Music always influenced the life of Jill Nagode. With her father as a composer and her eight brothers and sisters playing an instrument, it was only destined for Nagode to be instrumental.
Nagode works as a full-time Management Analyst for the Bureau of Reclamation in Lakewood, but her full-time passion is playing the clarinet in the Aurora Symphony Orchestra (ASO).
Having played the clarinet since the third grade, Nagode stopped when she moved to Washington. But she could only stay away from home and her clarinet for so long.
When Nagode's father was diagnosed with leukemia, she moved back to Colorado. After her father's passing, Nagode picked up the clarinet again, and that's when she found the ASO.
"After the first concert, I felt so welcome I never wanted to leave [the ASO]," Nagode said.
Ten years later, Nagode is still a part of the ASO.
A few years ago, Nagode found out she had sudden death arrhythmia, a heart disorder. The disorder forced Nagode to leave the ASO for year. She did not expect what ensued once she returned to the ASO.
"I wasn't even sure I would still have a seat in the orchestra," Nagode said. "But, I was welcomed back with open arms."
The Aurora Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1978 by local civic leader and musician Alice Lee Main when a young conductor named Gloria Olsen approached her with an idea to start a community orchestra.
Since then, the orchestra steadily grew into Aurora's only symphony orchestra when it became a non-profit corporation in 1996.
The ASO is run by members who have a strong commitment to educating the young musicians in the community to develop a life-long love of music.
"People get as much out of the ASO as we do; the community gets back what they put in," Nagode said.
Nagode remembers one of the Childern's Concerts, when a young child who was influenced by the one of the players said, "I'm going to be an oboe player when I grow up."
Nagode feels that it is not just an understanding of music, but the love and appreciation of it that influences the success of the ASO.
"We [the ASO] are all getting better together," Nagode said. "Chemistry is a big part of our success."
The success of the ASO continues to grow. To learn more about the ASO, visit the www.aurorasymphony.org. The ASO's next concert is 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at the orchestra's new venue located at Simchat Torah Beit Midrash, 19697 E. Smoky Hill Road, the former Eastern Hills Community Church just west of Himalaya.