a

concert reinterpreting a classic album, with each track being covered by a different local band. The latter

types of these performances seem to fill a hugely important community accessibility aspect by actively

joining the larger local music scene rather than comfortably remaining the small, often elitist classical

music scene

TRANSLATING AWESÖME ORCHESTRA’S FORMAT TO A CHORAL SETTING

In many ways the Awesöme Orchestra Collective’s format appears to be easily translatable to a choral

setting. Certainly the procedural format and the extremely short-term-commitment, low pressure

environment seem like ideal fits for a community chorus.

 I would be concerned that some professional singers might feel discomfort with the idea of

drinking and singing, as virtually anything you put into your body impacts the sound you produce

immediately afterward and I think special care would need to be taken to create an environment that the

singers could feel safe in. Plenty of karaoke bars around the world could attest that one can still give an

incredible performance after a few drinks.

As is the eternal problem of all choirs, I worry that we would have a huge imbalance between

high and low voices, so I have a few ideas how that could be mitigated. We could have one “all treble”

piece every week, or we could program pieces with three part harmony and have two treble sections and a

mens section. Hopefully, if we could get “exciting” enough programming, we could attract the low voices

we need.

Also important to consider, is that the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most temperate

regions of the United States, which means that they have access to open air locations virtually any time of

the year, while a similar group anywhere else would be hindered by weather considerations. Not to

mention with a choir, outdoor spaces can be considerably more difficult spaces to hear and to sing in and

could lead to frustration if chosen without care.

CONCLUSION

The Awesöme Orchestra Collective has created a unique musical cooperative that combines a strong sense

of community and musical achievement with a low-pressure environment. To translate this format most

successfully to a choral group I believe one needs a charismatic and cheerful personality to serve as

conductor and an extremely open dialogue with singers to constantly reassess the group and mitigate what

differences arise in a choral setting.