Music City is about to get another orchestra. This new community ensemble, called the Nashville Citizens Orchestra, will be open to amateurs and professionals of all ages. Performances will begin next year at Gordon Jewish Community Center.

“I know there are a lot of people in Nashville who play instruments but have no outlet for their talents,” the group’s founding conductor, Gabrielle Lewis, tells the Scene. “We’re going to give them an opportunity to play.”

Lewis, a graduate of the University of Michigan who’s now studying with conductor Robin Fountain at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, says the Citizens Orchestra will of course perform a wide selection of European masterpieces. But she says the orchestra will also play the music of such early 20th-century American composers as William Grant Still, Amy Beach, Edward McDowell and Arthur Foote, among many others.  “These were significant composers whose music was unfortunately overshadowed by the European composers of the day,” Lewis says.

Auditions for the Citizens Orchestra will take place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 5 and 6 at Gordon Jewish Community Center. Interested musicians will need to prepare one short lyrical piece and one short technical piece for the audition. Lewis will also have musicians read through an orchestral excerpt.

Musicians of all ages and backgrounds are welcome to apply. Interested artists must contact Lewis in advance and indicate their instrument and how long they’ve been playing. Contact Lewis at glewis.music@gmail.com or 629-777-6517.

For more information, see here.