Beethoven’s sixth symphony tells the story of weathering a storm.

The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra performed Beethoven’s sixth as its last piece Saturday night, in its final concert before the orchestra’s Board of Trustees suspended its artistic operations and laid off all of the musicians and most of the staff on Sunday. Family, friends and students nearly filled Crouse College’s Setnor Auditorium for a tearful and early end to the orchestra’s 50th anniversary season.

Beethoven’s sixth symphony — also known as the ‘Pastoral Symphony’ and first performed more than two centuries ago in December 1808 — begins its first movement with the composer’s instructions: ‘Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country.’

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Gregory Wood arrived in Syracuse more than 32 years ago, after hearing about the SSO ‘by accident,’ as he puts it.

In Aspen, Colo., a fellow University of Cincinnati student mentioned the SSO, and Wood decided to add it to his audition list. He made the final rounds at the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony orchestras, as well as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where he played after he graduated from Cincinnati’s music conservatory.

But he chose Syracuse. Wood, who now plays assistant principal cello, moved to Syracuse in 1978 for the SSO. Syracuse’s orchestra offered him a leadership position, and he wanted to play in a city smaller than his native New York City, where he lived on Long Island. Nine years later, he started teaching cello at Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The orchestra was different back then, Wood remembers. Some of the musicians were teachers who still performed part time on their instruments, and some were full-time performers left over from when the orchestra began in 1961.

‘There was just a wide variety of skill level,’ Wood said. ‘And as a result, the quality of the orchestra was not nearly what it is today.’

Three decades later, Wood reminisces about how far the orchestra has come. After everything, his fondest memory is one of camaraderie.

The last time the orchestra played at Carnegie Hall, in April 2003, was the same night the SU men’s basketball team played in the national championship game. After nearly selling out Carnegie Hall, the orchestra headed to its reception at a hotel around the corner and watched SU win the national title on a big-screen television.

Wood said he hopes that won’t be the last time the orchestra plays at Carnegie Hall.

‘I have faith in the community to rise up and demand that Syracuse keep the high-quality orchestra we have,’ he said. ‘It’s one of the few things we can really have pride in.’

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The second movement of Beethoven’s sixth symphony constructs the scene at the brook, famous for its birdcalls: the flute for the nightingale, the oboe for the quail and the clarinet for the cuckoo.

Victoria Krukowski took up the clarinet in fourth grade, as soon as her front teeth came in.

‘My sister played the flute, so I wanted to play the flute. But she played the flute,’ Krukowski said, laughing. ‘So I chose the clarinet.’

She grew up here, listening to the SSO — her music teacher used to pick up students from home and take them to the symphony. She remembers, as a teenager, hearing former principal clarinetist Gerald Zampino perform Mozart’s clarinet concerto.

‘As music students at the time, we had dreams to go to conservatory and play in an orchestra such as this.’

Those dreams came true for Krukowski. She studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, and now plays second and E-flat clarinet for the SSO. One of her audition pieces happened to be Beethoven’s sixth symphony. She has been with the orchestra for 10 years, and said she hoped it would be longer.

‘I’m very sad that our Board of Directors made the decision to reverse their commitment to the orchestra and to the musicians and the community by closing the doors. At the same time, I’m very thankful to the community that stepped forward to support us and show that they do indeed want this full orchestra here in Syracuse,’ Krukowski said before the concert. ‘It’s a bittersweet mix of sadness, bewilderment, and also gratitude and hope for the future.’

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The revelry grows in Beethoven’s third movement, as the townspeople gather in celebration and dance.

David Constantine is the orchestra’s newest musician. He joined a year and a half ago, and he plays percussion and assistant principal timpani. He and his wife moved from Oregon — almost 3,000 miles — and just got settled in Syracuse.

‘It’s just a real shame to see the orchestra go,’ he said. ‘It’s such a gem.’

Everything happened so fast, he said, and he doesn’t know what he’ll do now. He and his wife want to start their family in this community, and they aren’t ready to leave. Not yet.

Daniel Hege, music director, said the outpouring of community support for the orchestra has overwhelmed him. Before the concert began Saturday night, he offered his profound thanks for those with deep hearts, even if they didn’t have deep pockets.

A wine shop offered a percentage of its proceeds to the orchestra. A tattoo studio inked music-related tattoos for a $25 donation to the SSO. College students rallied behind their professors who play in the orchestra.

‘It was just something so spectacular, it was beyond our wildest imagination,’ Hege said of the support Saturday night, trying to explain how much it meant to him and the musicians.

‘This is an incredible buildup of all those hours of lonely practicing, of woodshedding on an instrument,’ Hege said Sunday, ‘because they believe in something so beautiful that they want to share. Something so beautiful that it cannot be explained with words — only music.’

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At the start of the fourth movement, violins’ raindrops interrupt the revelry of the peasants. Gradually the trombones, piccolo and other instruments enter as the storm crescendos in violent thunder and lightning.

The SSO’s Board of Trustees voted last Tuesday to suspend artistic operations and lay off all of the musicians and some of the staff. The vote became effective Sunday. It canceled all of the concerts after Saturday’s Crouse College performance, including a Yo-Yo Ma concert scheduled for April 27.

The SSO failed to reach its March fundraising goal of $445,000 and received $1.3 million in concessions from the musicians for the 2011-12 season. As of March 25, its ‘Keep the Music Playing’ campaign had only raised $719,153 in donations, compared to its goal of $1.75 million by August 1.

Jon Garland has been with the orchestra for 14 years. In addition to playing assistant principal horn, this year he serves as the chair of the musicians’ orchestra committee — meaning that in times of negotiation, he represents the musicians to the symphony management.

After graduating from The Juilliard School, he won an audition for the SSO. He knew nothing about Syracuse — he just wanted to play with its orchestra.

The orchestra’s finances took a downturn after 2006, when it started running up budget deficits, Garland said. In 2006, it balanced its budget for the eighth consecutive year. But after a change in upper-level management and programming — including less of a focus on the wider Central New York audience — the SSO entered a financial decline.

‘Those four words, ‘Keep the Music Playing,’ were invented by the symphony about two months ago. And at this point, I think it’s impossible to keep the music playing by suspending operations. It’s simply not possible,’ Garland said. ‘Each member of this orchestra that is in a full-time job here, as a musician, has donated $7,000 back to the orchestra since July 1. And we didn’t do that so that it would close down. We’re trying to help.’

Garland said the musicians are unhappy that the management team refused to market any shows for next season. If it had launched a subscription campaign for next season, the orchestra could have at least finished out this season and perhaps done better next season.

But Garland, like many of the musicians, believes the SSO will not be silenced.

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Most classical pieces conclude after four movements. But Beethoven didn’t intend for the sixth symphony’s story to end there. With time, the clouds part and the violent tempest clears. The instruments play melodies of happiness, joy and peaceful thanksgiving.

And there is the sound of hope, of music, after the storm.

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Published on April 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm