It’s a season of change for the Traverse Symphony Orchestra (TSO). 

As Ross Boissoneau writes in this week's Northern Express, sister publication of The Ticker, first and foremost is the organization's upcomong move from Radio Centre in downtown TC to the former Kmart building at the Cherryland Center, leasing space from the Traverse City Curling Club. “It is super cool to be using existing repurposed space,” says Maestro Kevin Rhodes, the orchestra’s music director and conductor. The hope is the move will be sometime in spring of next year, depending on how construction goes.

That is where TSO will be launching its new Community Music School, serving students of all ages with a variety of musical classes and programming. TSO will also be creating new musical organizations alongside the symphony and the Traverse Symphony Jazz Orchestra, including a Youth Orchestra and Senior Band. On top of that, it has absorbed the Encore Symphonic Winds as another facet of the organization.

With all that newness, it’s important to remember this is an organization that has been a cornerstone of community culture for 70-some years. “What’s great is we’re in our 71st year. That’s something, particularly in a small town, a small community,” says Rhodes.

Read more about the TSO's history - and its future - in this week's Northern Express, available to read online or on newsstands at nearly 700 spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan.