"It's a different ballgame," said Faraco, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music who played violin with the BSO for 37 years. "You still have an orchestra. But in a regular, professional symphony orchestra, the conductor comes in and everyone knows the piece already. Sometimes, with these pieces that we play, the members don't know the work, and they've never heard it. They're doing different jobs all over the city - doctors' offices, at Social Security, banks, all kinds of jobs. They come to the orchestra to get more joy out of listening to this music."
Boris Kim, 69, of Pasadena played the violin as a teenager. But after a few years, he pretty much set aside the instrument until he retired in 2000 after a long career as a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He heard about the Baltimore Philharmonia in 2001 while taking music lessons and has played with the group ever since.
"They play very advanced music - it's just like a professional orchestra and one of the few places where an amateur can get to play that," he said. "It's one of the highest things you can aspire to learn. To become a good physicist, you have to spend a few years - not too many years - of study. To become a good violinist takes many years of study and practice."
His wife, Margaret, tries not to miss any of the group's concerts.
"They're wonderful," the 67-year-old said. "The music is as good, I would think, as the BSO. It just doesn't have the acoustics. They're playing in a high school or a church."
Pat Dick, 54, a court reporter in Jarrettsville who works primarily on lawsuit depositions, has played the violin since a nun at Catholic High School handed her the instrument four decades ago. Faraco, who conducted the school's orchestra at the time, was her first violin teacher, and she has been playing in community orchestras since the 1970s.
"It gets you away from your daily life," she said. "It's a relaxing change of pace. ... If you're playing on your own at home, it's just you. It's a little more challenging if you're playing in an orchestra. It's how it all comes together - and it sounds pretty nice."
To Weiss, the flute and piccolo player who lives in Owings Mills, performing with an orchestra or a concert band is nothing short of a natural high and a kind of out-of-body experience.
