My good friend Aaron Burman passed along the following story about the Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle, a great name for a community orchestra if I’ve ever heard of one. This orchestra is probably getting 100 times the press and buzz that they would if they’d gone with the more traditional (but boring) moniker “Chapel Hill Community Orchestra.”
About the group:
Who are we? The Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle exists to encourage those who have been prevented from playing music together with others, either through lack of talent or some other factor, to rehearse and perform in an ensemble of similarly afflicted players. From a humble beginning in May 2008, we have grown into a 75-piece symphony orchestra worthy of its role as one of the premiere cultural gems of the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill NC (USA) region known as the Research Triangle. Except that we’re pretty terrible. Terrible, in the French sense of Des Enfants Terribles … in that while we haven’t made fun of Bach or Mozart yet, we certainly have had a naughty excursion or two with Strauss and Tchaikovsky.
Want to hear them in action? Here’s a YouTube video of them live at an outdoor concert this past April:
Original story:
Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle – Neatorama
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This sounds like a copy-cat of Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith’s Really Terrible Orchestra in Edinburgh, founded in 1995….. here is their mission statement:
The Really Terrible Orchestra exists to encourage those who have been prevented from playing music, either through lack of talent or some other factor, to play music in the company of similarly afflicted players. The policy of the orchestra is to make no distinction between the various grades of ability and the various forms of music, or time signature. The RTO looks forward to a further lowering of standards, in order to underline its commitment to accessibility and relevance.