Small-town symphony thrives in Missouri musical Mecca

MARSHALL, Mo. -- They come from Chillicothe, Carrollton, Trenton and other central Missouri towns better known for their hog farms and meat packing plants than as a fertile spawning ground for musical virtuosos.

Doctors, lawyers, teachers, housewives, retirees or third-shift workers, they share a singular bond: a commitment to orchestral and symphonic performance that has made Marshall, with just over 12,000 residents, a classical musical Mecca.

The Marshall Philharmonic Orchestra just completed its 43rd year as an ensemble. Local historians have traced the roots of organized community bands in the town one hour east of Kansas City back to 1871.

Since 1934, residents have paid a one-tenth of a cent "band tax" to support the orchestra and the town's municipal band.

"We have factory workers, we have high school kids," said Norma Jeane Ferguson, the orchestra's principal bass player and an original member. "There's just a love of music in this town."

The orchestra emerged nearly a half-century ago after local banker Catron Gordon shared his vision with Harold Lickey, a high school chemistry teacher and part-time musician who quickly wound up as the group's musical director and conductor.

They began modestly, performing in each other's living rooms before moving to the Bueker Middle School stage, the philharmonic's current home.

"Everybody kind of laughed," said flute player Mary Lou Porter, an orchestra member since the early Lickey years. "They just kind of scoffed at him."

But Lickey persevered, recruiting music teachers and their students from nearby Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg as well as from Missouri Valley College in Marshall.

A half-dozen times each year, the symphony entertains locals with selections by Bach, Mozart and the like, or in the case of its late April finale, a pops program featuring the works of Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein and other American composers.

Jazz pianist Bob James is a Marshall native who studied under Lickey in Marshall High School's orchestra program. James called Lickey, who died in 1990, a local legend.

"He was an inspiration to all of us in town," said James, whose collaborations include projects with Quincy Jones, David Sanborn and Lee Ritenour.

"I fed off his energy," said James, best known for writing the theme song to the hit TV show "Taxi." "He was always a believer in reaching high."

The influence of Marshall musicians goes far beyond its crowd-pleasing performances. With orchestra programs in the town's middle and high schools, many musicians move on to earn college degrees in music education and take teaching jobs throughout Missouri, further sowing the seeds first planted generations ago.

"We can keep the tradition, and keep people playing," said Ferguson, whose husband, Charles Ferguson, succeeded Lickey as conductor.

For years, Marshall has touted its distinction as the smallest city in the country with its own symphony. The designation may be more apocryphal than factual -- contenders include the Red Cedar Symphony in Rice Lake, Wis., population 8,350 -- but no one can deny that Marshall is mad about music.

More than just the brass and woodwinds, a Marshall Philharmonic concert is a testament to the ties forged in small-town America.

The recent pops concert included a slide show of third- and fourth-graders' artwork from Marshall Elementary School. During intermission, performers freely mingled with their friends, family and neighbors in the middle school hallway.

And while the philharmonic routinely hosts performances by more established symphonies from Kansas City and St. Louis, the locals routinely outdraw their big-city cousins.

"If you're from Marshall, you know just about everyone on the stage," said Charles Ferguson, who took over as conductor after Lickey had a heart attack mid-performance. He has remained there since.