Visitors to the Ruth Ellis Center, including Bernard Norris and Aaron Hall (third and fourth from left) dance to the music played by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra behind them.
HIGHLAND PARK – Eight members of the striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra played for an intimate audience at the Ruth Ellis Center on Wednesday, Dec. 22. The concert, dubbed "Let the Music Play at Christmas," was one of three the musicians performed at shelters across the city on that day.
The ensemble, called Rick Robinson and the Cut Time Players, contained several symphony principals. They played a selection of holiday favorites including Tchaikovsky's Russian suite from the Nutcracker, Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," a selection of carols from "Sleigh Ride" composer Leroy Anderson, "Greensleeves" and the Martin Luther King movement from Duke Ellington's Three Black Kings.
"We've come to be with the people who are our community," said Robinson, who has played bass with the DSO for 21 years. "On behalf of the 82 members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra we bring to you, my good people, a gift of music of the holidays."
Robinson's sister, founding Ruth Ellis Center board member Kofi Adoma, was in the audience for the performance and beaming throughout.
"I had always dreamed that my brother and members of the DSO would come to the center and play for the kids, but I was always afraid to ask him because he has such a busy career," Adoma said. "So it came as a surprise to me when he called me two weeks ago and told me he was coming to the center to play. Once he told me the date, nothing was going to stop me from being there."
In addition to the Ruth Ellis Center, the DSO members gave free shows at the Tumaini Center and Mariner's Inn.
"Christmas is a season for giving, and although we have been out of work for several months now we are giving what we can in the form of music," said Gordon Stump, president of the Detroit Federation of Musicians. "We've been playing everywhere, producing our own concerts. They've got this gift of music and they want to share it.
"It's been extremely rewarding for us," Stump continued. "It's an honor and a privilege for us to do this. We've been doing a lot of stuff in the suburbs, but it's good to be back in the city. It feels really good to give back."
Robinson sought to engage the youth in the audience, calling upon them at one point to don furry antlers and ring sleigh bells throughout the room.
"I liked it a lot," said 18-year-old Aaron Hall. "It was something different. I'd never seen an orchestra before."
Bernard Norris, 20, also enjoyed it.
"I loved it," he said. "It was very powerful and very moving."
Adoma said she watched attentively to see how the youth would respond.
"I was delighted by their reaction," she said. "I knew that it was something unique and different to them and I really didn't know how they were going to react. It looked like the young people were enjoying the music. My brother told me he'd never had anybody clap to the 'Hallelujah Chorus' before. But you have to meet people where they are, and there's many ways that people can respond to classical music. Everyone should have access to the symphony and money should be no barrier to people enjoying classical music."
Following the performance, the youth enjoyed a holiday meal prepared by volunteers at the center.
