© 2008 Allen S. Lefohn. Click to enlarge.
The above photo appears in the latest issue of Symphony, accompanying an article by Jennifer Melick. I found it a striking image, and asked the photographer, Allen Lefohn, for permission to reproduce it. It shows an outdoor concert last summer by the Helena Symphony, in Montana. The population of Helena is 30,000; it would appear that about half that number were in attendance. This orchestra, which is led by Allan Scott, has an annual budget of under $600,000, but they don't lack for adventure; they recently played Nielsen's Inextinguishable, and they're in the middle of a Mahler cycle.
