Local art groups aim to drum up cash

MANASSAS, Va. -- The problem with the instruments in a orchestra’s percussion section is that most of the stuff in it is big and heavy, especially when you add in the timpani, or kettle drums.

Another problem is that not every orchestra has a full percussion set that includes marimbas, xylophones, cymbals, drums, triangles and the rest of the stuff that makes up the heart of the rhythm section.

Yet another problem is that the stuff costs a lot.

Alan Grofe, the president of the board of directors of the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra hopes to solve all of those problems with the help of the Youth Orchestras of Prince William and Dominion Woman’s Club.

The three groups will host “Drum Roll, Please!” to raise money to buy a new Yamaha timpani concert percussion set to donate to the Hylton Performing Arts Center.

“Yamaha is really the top of the line,” he said.

Grofe said that historically the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra borrowed percussion sets that were available, on site, at the various venues where the orchestra performed.

“For 17 years we’ve never needed one,” Grofe said.

Now that the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Orchestras of Prince William will make the Hylton Performing Arts Center home, they’ll be needing the instruments and they’ll need to come up with the money to buy them, Grofe said.

“The Hylton didn’t put it in their budget,” Grofe said of the percussion set that will cost the orchestras upwards of $20,000.

“We started out to just buy the timpani and that was hugely expensive. They’re like $15,000 each,” Grofe said.

So a set of four timpani and the rest of the stuff to go along with them would have cost the orchestras roughly $42,000.

Enter John Kilkenny, the director of percussion studies and a Yamaha performing artist at George Mason University School of Music.

Kilkenny, who has a relationship with Yamaha, asked the company to cut the two orchestras a break on the price of the instruments and Yamaha did.

“That’s why this is happening,” Grofe said.

Buying and then donating the percussion set to the arts center solves several problems the orchestras would have if they owned the instruments outright, Grofe said.

“We were going do a fundraiser and buy it ourselves, but then I realized ‘Look. What do we do after we get it? Where do we store it? What happens when somebody else wants to use it?’” Grofe said.

The youth orchestras would have had the same problem if they bought a set, Grofe said.

“I thought, ‘Why don’t we raise the money and then donate it to the Hylton? Let them store it and they can use it for other groups that come through and then w e can use it forever,’” he said of the percussion set.

So that’s the aim of “Drum Roll, Please,” to be held at the arts center between 7 and 10 p.m. on June 19 with a live auction and catering by Simply Organic, A La Carte, Cakes by Happy Eatery, Kitchen Gourmet and the Inn at Vint Hill, along with chamber music performances by orchestra members.

Auction items include rides in a hot air balloon, a vintage war tank, a helicopter and an airplane.

A home theater system with a 46-inch LCD Samsung television and a Sony “Theater-in-a-Box” surround sound system with a Blu-Ray player, donated by Best Buy, will also be auctioned at the fundraiser.

Bidders will also compete for the chance at naming rights to the percussion set, Grofe said.

“It’s a really good cause. It’s not often that you get something physical that’s going to benefit the orchestras in the community,” Grofe said.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

“We kept the price low so we can get a lot of people,” said Grofe who hopes that 300 to 400 people will show up for the fundraiser in the Didlake Foyer at the arts center.

For a complete list of auction items, or to buy tickets visit drumroll-please.com or call 703-993-9344.

“It’s a pretty extensive list,” Grofe said.

Jean Kellogg, the Hylton Center’s executive director said she appreciated efforts of the local groups to get the percussion set.

“One of the most valuable outcomes of this unique partnership is our resident arts groups joining forces to raise funds for something that is mutually beneficial for both the groups and the Hylton Performing Arts Center,” Kellogg said in an arts center press release. “A full timpani and percussion set is as vital to an orchestra as violins and cellos, yet far less portable. Having the full range of percussion instruments onsite is absolutely essential to a first class performing arts center. We are grateful to the resident arts groups for their time, effort and generosity in supporting this common cause.”

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.