Dexter Community Orchestra

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Founder and music director Donald Parrish led the Mozart and the Rimsky-Korsakov with clarity, lucidity, and a firm baton. Assistant music director Doug MacQueen led the Bizet with big gestures, clear cues, and a strong downbeat. The Dexter musicians showed their adaptability by sounding quite different for each conductor: clean and tight under Parrish, bright and colorful under MacQueen.

Now in its third season — which concludes with a concert at the Dexter Center for the Performing Arts in Dexter High School on Saturday, May 17 — the Dexter Community Orchestra isn't the St. Petersburg Philharmonic or even the Ann Arbor Symphony. It couldn't be and doesn't need to be. It's the Dexter Community Orchestra. These musicians love what they do, and their audience loves them for it. What more could anyone ask?

[Review published May 2008]