Seven musicians from area to play with orchestra

~ The Trans-Siberian Orchestra needed some violin, viola and cello players.

When the Trans-Siberian Orchestra takes the stage Wednesday at the Show Me Center, the group will have local help.

Five people from Cape Girardeau and two women from western Kentucky will help fill out the stage musicians, serving as part of the orchestra on violin, viola and cello.

The musicians are Steve Schaffner, Mel Gilhaus and Southeast Missouri State University student Meghan Brown on violin; Patty Story of Kentucky and local Rhett Hendrickson on viola; and Schaffner's daughter and Southeast student Stephanie Schaffner and Kentucky resident Laura Hill on cello.

The gig was made possible through a friend of a friend, Schaffner said. Last year TSO used string players from St. Louis for the show, but this year it was able to network with experienced string players from the area.

"I loved the show, and I'm a guitarist myself, so I really dug the hot guitar licks," Steve Schaffner said of last year's TSO performance. Rock and roll holds a special place in his heart, as he also performs in local rock act Manitou.

Mel Gilhaus is less of a rock music fan, and more of a self-admitted old man. "I'm probably going to be the oldest person on stage," said the 66-year-old.

Gilhaus will add TSO to a long list of gigs with touring acts including names like Charlie Daniels, Ray Charles, Kenny Rogers, Bob Hope, Red Skelton and Chet Atkins.

For him the show is just another gig, but he does admit an affinity for TSO's music and a respect for the band's musical prowess.

Rock and roll isn't Brown's bag, either. She primarily listens to classical music and didn't even know what TSO was when it played here last year. But her excitement level is high. This show will be the first time Brown has played with a touring act.

She hopes to have earplugs to shield against the rock assault.

"I probably won't be able to hear when I get done," Brown said.

Like Schaffner, Hendrickson is more rock-oriented.

"We're not all orchestra nerds," he joked. He relates the upcoming experience to the work he's done in the pit for musicals, only to a factor of about 100.

The drawback is that he won't get to see the show, which he enjoyed last year. "My head will be buried in the music," Hendrickson said.

And the local players will have to be on top of their game. They'll first see the volumes of music they'll be performing the afternoon of the concert.

For these experienced players, all those years of sight reading will come in handy.

The concert is sponsored in part by the Southeast Missourian.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

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Want to go?

What: Trans-Siberian Orchestra

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16

Where: Show Me Center

Info: 651-5000