Cover Story
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Story by Bailey Hemphill. Photos by minorwhitestudios.com
Conductor Chuck Penington practices with the IGO on a weekend before the start of their new season.
Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha Two Diverse Generations Making Music Together
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wo Diverse generations making Music Together The young and old have always been at odds over music. In the ‘50s, it was Elvis Presley and the “evils” of rock ‘n roll. In the ‘70s, it was disco and music protesting the war. In the ‘90s, it was the “noise” known as rap and hip-hop. With each new generation, it seems the tastes in music grow farther and farther apart. And that’s exactly what makes the Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha (IGO) so unique—the two most diverse generations of
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musicians come together to share their talents, experiences, and their love for music. In the spring of 1985, Project Director Chris Gillette and her former co-worker, Coralee Bell, formed the IGO, which was funded through a grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation with sponsorship of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging (ENOA). Their purpose for creating the IGO was to bring together two eras of performing artists with music; their only requirement for auditions was that >> september/october • 2012
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