Bill LaRue led the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra as one of the contestants in the La Crosse Symphony’s recent “Conductors Wannabe” competition and fundraiser.
“The 25th annual Conductors Wannabe Competition closed out the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra’s 124th season,” reports Jeremy Wall in Saturday’s (5/6) WKBT (La Crosse, WI). “Each year, the competition raises money for local non-profits including the Children’s Museum of La Crosse. The participants who raise the most get to conduct. On Saturday night Bill Larue, Bradley Weber and his son Charlie took the stage. Together they beat nearly four people in the contest and raised over $40,000 total. ‘It’s an incredible experience to be able to conduct but what’s really important at the end of the day is the money that we raised,’ said Weber. ‘The fundraiser part of it is really the spirit of the competition but to get up there and conduct, that was a whole lot of fun.’ Weber and his son Charlie were the runners-up conducting together as a team. ‘My dad initially proposed that idea I was like, woah, I don’t know if I can do that. That’s a lot of people [in the orchestra]. But it’s been a huge honor to be a part of this,” Charlie tells News 8000. ‘It was fun. It was real fun.’ Half of the proceeds also go towards the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, which is scheduled to return for its 125th season this fall.”
