Best (Actually Most-Improved) Local Orchestras
STAFF PICK: We can't help but notice the dead heat between the Catalina Chamber Orchestra and the Southern Arizona Symphony. The latter, after a season under Margaret Faddick, has trimmed down to chamber proportions and now sounds as good as the Catalina did last season. And the CCO under Enrique Lasansky continues to improve and is now approximately where the Tucson Symphony Orchestra was in the 1950s. Both will continue to get better given rehearsal time. The musicians are of a high enough quality; they contain many amateur players, but they don't sound like it. People who like real music--stuff mostly written by guys who've been dead for a while--should consider spending a little time with both groups.
