by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
For more than 60 years, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra has been part of the foundation of the city’s cultural heritage.
What first comes to mind about JSYM, or any orchestra, is the group of musicians and the conductor performing on a stage.
A lot more takes place behind the scenes and in the case of the local live classical music provider, much of the unseen contribution comes from the Guild of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
Established at the same time as the orchestra, the group was originally called the Concert Committee.
The members, exclusively female at the time, sold tickets for the first concert and spent the day of the debut performance cleaning the old Armory at the corner of State and Market streets and setting up chairs. That evening, they handed out program guides as the audience arrived.
A few years later, the Concert Committee was renamed the Women’s Committee. The group of volunteers soon developed the orchestra’s first pops concert and continued to help the orchestra succeed when it moved to its second venue at the George Washington Hotel.
When the Prudential Insurance Co. opened its new regional home office on the Southbank in 1955 (now known as the Aetna Building), the orchestra moved to the building’s auditorium.
The Women’s Committee was again renamed, this time “The Women’s Guild,” and as the symphony’s outreach programs grew, so did membership in the organization.
The group began hosting pre-concert luncheons with discussions of guest artists before each Thursday performance. In 1961, the Guild presented the first Symphony Ball in the new Municipal Coliseum.
Two years later, the orchestra moved again to the new riverfront Civic Auditorium on the Northbank. In 1972, with the goal of creating a major annual fundraiser to support the orchestra and as a way to encourage more community participation, the Guild presented the first Designer Showhouse in Florida.
It enlisted the participation of a local builder and invited the area’s most well-known interior designers and decorators to put their touches on a selected new residence. The public was invited to purchase tickets to see how the designers furnished and decorated the home.
That tradition continues April 2-24 with the 30th Annual Designers Showhouse, the Coxwell Estate near the Equestrian Center on the Westside.
“With the economy, builders aren’t building, so the Guild had to take a different approach this year,” said Chris Doerr, chair of the symphony’s board of directors.
This year’s showhouse is a 7,000-square-foot, five-bedroom mansion on a 17-acre estate.
There’s a dual-sided fireplace and the master wing has two bedroom suites separated by a formal library and an office. There’s a media room that opens to a screened lanai adjacent to a heated swimming pool and an outdoor kitchen with a commercial smoker.
The home was built in 1999 and is listed for sale at $1.7 million.
More than 25 of Northeast Florida’s most well known interior designers have committed to provide their services pro bono to support the Guild and the symphony.
“This is one of the grandest homes we’ve ever done and our first redesign,” said Rose Littlefield, who chairs this year’s Designer Showhouse with Marge Burgess.
Littlefield said the annual Designer Showhouse is just one of 10 or more projects the Guild has each year. The group also facilitates the “Painted Violins” show, luncheons and fashions shows.
All told, she said, the Guild’s 235 members raise an average of $100,000 each year through their volunteer efforts. The funds are used for scholarships for the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra, grants for music education programs in public schools, the “Instrument Zoo” that visits schools throughout the year and symphony operational expenses.
“We do a lot more than just go to concerts,” said Littlefield.
“Most years, the Guild is the No. 1 contributor to the symphony. That means even more in difficult economic times,” said Doerr.
For details about the 2011 Designer Showhouse, preview activities and ticket prices, visit www.jaxsymphony.org. Volunteer opportunities are also available.
356-2466