LOCAL ORCHESTRA LIKES IT THAT WAY

Not every local orchestra aspires to the big time. The Orange Coast Community Symphony Orchestra, celebrating its 25th season this year, remains satisfied with its amateur status.

“The orchestra exists to provide an outlet for people who have managed to achieve a certain amount of skill on their instruments but have no desire or time to pursue a professional career,” conductor Joseph Pearlman said in a recent telephone interview.

“It’s not a professional organization. No one gets paid. But the musicians are not beginners or rank amateurs, and some are first-class players.

“I don’t pretend our orchestra presents the same symphonic standards as professional organizations do. But I think our performances are acceptable.”

Pearlman will conduct the orchestra in “Prairie Night Dance” from Copland’s “Billy the Kid,” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, with soloist Robert Haag, at 8 p.m. on Saturday in the Robert B. Moore Theatre at Orange Coast College.

Founded in 1960 at the college, the orchestra has grown under Pearlman’s direction--he took over in 1965--from 31 members to 55 now. All members are local residents ranging in age from 18 to the mid-50s and beyond. Pearlman is 66.

The members have varied backgrounds, from attorneys, dentists and teachers to businessmen, engineers, housewives and retirees. None are music students at OCC.

Cellist Mike Neben is a businessman in Anaheim who has played with the orchestra for more than 8 years. Neben finds the experience “a great recreational outlet and a personal challenge,” he said. “Each time we go, we learn more and develop our skills. I enjoy working with the group and I’m amazed at the dedication of the people in it.”

Concertmaster Jane Thorpe, who lives in Laguna Hills and has previously been a member of the Miami Philharmonic and the Mexico Symphony, finds the level of music-making “very satisfying because we play Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schubert, the well-known classic symphonies and overtures from operas.”

“Musical standards are not pushed down,” she said.

Robert Cuyler, a dentist in Newport Beach, has been principal bassoonist with the group for eight years. For him, the orchestra represents “an opportunity to keep on playing and keep alive a part of our lives that we love. I would be very upset if anything were to happen to the orchestra. I feel very strongly about it.”

Pearlman’s background includes six years as a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, from 1954-1960, and full-time teaching at Orange Coast College from 1965 until his retirement in 1983.

Originally, performing in the orchestra was offered as a class at the college. But budget cuts forced its transfer in 1981 into the department of community services at the College.

“We were (then) supposed to become totally self-supporting,” said Pearlman, who continues to lead the group on a part-time basis with the College. “But community services has subsidized the group at a loss.”

The group offers three concerts a year and operates on an annual budget of $7,800, which covers expenses for music purchase or rental, technical staff, publicity and Pearlman’s salary (“which I regard as insignificant: I don’t do it for money,” he said).

“I would say about half the budget comes from ticket sales and enrollment fees from the members of the orchestra,” Pearlman said. (Members pay a $15 fee each semester.) “The rest comes from community services. We have a foundation program, but no fund-raising organization, board of directors or sponsors. The orchestra members have been asked to try to raise money themselves. But considering the fact that they all pay an enrollment fee, they weren’t too happy about that.”

The bulk of the expenses, Pearlman said, goes to bring in professional soloists, who agree to play for less than their usual fee.

Pianist Daniel Pollack, who has performed with the orchestra five times, said: “At first I didn’t know the caliber of the group, but I felt it was my obligation with a fledgling orchestra to help it achieve a better level.

“But since then I’ve become very impressed with the ability of the conductor: We feel music in the same way and that’s 90% of the effort. He can do incredible things with very difficult repertory. I really admire the group. They’re enthusiastic and really rise to their occasion.”

There are plans to return the orchestra to the music department next fall, according to Pearlman. “Everyone was concerned that community services might not subsidize the group any longer, but this transfer would take the pressure off,” he said.

“In a way, though, it’s been kind of a miracle that this organization has lasted for 25 years. I don’t know how it’s managed to survive except that the players just don’t want to give up, despite the problems.”