Symphony Orchestra Augusta will become Columbia County's official resident symphony if a proposal to that effect is approved by county commissioners at a Tuesday meeting.
But the request has left a county-based volunteer orchestra wondering why it was overlooked.
"For me, I would not think about going to Richmond County and ask to be made the official orchestra of Richmond County," said Rob Nordan, the music director of the Columbia County Orchestra Association and conductor of the Columbia County Civic Orchestra, which formed in February 2008.
Nordan said about 30 of the Civic Orchestra's 45 musicians are county residents.
Symphony Orchestra Augusta Executive Director Sandra Self said the proposed designation is a way to acknowledge the county's support of the symphony and reinforce community connections.
"It's really just recognition," she said. "It's a nice thing, I think, to recognize and give visibility to both the symphony and to the partnership of Columbia County and our performing (there)."
Every year, Symphony Orchestra Augusta holds the Columbia County Music Series at the Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center, and Pops! Under the Stars at University Health Care System's Evans campus.
Self said the designation as the county's official resident symphony would be included in program books, announced at symphony functions and posted outside the performing arts center.
"We thought it was just a good thing to do, especially now with "Z" (the symphony's music director, Shizuo Kuwahara) and our new era and the fact that we're moving into so many different directions," she said.
Nordan and others within the Civic Orchestra question the motivation of such an official designation for the Augusta-based symphony.
"They want to know where they are coming from on this," he said. "As a taxpayer, I would have a concern about a group that is not in Columbia County to be given recognition, and what that is paving the way for."
Nordan said he plans to contact commissioners to express his concerns.
"This is something that our elected officials are choosing to recognize, and some of my folks are a little bit upset about it," he said.
Since the Columbia County Civic Orchestra started, the group's musicians have performed eight concerts throughout the area.
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