Holliston November 2016

Page 18 Local Town Pages www.hollistontownnews.com November 2016
The Symphony in the Suburbs
Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra Brings High Caliber
Classical Music to Region
By J.D. O’Gara
Looking for the experience of
a high-caliber orchestra? Look no
further than right down the street
in Milford, with The Claflin Hill
Symphony Orchestra, now embarking
on its 17th season and
drawing professional musicians
from all around the area.
“This is a first class, professional
presentation,” says Paul
Surapine, Claflin Hill Symphony
Orchestra founder, orchestra
conductor, executive and artistic
director. “All members of the
orchestra are professional musicians.”
Surapine, who was trained in
clarinet by “one of the greatest
clarinet teachers in New York
City,” settled in Milford in 1992.
A year later, he says, he became
part of an aging Milford Concert
Band.
The idea of starting his own
concert series was inspired by
a concert in which Surapine
played at Carnegie Hall in the
late 1990s, in which the stage was
opened up to kids. “The place
was filled with people who had
never come to Carnegie Hall,”
he says. “I set out on a path to do
something like that. I was going
to put together a concert series
in Franklin,” he says. The idea
was to get people who had never
come to a symphony, to come.
Surapine wasn’t just looking
for average musicians.
“We’re bringing the highest
level. The musicians around here
are great. We live on the outskirts
of one of the greatest cultural
magnets of the world,” says
Surapine. Claflin Hill members
do not audition, but are found
by members having played with
them somewhere else.
“Our orchestra is not the kind
of orchestra where you have
formal auditions. It’s friends recommending
friends at the very
highest level,” says Jagan Nath
Singh Khalsa, second violinist
and one of the founding members
of the group. “Paul has a
knack for drawing good people,”
Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, made up entirely of well-trained, professional musicians from the area, will kick off it’s 2016-2017 season on
November 5, at 7:30 p.m. at Milford Town Hall. Photo used courtesy of CH50.
Timothy Daniels House
says Khalsa, who says he feels
empowered that his second violin
helps to build the full body,
or foundation, to the Claflin
Hill strings. Khalsa says Surapine
“trusts the musicians to take
his input and make something
great.”
“We need musicians who play
in a very high caliber, but who
also understand that Claflin Hill
is more than just an orchestra,
it’s a community vehicle,” says
Surapine. “You have to be outgoing
to that audience. It’s pretty
unique.” What’s more, he says,
“All the people in the orchestra
dearly love each other.”
“We are like a family, sharing
news and growing as individuals
but playing as one joyous musical
force,” says Kathleen Woods, of
Franklin, who teaches at Franklin
High School and has been playing
viola with Claflin Hill since
its early days. “Most of us have
additional jobs or careers, and I
think this makes us all appreciate
our audience and the amazing
opportunity to present such
great pieces of music for this
region. We perform the masterworks
of the symphonic form,
as well as pops and holiday programs.
Where can you hear these
classics without traveling at great
expense to Boston?”
Milford Town Hall also provides
an intimate musical experience.
“The orchestra is sitting in the
middle of the audience,” says
Surapine. “Sometimes, at intermission,
people walk up to speak
SYMPHONY
continued on page 19
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