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CLINTON TOWNSHIP — From a few strings in a side room to full concerts in a hall, a lot can change in 50 years.
For the Macomb Symphony Orchestra, a professional classical orchestra that performs at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts as well as at other locales throughout the county, 2025 marks its golden year.
According to Thomas Cook, orchestra director from the MSO’s founding in 1974-2021, the orchestra formed as an outgrowth of the Macomb Community College music program at the South Campus, though it did not take long for the orchestra to become its own nonprofit organization. Many of the orchestra’s early concerts took place in the multipurpose room.
“There’s some not-so-great acoustical locations there, but we soldered through there and performed there as well as at local high schools and some summer park concerts,” Cook said.
Much like today, the initial orchestra was made up of 15 professional musicians from around the region, though unpaid at that time.
After operating out of Warren for the better part of the 1970s, the orchestra made the move north to Clinton Township in 1983 as the Macomb Center was opened. Cook attributes much of the orchestra’s growth in the decades since to the Macomb Center’s opening and using it as a venue.
“We got a lot more visibility,” Cook said. “(The Macomb Center is) really the only first-class acoustically sound facility in Macomb County, I would think. There are some other places that are fine, too, but everybody knows if they live in Macomb County or even adjoining areas what the Macomb Center is and what they present.”
The Macomb Center became a focal point for a number of events in the county, serving both traveling acts stopping by the Detroit suburbs and local acts looking to perform within the community. The Macomb Symphony Orchestra used the Macomb Center’s presence to establish itself as, in Cook’s words, the “voice of classical music in Macomb County.” The move allowed the orchestra to expand to up to as many as 70 musicians per concert and even begin paying all of its musicians as of the 1990s.
“We wanted to tackle different pieces, more challenging pieces, and we didn’t have the bodies in the student body to accommodate that,” Cook said. “Gradually we picked up more community players and those who came from a great distance — some from Ann Arbor and Windsor and what have you — we had to compensate them for their time and their gas, so it gradually grew from that.”
Cook stepped down from directing the orchestra in 2021 with Andrew Neer taking on the role. Having grown up in Sterling Heights, Neer found out about the orchestra around 2019 and has worked to make the organization more visible.
“I’m a little bit more involved in (the business and marketing side) than maybe your average music director would be,” Neer said. “I take a big hand in helping to navigate the social media presence, design the website, all those types of forward-facing community outreach types of things, in addition to going to different events in the community to try connecting with businesses and people in the area so they know we exist, and we can continue to grow and develop our support base.”
Having conducted orchestras across metro Detroit and guest conducted in Europe, Neer’s experience at the stand is without doubt. But the management of the business aspects of the orchestra has become very important since taking on the role, especially as the orchestra came out of the COVID-19 pandemic financial situation and into a continually uncertain economic situation.
“Coming out of COVID and the challenges that it faced, the orchestra has been struggling to bring in the same amount of money than it did (before),” Neer said. “And their expenses have expanded because of the pay changes and some of that stuff … But the board (of directors) came to make some adjustments so we can continue into the future, and we can continue to keep this alive and vibrant in the county.”
Should the orchestra navigate its financial situation, Neer believes it has a bright future. Neer would like to increase the orchestra’s involvement with Macomb County student musicians.
“To work with this organization, this group of people, the board, the legacy that Tom started, I just want it to go on in perpetuity so that we can have the continual development of our art and the curation of art right here in Macomb County,” Neer said. “My biggest hope for the organization is that we could continue to grow and continue to develop in a way that would be lasting and have an impact on the community for the good.”
The Macomb Symphony Orchestra’s 2025 schedule currently includes a concert with a “Star Wars” theme on Sunday, May 4 at the Macomb Center and a park concert as part of Shelby Township’s Summerfest on the evening of June 21. For more information visit macombsymphony.org.
