Hot ticket: Our very own symphony orchestra

My wife and I attended last week the sold-out Gala Season Opener of the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra. What a treat.

We heard several comments at the intermission and after the performance that our very own symphony orchestra doesn't get the attention it deserves. My wife and I agreed.

So, this column can't possibly make up for all the well-deserved praise to which the orchestra is entitled. But it's a start. Like so many things in this world, we can't solve everything. You and I can't stop war and poverty and disease, but we can hug a veteran and share a smile with a bedridden cancer patient. It's a start.

My wife and I have lived all over the country. Many of the places we've called home have had orchestras. We remember particularly the New York Philharmonic and the St. Joseph (Missouri) Symphony and the orchestra in Topeka, in Kansas.

Each of these orchestras had their bright spots and their share of supporters. But some of the orchestras in less-populated areas have had their struggles, too. For all the years we went to performances of the St. Joseph orchestra, the French horn players never quite got their act together.

Which leads to this observation: The Southeast orchestra is one of the best.

Maybe that's because of its blend of performers, including students and faculty at our state university as well as devoted community members.

And then there is the leadership of our local orchestra. Conductor Sara Edgerton pulls some interesting tricks out of the orchestra members when she waves her magic wand.

School has been in session a scant two months, and by the time of last week's season opener, the orchestra capably devoted the second half to Dvorak's "New World" symphony with its familiar musical themes.

But, as Tom Harte would say, let's have dessert first.

After a light warm-up by the orchestra with the von Suppe "Light Cavalry Overture," the real magnet for the sold-out audience took the stage.

Yes, it was our very own violin virtuoso Liesl Schoenberger, who, in addition to continuing to blossom in her performing career -- to international acclaim, has added "Doty" to her name. She and husband Karl Doty wowed their eager-to-be-pleased audience. Karl Doty not only showed us the impressive range of his string bass, but he also arranged the pair's final piece ("Souvenir d'Amerique" by Vieuxtemps) that left everyone humming "Yankee Doodle Dandy" punctuated by a brief snippet of "Dixie." The audience loved it.

If you like good music, if you like orchestras, if you like first-rate guest soloists, if you like choral music, watch for performances by the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

What's not to like?

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Bird update: If you build it, they will come. Or, to put a finer point on it, if you spend a gob of money on feeders and poles to hold the feeders and fancy bird feed and a baffle for the squirrels to play with and a heated birdbath, they will come.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I had put out bird feeders at our new home and the birds seemed to be boycotting for reasons unknown.

Well, it took a week, but the first visitors finally decided this wasn't a trap. A flock of chickadees have been busy at the feeders ever since.

Now they have been joined by goldfinches, purple finches, downy woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, robins and titmice. So far, we've seen no sparrows or starlings or other less welcome guests.

Patience. That's what it's all about. That's what my fortune cookie at our favorite Chinese restaurant said a few months ago: "Good things come to those who wait."

Waiting isn't always easy. But I know a few odd birds that would say the wait was worth the while.

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.