I consider the microcosm of humanity that rides the RTD bus from Evergreen to Civic Center in Denver a world of its own that I am able to observe, engage in or ignore. It changes, and it's the same.

It takes about 50 minutes to get down the hill.
Today I greeted a lady I had talked to briefly on a previous ride down.

I knew she was involved in the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra and asked her if she was getting ready for a concert. In addition to their community concerts, the orchestra performs recitals in people's homes. These are tailored to the musicians availalble to play and perhaps to the host's needs.

Cherie Fisk plays the bassoon, which I found interesting, as I know nothing about bassoons and think of Tchaicovksy's Peter and the Wolf when someone says bassoon.

She is the vice president on the board of directors for Evergreen Chamber Orchestra and she was going to a workshop July 18 with some other musicians to prepare for a concert/recital to take place on July 22.

She said this year is the 25th anniversary of Evergreen Chamber Orchestra. Cherie said she had only been playing the bassoon for five years - during her adult life, since after college she said, "I put it in a closet for 30 years."

When her husband suggested she take the Cooper-Puchner bassoon out of the closet, she did and started on a path to rejuvenating her musical abilitites.

"I called the Custom Music store
http://www.custommusiccorp.com/contact.htm
in Michigan where my parents bought my bassoon and asked them about restoring it. There was a little tag inside the case that said 'Serviced by Cooper.' They said, well, Mr. Cooper is still in the area. So I called him and he said, "Yes, I will do it but you gotta give me time.'"

Eight months later, Cherie had her bassoon back along with pages and pages of handwritten instructions from Mr. Cooper on how to get started again.

She began by taking lessons from a grad student at CU Boulder.
http://www.colorado.edu/music/classes/index.html
This was in 2002.

Fisk first played the bassoon in high school at Jefferson High School in Edgewater. She continued to play in college.

She said she thinks people should practice at least an hour and a half every day and have a mate who works.

The database consultant added, "I usually get in 45 minutes."
She talked about the "family" of musicians that comprise the Chamber Orchestra and said she thought more youngsters should be exposed to their music.

"You know, kids who are music students who are interested could come to our recitals and talk to us during the intermission."

To learn more about Evergreen Chamber Orchestra and see photos go to
http://www.evergreenchamberorch.org/