"Act, Belong, Commit" and MetSO

by Lynette Swarbrick


Act, Belong, Commit ... it’s a familiar local catch-cry. Coined to promote activities which support mental health and personal wellbeing, “Act, Belong, Commit” urges us to socialise, exercise, learn, volunteer and join arts and cultural activities. Let’s look at the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (MetSO) and see how it fits the bill.

Firstly, ACT:

MetSO gives me an opportunity to get out each week and meet up with some of my tribe - you know, people who spent their childhood years learning, participating and practising music. Blood, sweat and tears, laughter, friendships and collaborations, masses of money, time and energy; it all went into turning me and my friends into musical beings.

Why should the fun stop when you leave school, university and youth orchestra? Why sell your soul so completely to full time work and the mortgage? Why let the hard earned joy of music making lie stagnant “because I’m a grownup now”?

Joining Metso initiates a new musical voyage, gifting players discovery, learning, sharing and performing opportunities. Attending concerts gifts the audience entertainment and an opportunity to stop, to listen and to reflect beyond their own lives and everyday worries. Playing solo in public gifts our Metso Young Artists invaluable early experience in working with an orchestra, it’s conductor and audience.

Secondly, BELONG:

Whilst there are some musicians who excel at sports, I’m not one of them. Indeed, I would say most of my string students and friends feel the same! In a country obsessed with sporting prowess, my students, friends and I could feel distinctly inferior ... That’s if we stopped to think about it too long! Instead, we are busy listening, practising, rehearsing, socialising and performing. Each week we work together to create the ultimate team ‘sport’ experience - Orchestra! For us it’s the Mini-Olympics of motor control and brain gymnastics, it’s the United Nations meeting of co-operation skills balancing leadership with deference, self expression with conformity, dynamic range and power with balance and harmony.

Thirdly, COMMIT:

Concerts don’t just play themselves! Committing to orchestra takes more than just turning up for the game. It takes time, effort and co-operation with a disparate group of personalities. It takes receiving feedback with good grace, giving assistance and moderating personal expectations and differences. Wow, it really is a complicated hobby! Let’s face it, at the end of the day, we Pay to Play!

Metso is a wonderful, dynamic enterprise which ticks all the“Act, Belong, Commit” boxes. It offers those willing to partake, community engagement for the mind, body and soul.

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