The Symphony of Rutherford County
Celebrating 24 Years of Service to Our Community
Kimple Raises The Performance Bar
I believe it was at a Saturday morning orchestra rehearsal in September of 2003, when a quiet non-demonstrative man, wearing suspenders and a smile slipped almost unnoticed into the first chair of the French Horn section of the Symphony of Rutherford County. No one seemed to know who he was or where he came from. But, that’s the way it has been for twenty years with this community orchestra. People just come and play. Being a horn player, I can attest to the fact that this “guy” was very good, in fact excellent. We didn’t speak to each other for several weeks accept to say a quick good morning. Musicians can be that way. I thought to myself, why would such an excellent horn player come all the way from Spartanburg every Saturday to play with our volunteer community orchestra?
The season passed and we all got to know our new horn player, Wilbert, much better. He even helped me sell my horn so I could buy a fantastic, vintage WWII German horn. My playing improved instantly!
When the following 2004-2005 season began, to my surprise, our 1st chair horn player was at the conductor’s podium! And thus began the directorship of Wilbert Kimple. It was now clear to all that the symphony had a new conductor and musical director. I was back on first chair horn and pretty nervous, having learned that Wilbert was not only a career music educator, but also a professional French Horn player. Talk about pressure to get it right!
Since his appointment as conductor and musical director, the orchestra has been challenged to play more difficult music and play it better than ever before. Over the past five years Mr. Kimple’s dedication to the Symphony of Rutherford County has been a fortunate gift and an inspiration to all 60+ orchestra members. Wilbert Kimple has dedicated his life to music education and performance, and we are grateful that he has chosen to bring that dedication and talent to our orchestra and our community.
As a young school boy in West Virginia and later in Ohio, Wilbert’s musical talents were emerging and being noticed very early. He was singing, playing the clarinet, and later the tuba. He played in the all-district and All-State West Virginia bands throughout high school. He was offered music scholarships to the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio as well as West Virginia University. While at WVU he switched to the French Horn because, as he put it, “I had been carrying around this ‘sound’ in my head, but didn’t know what it was. I finally found out, so I changed (to French Horn).”
At the end of just one year of study on the Horn he was selected as a member of The National Intercollegiate Band. A couple years later, while still at WVU, he was appointed conductor and arranger of the 915th Wing United States Air Force Reserve Band.
Upon graduation from WVU he was faced with a major choice of what to do with his life. He had been offered a conductor’s internship with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, but had also been offered playing positions with the Kennedy Center Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Symphony, the New Orleans Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. His first love, however, was teaching, so he accepted a teaching position in Brevard, NC, where he had already been on the staff of the Brevard Music Center for several years.
His teaching career took him to all levels of education, including Brevard College, Spartanburg Schools, and Converse College. And during all these years he continued to perform with the Asheville, Hendersonville, Spartanburg and the Clemson Symphony Orchestras (not all at once, of course).
Since his retirement in June 2008, Mr. Kimple has focused his full musical energies on conducting the Symphony of Rutherford County. He invites all to enjoy the symphony’s concerts held twice a year. He states, “I am very eclectic in my choice of music, so there will be something for everyone at our concerts.”
The orchestra performed its annual school children’s concert on November 20th for more than 1,400 4th and 5th graders at the ICC Foundation concert hall. The two annual community concerts will be held at the Foundation on January 18th. and on May 3rd. The public is invited to these free admission concerts. Come see Maestro Kimple at work (and play).