By Heidi Ker-Schlaefer,
Photographs by Dawn Morrow –
Giving her all, Toni Meade, one of the two founding singers, belts out one of her favorite songs.
What happens when you combine rock ’n’ roll with the sweet sounds of an orchestra? Pure magic. This is what the folks of Grand Junction discovered five years ago when the Rockestra, a semiprofessional ensemble that includes a rock band, singers and an orchestra, was born. It’s the brainchild of Calvin Hofer, Ph.D., head of the music department at Colorado Mesa University. Dr. Hofer was first introduced to the idea of a Rockestra through his connections to Sioux City, Iowa.
“A friend in Iowa sent me a DVD of the Sioux City Rockestra,” Hofer says. “I watched it and instantly thought to myself that this would go over big in Grand Junction. We were perfectly set up for it.”
“Stairway to Heaven” compilation, with the Colorado Mesa Theater Singers, and directed by Jeremy Franklin is a classic.
He began to discuss the idea with other Grand Junction musicians. One of those musicians was Scott Davis, a former student of Hofer’s. Davis had gone back to college to obtain a second degree in music education about the time that Hofer came to CMU. The two men, who were about the same age, became friends.
“Calvin started talking to me about the Rockestra,” Davis says. “He was from the classically trained world and I was from the rock and roll world, and he said that he needed someone to help out with that side of things. I was in.”
Today, Davis is a music teacher at Mount Garfield Middle School in Clifton and he’s also one of the founding members of Exit 42, a country music band that’s been on the Grand Junction scene for 24 years.
Getting the Rockestra Together
The Rockestra’s rock band has had the same four members playing along with the
Scott Davis, ripping on guitar, displays mad skills for the audience.
orchestra since the beginning. Davis plays guitar and Doug Morrow, a CMU piano major graduate who works extensively as a collaborative pianist in the music department, is on keyboard. Darin Kamstra, a professor of jazz studies and percussion at CMU, is the drummer, while Scot Bingham plays bass. This season Bingham, the principal of Broadway Elementary School in Grand Junction, will share bass duties with his son Lucas.
“Lucas is a fantastic bass player who just graduated from high school and is coming to CMU as a computer major,” Hofer says. “Father and son are going to start sharing the Rockestra duties.”
Playing in the Rockestra’s rock band presented some one-of-a-kind opportunities for those involved, and Davis feels intensely grateful to be a part of something so unique.
“I get to arrange some of the tunes for the Rockestra and that’s been a really cool thing for me,” he says. “Instead of a guitar, bass and drums, I get to say, what will the violins sound like if I add them here or what would the brass section be able to do here? Then I get to hear it come to life. It’s really rewarding.”
“This is probably one of the most interesting musical ventures I’ve been on in a while,” he adds.
After Hofer got the rock band members on board, he approached the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra about being part of the Rockestra concept. At the time, Hofer was principal trumpet player in the orchestra, a position he just recently retired from after 10 years.
The encore of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” gets full audience participation.
The response was resoundingly positive, and the Rockestra’s orchestra is made up entirely of professional GJSO musicians. Each season, Hofer starts with his master list of professional orchestra members and if the need arises, he goes to his list of substitutes, which includes some upper level music majors at CMU who can handle the show.
Once the rock band and orchestra members signed on, Hofer needed singers.
He decided to hold an “American Idol” type competition in Grand Junction and was surprised when 32 people showed up to compete. The panel of judges narrowed it down to 12 finalist and then to four. Today there are six singers and auditions are only held when someone leaves.
A Unique Opportunity
Jeena Williams, the principal at Riverside Middle School in New Castle and a musical theater graduate of New York University, auditioned for the Rockestra two years ago and has sang with the group ever since.
“It’s a really unique opportunity for a performer because you get the chance to sing in front of a huge orchestra. The musicians are so extraordinarily talented and professional,” she says. “It’s different from anything else I’ve done.”
Over her two seasons with the Rockestra, Williams had the opportunity to sing some of her favorite songs, such as “Hey Jude” and a medley of Led Zeppelin songs.
“The Rockestra arrangement of ‘Hey Jude’ was absolutely beautiful,” she says.
One of last year’s shows was themed Singer’s Choice and that meant the Rockestra’s singers chose the songs they sang in the show. Hofer liked the way the show worked out and is planning a more collaborative approach with the vocalists going forward.
(From left to right) Jeena Williams, Toni Meade and Scott Bets (Mr. Hips) belt out a hot number.
At this summer’s show in August, the theme was Director’s Choice and while some people thought Hofer would choose old school rock songs, he delighted the younger folks in the audience by choosing songs by Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry.
Dedication Required The rehearsal schedule for the Rockestra requires a lot of dedication on the part of the musicians involved. The singers get their set list six weeks prior to the show, the band gets sheet music a month before and the orchestra gets music just two weeks prior to the event.
“It’s all very fast and I think that speaks to the level of professionalism of all the people involved in the Rockestra,” Williams says. “The requirement and expectation is that you will do a great deal of preparation and rehearsal on your own time.”
All the musicians in the Rockestra are paid and the rock band and vocalists are occasionally hired to perform at events around the area.
A Standing Ovation
In the beginning, the rock band members were worried about how devotees of the GJSO would react to this blend of rock and classical music, but from the start, followers of the GJSO showed their support for the Rockestra by coming out to the performances in droves.
“I guess one thing that always surprises me is the age range of the fans that come to the Rockestra,” Davis says. “Some of the older people who show up will sing along with every word, and I’d have never guessed they even liked rock music.”
Hofer was also surprised at the diverse mix of audience members, but has come to believe that it’s simply based on the Rockestra’s enormous entertainment value.
Band members rock to a great tune.
“The shows are just fun,” he says. “People hear a ton of their favorite songs in a way that they’ve never heard them before and never will anywhere else.”
And he’s right. The Grand Junction Rockestra is the only Rockestra with a full season west of the Missouri River.
“I think this is one of the most unique entertainment experiences that people are going to have anywhere on the Western Slope,” Williams says. “The marriage of these extremely professional, classically trained, precise musicians playing rock songs that everybody knows — it’s just a really neat combination.”
Dr. Hofer started the group for two reasons; the first was to provide the community of western Colorado with a musical ensemble like no other. The second reason was to raise money for the CMU music department scholarship fund and for the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra. The two organizations split the Rockestra proceeds evenly.
While the musicians are professionals, a number of CMU students are involved in the Rockestra on other levels. Each year, Dr. Hofer hires a theater major to run lighting for the shows and a few music business majors help promote and market the Rockestra.
“They get really good, practical, behind-the-scenes experience of putting on a concert,” Hofer says.
The Rockestra plays four shows a season with a gala fundraiser/concert in June, an outdoor show on the CMU campus in August and concerts in October and January at Robinson Theater at CMU.
The theme of the October 17, 2015, show is, “I Love Rock and Roll,” and every song title performed will have the word love, rock or roll in it. The January 16, 2016, concert theme is “Rock of Ages, Rock Music from Movies, II.”
Tickets can be purchased by calling the GJSO at 970-243-6787 or by visiting gjsymphony.org.
“It’s a really fun evening,” Williams says. “You get to say that you saw the symphony orchestra, but it’s not so stuffy. It’s kind of the best of both worlds.”
Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer is a Colorado freelance writer and founder of HeidiTown.com, the place for Colorado festival and travel stories.
Watch the Rockestra perform with ZZ Top at youtube.com/GJRockestra/videos.