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The man who created a community orchestra

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by Joseph Gresser

 

DERBY — Ken Michelli bucked the usual flow of traffic when he and his wife retired from Georgia to Derby Line.

“We wanted to be where it was cooler,” he said Saturday morning.

When he got here, Mr. Michelli missed one of the features of southern life — the community orchestra — and set out to create such an ensemble in the Northeast Kingdom.

Against all odds, he built the small group he put together in 2011 as the Northeast Kingdom International Wind Symphony into the Newport Area Community Orchestra, a full-fledged orchestra numbering, at its high-water mark, more than 50 musicians.

Today, facing health problems and seeing a number of his players moving out of the area, Mr. Michelli has decided to call it quits, at least for a while.  He said he has a neuro-muscular condition that makes conducting painful, and must step back for a while.

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