Everyone Orchestra will perform Thursday without having rehearsed once.

Since its start in 2001, the band has welcomed numerous local artists into its lineup. The Orchestra will come to The Westcott Theater on Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets are available on the band’s website. Everyone Orchestra, directed by Matt Butler, has frequented The Westcott.

Al Schnier, lead guitarist and manager of the band moe., has participated in the shows for more than a decade, usually without his band. Thursday’s show will also feature other moe. band members, Vinnie Amico and Jim Loughlin, and it will be the first time all three have a chance to play together in this setting.

“Matt has created something really special because we go out there without any music, without a script, without any rehearsals, and rely on energy and talent on the stage to come together,” Schnier said. “It’s his job as instructor to elicit the performance from us.”

Alongside the three members of moe., the show will feature Ryan Montbleau, Mike Maher from the band Snarky Puppy, Eric Gould from Pink Talking Fish and Hayley Jane from Hayley Jane and the Primates. The musicians have become friends throughout the years as the Everyone Orchestra shows has brought their various styles together.

“Sometimes I go into it, and there are musicians I don’t know, but in this case, I’ve played with everyone before,” Schnier said. “In some cases, I meet them for the first time at the show, and then by the end of the show we’ve become best friends.”

Butler turns chaos into music. Schnier said Butler has a board for writing instructions, choosing a musician to start the music and pointing out certain sounds in the composition that work for the piece. From this work on the board, to the shock of the audience, a great song emerges.

Gould, the bassist and manager of Pink Talking Fish, a tribute band, is a newcomer to Everyone Orchestra and awaits his first performance at the upcoming show. Many of his friends have played in the orchestra for years, and he will finally join them, ready to “go along for the ride.”

“It’s such a cool project. You see different things come out of players than they do in their normal band. I plan to open my heart and soul to the music and see what happens,” Gould said. “If it’s in my schedule then I’m in. It’s a chance to create something pretty special, and we make people in the audience happy with the music.”

The constantly rotating group of musicians has formed a close bond throughout their years of participation.

“It’s like everyone is camping or hiking or sailing together,” Schnier said. “We all work together to achieve the same goal and one way or another you become fast friends. After playing with them multiple times, now I look forward to seeing them because they’re old friends.”

After so many shows, The Westcott Theater welcomes the orchestra as it comes to town now. Wes Johnson, director of marketing and the Westcott Theater box office, said this show is one the theater has worked with a lot, and the venue “has to have it.”

“Some people are in bands that don’t come to The Westcott, so it’s an opportunity for people to see those people in the smaller intimate theater setting,” Johnson said.

Published on October 31, 2017 at 8:59 pm

Contact Sarah: ssallam@syr.edu