The Asheville Symphony Orchestra kicked off its 50th season last month with a glamorous outdoor concert in Pack Square Park. A few longtime female players remember the ASO’s humble roots.

by Joanne O’Sullivan . photo by Matt Rose

When Mary Daniels played in the Asheville Symphony Orchestra as a teen, the group was so small it met in the basement of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Charlotte Street—and if you’ve ever seen the place, you know it’s a really small church. Daniels, a violinist, left town for conservatory and then came back to serve as the symphony’s concertmaster for 25 years. She says it wasn’t so long ago that the number of professional musicians in the orchestra topped out at three. “Now there are maybe three who aren’t professional musicians,” she says. “We’ve progressed from a tiny little civic orchestra. It’s amazing to see the caliber of musicians who want to play here now.”

That includes folks who have moved here from big-city orchestras or commute in from areas like Greenville/Spartanburg or as far away as Washington, D.C. Rita Hayes, who plays both piccolo and flute for the orchestra and has been with the Asheville Symphony for 25 of her 30 years in the area, says newcomers are always expanding the group’s musical universe. And attendance has grown significantly recently. “People who move here from bigger cities like New York or Philadelphia express surprise at the quality of our symphony,” she says. “They don’t expect it from a town of this size.”

The ensemble currently includes more than 60 musicians, most of whom operate music studios, teach at local schools and play in other regional orchestras. The ASO plays seven masterpieces and one pops concert each season, along with educational concerts, which reach 7,000 local students. Key to the orchestra’s progression of late has been the tenure of Daniel Meyer, who joined as musical director in 2005.

If you’ve been to a concert, you’ll see that—for all the big-city talent—the group still has a decidedly Asheville vibe. “We want people to know that this isn’t a buttoned-up, black tie organization,” says ASO board chair Carolyn Hubbard. “We’re used to tattoos and shorts.”