Following its 2023 debut at a church festival in Great Falls and nearly another dozen performances, the all-volunteer Great Falls Philharmonic is branching out across Northern Fairfax County, just outside the beltway, with its most ambitious project yet. Under the baton of Derek Maseloff, conductor and artistic director, more than 100 musicians of the next generation will join the Voce Chamber Singers of Vienna and director David Mann for a performance at 3 p.m., May 9, at Heritage Fellowship Church, 2501 Fox Mill Road, Reston.

The two-hour concert with intermission represents a massive leap for the young orchestra. 

“It’s an expression of our organizational capability,” Maseloff said in an interview with The Connection on Feb. 21. “We basically are a three-person organization — myself and two board members — all donating our time to build this thing. We’re putting on a season analogous to those of orchestras established for 60 years. We’re punching way above our weight,” Maseloff said, describing the power of the orchestra.

The drive to create a cultural institution, as Maseloff seeks, requires the ability to get people on the same page and to inspire a crowd. These are skills Maseloff is currently honing in an unlikely place: infantry officer training at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning), Ga.

“Even though I’m a conductor in the U.S. Army Band (2025), they still send the musicians to the same training as everyone else,” Maseloff said. He noted that there are more astronauts in the Army than its 20 band conductors.

“Once I make it through this training gauntlet, my day job will be conducting a U.S. Army Band. There is a clear line between being an Army officer and being a conductor. It is about getting people on the same page, giving clear instructions, inspiring people and being fundamentally about communication.”

That leadership will be on full display on May 9 as Maseloff and David Mann, artistic director of Voce, present a program featuring two extraordinary choral masterworks: Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, culminating in the iconic “Ode to Joy.” 

“Voce Chamber Singers is honored to be joining forces with the outstanding Great Falls Philharmonic musicians to present these joyful and thrilling masterworks,” Mann said. He currently serves as the Director of Music at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. 

Heritage Fellowship Church, site of the May 9 concert, is located at 2501 Fox Mill Rd, Reston. With ample parking, handicapped access and family-friendly ticket options, organizers hope the concert will draw both longtime classical fans and first-time orchestra-goers from across northern Fairfax County and beyond. Tickets are available now: $40 for adults; $10 for children. Visit the Great Falls Philharmonic website at https://www.gfphil.org/. 

Donations for the Great Falls Philharmonic, a 501(c)(3) Public Charity EIN99-2312855, are accepted at gfl.org/give.