The Connection

McLean Orchestra conductor and musical director Miriam Burns doesn’t hesitate from knowledge that she can change a life in one evening.

“That’s the kind of splash I want to continue making,” she said.

When she conducts, she can feel the rapt attention of the audience when she and her orchestra perform at mastery.

“All of us on stage are thrilled to be sharing a musical masterpiece and telling a story on stage,” she said. “I don’t see how people can live without great music, it can be such a powerful force in life. We all need it.”

“One of my favorite things is to introduce people to a piece for the first time.”

-Miriam Burns, McLean Orchestra

Burns begins her fourth season as conductor and musical director.

“One of my favorite things is to introduce people to a piece for the first time and seeing and hearing and feeling the splash of emotion that comes out,” she said.

The McLean Orchestra begins its 45th season, “A New Beginning.”

“It’s all sorts of firsts for us,” said John Devlin, music director and conductor of McLean’s Youth Orchestra. “A new board, new leader, new ideas.”

Devlin plans to give audience members opportunities to meet the musicians after performances and Burns plans to make classical musical even more accessible by sharing what to listen for before pieces are performed.

The orchestra performs at the Oakcrest School in McLean.

More than 80 musicians perform with the orchestra.

She guarantees that once she gets people in the doors, new audience members will return.

“That’s easy,” she said.

“We’ve been here for 45 years and there’s a reason for that, the musical excellence,” said Devlin.

THE ORCHESTRA TAKES responsibility for nurturing the next generation of classical musicians through its McLean Youth Orchestra.

“Students get remarkable experience working with the orchestra on a regular basis,” said John Devlin, who conducts the youth orchestra.

The youth orchestra was founded in 1983 for advanced high school and middle school students.

A “perfect marriage of education and music,” said Burns.

Kevin Robinson is a French horn musician with the youth orchestra.

“It’s very inspirational,” he said. “It gives me an accurate depiction what the professional setting is like.”

“It’s interesting to hear all the voices of the orchestra and to get the experience playing when you’re in the midst of all the sounds,” he said.

Watching Devlin and Burns has definitely prepared him to take the baton to be the drum major with his school’s marching band.

“Now I get to understand when a conductor is complaining about what the ensemble is doing,” he joked.

Burns is grateful for the opportunities she had to perform with advanced youth orchestras early in high school. She remembers one conductor warning her and her friends about the difficulties of making a career in music and to make sure they developed additional skills to make a living.

“I deliberately made sure I didn’t have any other marketable skills,” Burns said.