Once again, I'm here at the Elkhart County Visitor Bureau in Elkhart, and I'm here with Terry, who's the director of communications.

And Terry, this month on Experience Michiana, we're going to focus on the symphony because you really have a wonderful symphony here in Elkhart.

Absolutely.

They are wonderful musicians.

They really believe in their craft.

They believe in bringing music to the masses to make it accessible to the entire community.

And they're full of talent, and it's really wonderful to just sit back and listen to the music that they can create.

And this video that you're sharing with us, this is part of your well crafted video series.

And so this really showcases just the absolute talent and the beauty.

It is well crafted.

I mean, they're great example of what well-crafted means when you see them working together.

Exactly.

You know, when you watch them on stage, you don't necessarily realize how much work and effort goes into a 50, 60, 70 piece orchestra all coming together to play something beautiful together.

And so you get to see a little bit of that and hear a little bit about why they believe strong so strongly in what they do.

My name is Suhan, the music director of the Elkhart County Symphony Orchestra, and we make important music.

The story of Elkhart County Symphony Orchestra begins 75 years ago, when members of the community set out to establish a symphony orchestra here because they believed in the power of music and the good that it could do for the people of Elkhart, and the good that it could do to help to make our world a better place.

And today, our mission is pretty much the same to me.

A community symphony is one that is made up of the people from the community, and also that reflects back to youth, in particular what they could be when they're older.

So I think our symphony does a fantastic job of being that example, and that place where local musicians can play and make music, and then young people can step up and see themselves filling those roles someday.

My favorite part of this entire thing that we do is the people that I get to work with and the journey that we go on, every single concert that we put on, it's still rehearsals.

It's the conversations.

It's the exploration of why was this music that we're performing written?

Why does it exist?

Because music, unlike any other expression, form of expression that we have, can do things that words can't.

That, that that sometimes even paintings can't.

It touches us and it expresses things of our humanity that is not possible in any other forms.

I think it's really special that our musicians are local, because I show up to rehearsal and I see my friends.

I see musicians that I know from other gigs, I see fellow teachers, and it's just a great way to maintain those connections and build those relationships within our local Elkhart County community.

Maestro Suhan is one of the most dynamic and engaging conductors that I've ever worked with.

He is so personable.

He always addresses us as colleagues.

He inspires us.

He brings out the best in all of us as players, and he really goes above and beyond to create a musical community.

The diverse elements of all the things that come together to make an orchestra, of course, include all the different instruments.

One of the main reasons that the tradition of orchestral music is so strong here in Elkhart is, of course, because of all the incredible instrument makers that exist here and all the world artists that come to here, to Elkhart to find their instruments that are playing in orchestra.

A lot of people don't know that Elkhart County has this incredibly rich history of music making, whether actually making the instruments themselves, but also playing, performing music and educating our young people in music.

And I think that tradition is really special and unique to our community and is something to be celebrated.

The greatest goal and the greatest hope that we have is that our audiences feel something that evokes a memory, evokes a feeling, and just for the moment that they're with us, that they feel a little bit more alive than they would have otherwise.

Not every community has this.

We are lucky.

We have so many incredible musicians and music educators, and we are able to create music at this level, this caliber of music, because of the artistry and the hard work of all the musicians that live in our community.

And that's something really special.

I think for a community to have a symphony is to have a source of creative expression, to have something that brings people together for the sole purpose of hearing beauty and experiencing.

Just being able to sit for two hours and totally immerse yourself in something beautiful and something creative.

I mean, the musicians, we can feel it when it really works and the audience can feel it too.

The Elkhart County Symphony Orchestra is a musical representation and expression of who we are as community members of Elkhart County Symphony Orchestra.

The symphony is really important to our community because it creates this well crafted space of beauty and creativity that enriches the community.