THE BIRTH OF SMALL ENSEMBLES

by NORA DUNLOP

The idea for Small Ensembles was rooted in having a marketing device for Pops as a whole. Getting the whole orchestra to play on the Diag to promote an upcoming show was not going to happen easily, but a string quartet or duo or woodwind quintet or any other number of combinations of players would be easy. The real motivation was to have a mobile marketing unit that told the Pops story in a different manner than posters and word of mouth.

I should note that we started talking about Small Ensembles in earnest in 2002ish... social media wasn't a thing yet. We would make physical signs and then physically place them in public places. Bonkers, I know. Anyways, at Pops Board meetings in 2002-2003 I remember talking about it. And then in the fall of 2003 we just…did it. 

I headed it up but the Pops Board at the time (Fatima Syed, Courtney Young, Paul Dobryden, Tom McDonough, Steve Goetzinger, and Chris Lees) and G-Board heavy hitters (Steve Skripnik and Sonali Rajan) were integral...Small Ensembles was going to be an imprint of Pops, so it had to have that Pops spirit and fun.

I think at rehearsal we announced "Hey, we're gonna try this Small Ensembles thing. If you're interested, sign up and we'll see what happens." Honestly, I don't think it was any more detailed than that. I believe a physical piece of paper and a pen were passed around, and at the end of rehearsal I got the paper, and saw what kind of make up we had, instrument wise.  I think I made suggestions ("you wanna be in a woodwind quartet?"), and that was that.  We were able to order chamber music that we were interested in (or check the scores out of the Music Library), and also do arrangements of stuff we liked and then have an outlet to play those in. The lovely and talented Sonali Rajan came up with an arrangement of Dave Matthews Band's "Ants Marching" for 3 cellos and a violin, complete with percussive bow hits against a cello in the intro, and that was just...cool. By Pops for Pops. And for promoting Pops.

I think our first concert was in early December 2003 in the Union Club. There was a brass quintet, string quartet, woodwind quartet, flute trio... and more. Sonali, Courtney, Paul, and Pierre-Yves did “Ants Marching,” the brass quintet did Beatles stuff (as arranged by the Canadian Brass), and some indulged me in playing arrangements of Ben Folds Five songs for anyone who wanted to play. 

We never quite got the "guerilla marketing" aspect down, but it wasn't too long before we had requests: the brass quintet played a corporate holiday party, and later did afternoon tea at Martha Cook. Some ensembles played at the opening of a performance space, and we even got requests for string quartets to play a wedding... and get paid! It was wild! There was obviously a need for these types of groups, and it definitely was a way to get the Pops name (and brand) out. 

In April 2004, we had a big 'ol show at the League called Pops Rocks. It was supposed to be fun and kind of flippant. Fatima and Mike did a Violin/Tuba duet by PDQ Bach. Sonali did a bangin' arrangement of Bon Jovi's "Livin' On a Prayer." The flute trio played lovely Mozart. And I was indulged again in arranging stuff - Wilco's "Jesus, etc" with full string sections, drums, bass, guitar and piano, Badly Drawn Boy's "The Shining" for 3 cellos, 1 horn, and guitar, and another Ben Folds Five piece - this time with just strings, bass, drums, and piano. It was fun. It was well attended. There were cheese and crackers. 

What I remember most about that show were the musical interludes. Maestro Chris agreed to play transitional piano music between each act, and it was just silly stuff. "Heart and Soul," Chopsticks, Lounge Music. And that kinda set the tone...players with good chops having fun playing.

That's what I remember most about Small Ensembles; it was another opportunity to try playing different sorts of music in different ways, and a lovely extension of Pops. I wish I could name everyone who played or helped that first year, as well as every song played, but alas. The passage of time.

12/21/18

Nora Dunlop is currently the Director of Finance for the Jane Addams Resource Corp (JARC), a workforce development and poverty reduction organization. She happily resides in Chicago with her husband and musical collaborator of 12 years, Karl Klockars.