One hundred three years later, the Rome Symphony remains an integral part of the arts community of Rome and Northwest Georgia.
The symphony averages between 400 and 450 attendees at any event. The symphonic circus this past summer on the campus at Georgia Highlands College drew a significantly larger crowd. Maestro Jeffrey Dokken said he hopes to increase average attendance by 50 to 100 people a year and believes it is not out of the question to get to the point where the lower bowl of the City Auditorium is sold out for concerts. That would be between 700 and 800 people.
He was performing a Magic of Music series with a magician friend when he was initially approached about serving as a guest conductor for the Rome Symphony. That soon led to an expanded role in conducting the orchestra before he agreed to become the full-time conductor. “The opportunity to get to work with a symphony that has such a history as Rome has it not lost on me,” Dokken said. “It has got such a wonderful reputation both regionally and nationally as the oldest professional symphony in the South.”
The conductor must continually push the envelope, trying to be creative and ensuring the audience wants to be at every concert. “Even losing 100 audience members can hurt us financially and artistically.” Choosing the music for each series is one of Dokken’s primary responsibilities. He tries to include at least one strictly classical and a holiday concert each season. “From there I think, what do I want to achieve with the music this year,” Dokken said. “Am I trying to broaden our audience’s musical horizons? Am I trying to bring in more audience members? Am I trying to appeal to classical music lovers? I never do it on a concert-by-concert basis.” His main objective is to try to get more people in the door. “If you can get them in the door once, they will come back,” Dokken said.
The orchestra consists of between 30 and 60 musicians, depending on the nature of the performance. Maestro Dokken said the most prominent variation is in the string section. The professional musicians are from Northwest Georgia, Northeast Alabama, and Southeast Tennessee—a good number of them hail from the local colleges. Not only are the musicians paid wages for rehearsals and shows, but they also receive travel pay. Any time there are vacancies, blind auditions are held to fill the needed positions.
Cooper underscored the opportunity to purchase season passes for the Rome Symphony at a fraction of what it might cost to hear similar concerts in major metropolitan markets. He also encourages people to take advantage of a tax deduction for contributions to the symphony.
For ticket information call 706-291-7967.
Additional information about the symphony is available at www.romesymphony.org.
