THE MICHIGAN POPS STRING ORCHESTRA
AND The story of how it came to be...
The idea for the Michigan Pops String Orchestra came about on August 4th, 2007, when Jen Wurtzel messaged Shari Rosen over AIM and said, "I just had an overambitious idea that you should talk me out of!" Jen had been watching the anime Nodame Cantabile, where one of the main characters is a conducting student who creates and conducts his own orchestra. She was inspired (and also really just wanted to play Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings), and Shari got too excited to talk her out of it, and so the string orchestra was born.
Co-founders and best friends Jennifer Wurtzel and Shari (Rosen) Schwarzwald!
The first concert and rehearsals were held in the East Quad auditorium. The orchestra members included Pops members of course, but also some who were not in any formal groups and just wanted to play good music. We didn't have a conductor for most of the year, but we had a great group of musicians who were able to lead and connect with each other. Our first concert was a success, and although both of us graduated shortly afterwards, we are really happy to have played with everyone and proud of what the orchestra has become!
Take a look at the first concert program!
