Anthony Elliott

An inaugural season is an adventure for both orchestra and conductor, so it’s fitting that Anthony Elliott’s first season with the Dexter Community Orchestra has as its theme “Fantastic Voyages.” The orchestra chose Elliott — an internationally active cellist, conductor and educator on the University of Michigan music faculty — as its leader following a yearlong search. Elliott succeeds Donald Parrish, who founded the orchestra nearly five years ago. Donald Parrish will retain his association with the orchestra as music director emeritus.

“The orchestra was the brainchild of Don Parrish,” Elliott said by phone recently, “and he did a wonderful job putting it together and as an educator. One thing that struck me has been the unique flavor of the esprit de corps in this ensemble. One member is 92 years old. One member has been playing just a year and has never been in the orchestra before.

"There are all ages, all walks of life, all kinds of skill levels, including many who could be professional musicians, but have chosen careers in other fields. And it is a wonderful experience for me to know them and work with them. I’m looking forward to a long association and to being out in the community.”

The orchestra’s regular home is the Performing Arts Center at Dexter High School, where four Sunday afternoon concerts — all at 4 p.m., all free, and all open to the public — are planned for the 2010-2011 season.

Elliott justly calls it “a very healthy season,” but beyond that, it is ambitious, interesting, and locally relevant, highlighting area composers and soloists along the way.

Among those soloists is Elliott himself. He begins his inaugural concert with the DCO, set for October 24, in the dual role of conductor and cellist, performing Haydn’s Concerto in C Major. Other works on this concert include Rabaud’s orchestration of Gabriel’s Faure’s “Dolly Suite” and Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite.”

The remaining concerts in the season are:

• December 19 - Vaughn Williams “Hodie,” a large-scale holiday cantata that features members of the Washtenaw County Community Chorus under the direction of George Dentel.

• March 6, 2011 -Mozart’s Symphony No. 29; “Watershed,” composed by the U-M’s Evan Chambers and premiered in 2009 by the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra; and Robert Russell Bennett’s arrangement of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.

• May 22, 2011 - This season finale includes “Nuages” and “Fêtes” from Debussy’s “Nocturnes” and features the winner of its annual Youth Concerto Competition. De Falla’s colorful “Three Cornered Hat” completes the program.

Elliott added he is also looking forward to doing open-air concerts in the gazebo in the heart of Dexter.

“We’ll definitely do some of those concerts again. We have one scheduled for June. The name is the Dexter Community Orchestra,” he reiterates,” so we do want to be as much a resource for the community as possible.”

For more information on the Dexter Community Orchestra — whether as a player or a listener — visit the Dexter Community Orchestra website.

Susan Isaacs Nisbett is a free-lance writer who covers classical music and dance for AnnArbor.com.