“This is a very dance-like piece, so we need to have a lot of succinctness, crispness and short, bouncy notes,” he said. “There’s some movements where we are legato, but in general it’s very light and bouncy, and that will translate well to the hall.”

Similar scenes have been going on for decades — before the construction of the Rozsa, and before all but one of the performers onstage were there.

The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a performance of Carl Orff’s cantata “Carmina Burana” 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Rozsa Center. The massive piece will be augmented by a similarly huge complement of musicians. The 75-member KSO will be joined on stage byconScience: MichiganTech Chamber Singers, Michigan Tech Concert Choir, local youth singers, and three professional soloists: Karen Beacom (soprano), Marcus McConico (tenor), and Nathan Herfindahl (baritone).

“Carmina Burana” is set to 24 satirical poems from the 11th and 12th centuries. Even if concertgoers haven’t heard the piece, they’ll recognize the opening and closing number, “O Fortuna,” which has popped up everywhere from “The Hunt For Red October” to “Jackass.”

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Joel Neves conducts the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and choir members during rehearsals for “Carmina Burana” Tuesday. The concert, which will celebrate the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra’s 50th anniversary, takes place 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Rozsa Center.

“It’s a very famous choral-orchestral piece,” said Joel Neves, who became the orchestra’s seventh director in 2009. “Instantly recognizable tunes. Rowdy, fun, exhilarating, bombastic, naughty. It’s a great piece.”

As a demonstration of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, Saturday’s concert will also include a performance of the Ukrainian national anthem.

The orchestra is a “college-community hybrid,” Neves said: about half are Tech students, while the other half are Tech faculty, community members and music educators.

“It’s the cream of the crop of the Keweenaw and the U.P. and so they’re very talented musicians and artists,” Neves said. “What’s most satisfying is their spirit. They’re just wonderful human beings, and collaborating with them every week is a true joy.”

During Tuesday’s rehearsals, Neves acknowledged returning alumni, who were greeted with the sound of stomping feet. One performer, Gene Purdum, was an original member of the orchestra. He graduated from Tech in 1975 with a degree in nuclear physics and later spent 30 years as the classical music director for a public radio station in Lansing.

The longest-running current member is clarinetist Debra Zei. She joined while she was an undergrad at Tech. She’s spent 35 years with the orchestra — some of them along with her son, who was a member during high school and college.

“It was kind of cool having the family playing together,” she said. “And now it’s just become such a way of life. After 35 years, it’s like, ‘It’s Tuesday night, it’s orchestra.'”

One of Zei’s favorite memories was the previous KSO performance of “Carmina Burana,” which opened the Rozsa Center in 2000. When she joined, the KSO played all their concerts in the Calumet Theatre. They later moved to the McArdle Theater on Tech’s campus, which “is smaller (than the Rozsa) and not as acoustically good,” Zei said.

Other recent concerts have included performances of religious music at St. Joseph Church in Lake Linden. The orchestra’s repertoire is a varied one: Copeland, Beethoven, multimedia works, and premieres including pieces by former director Milt Olsson.

“Joel is really good about trying to change it up for us so that even if we’ve been in the group for many years, there haven’t been a lot of pieces that I’ve played more than one time,” Zei said.

Leanna Rose, a third-year pre-med student who plays viola, had initially burned out on orchestra after playing in numerous ensembles in high school. But when she got to college, she found she missed it. Her section in the KSO is a close-knit group, having had the same people all three years, she said.

“I just enjoy being able to have more that small community feel in my section, but also within the orchestra,” she said. “I’ve decided to take private lessons the past year, as I’ve gotten to know certain people from different sections as well.”

Rose’s favorite moment with the orchestra was the performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

“It was one of those concerts where I was first like, ‘I don’t know if we’ll be able to pull it off,'” she said. “But it was a very, very satisfying feeling to be able to put on a great performance for that one, and it’s certainly one that I always will remember.”

The oldest orchestra in the Upper Peninsula, the KSO has toured and made numerous recordings. It’s also won national acclaim, most recently winning second place for best orchestral performance by a small college last year in the American Prize in Orchestral Performance.

“We’re very proud of that distinction, to be one of the best orchestras in the United States,” Neves said. “Not bad for a place that’s mostly engineers and STEM people, but we’re able to combine our talents and create something special.”

Though the orchestra continued to play during COVID — with masks, and first only via livestream — this is the first major orchestral-choral concert in the Rozsa since the pandemic began, Neves said.

Tuesday’s rehearsal was the first to bring in the choir. Thursday’s rehearsal will add the three soloists and another 20 alumni.

“We’re only together for three times and then boom, we do the public performance,” Neves said. “It’s kind of hair-raising and exciting.”

Tickets are $19 for adults, $6 for youth, and free for MTU students (and a guest) with Experience Tech Fee. They are available at events.mtu.edu or (906) 487-1906. The concert will also be livestreamed.