A Bassoon Tune From Woodbury

Woodbury resident Eric Levinson says he listens to classical music. A lot.

But when he takes the stage as a bassoonist with the East Metro Symphony Orchestra, Levinson’s understanding and appreciation of classical music grows deeper.

“You think that you really know a certain piece of music,” he said. “But when I’m up there performing, I hear things that I’ve never heard before.”

The East Metro Symphony Orchestra—originally founded as the 3M Club Orchestra in 1957—performs at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29, at in Woodbury. Tickets, available at the door, cost $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors.

Levinson, originally from Connecticut, started playing music like most people do, in elementary school. “When you’re supposed to play an instrument.”

In junior high he took up the bassoon, and it stuck.

“I really liked that,” Levinson said. “(My parents) weren’t forcing me at that point.”

There was a time when Levinson considered music as a career. He attended Michigan State University partly because it had a good music program and he could play with its orchestra. He later opted for law school at the University of Minnesota.

“I think I just became very realistic,” he said. “It you’re not one of the top two or three bassoonists in the Midwest, you’re not going to be (a professional). I played it safe.”

For a time, he stopped playing altogether, but when he learned that 3M had its own orchestra, he jumped at the chance to pick up the bassoon again. (Levinson now works as a patent attorney and “regular attorney” at 3M.)

He has been a member of the group off and on since 1994, though Levinson admits he still feels the nerves when he takes the stage.

“There’s an excitement that comes with performing—getting up there and dressing up, and the lights and the stage,” he said.

The East Metro Symphony Orchestra is the resident orchestra for East Ridge and rehearses there for free. Since its founding—after 3M stopped the program in 2009—it has had to become a certified nonprofit and works to raise its own funds. The group performs about five times a year, Levinson said.

As for Sunday’s performance, Levinson said it will have an “Americana” theme and feature barbershop music from Twin Cities Show Chorus, selections from The Music Man, and the voices of the audience, which will be asked to participate.

“It’s a unique opportunity to hear a symphonic orchestra perform with a barbershop-style choir,” Levinson said. “To hear some American music performed in a very patriotic and exciting way.”