Gaylon McKay Patterson is an Acting Principal Violinist, seated third chair in the Lake Placid Sinfonietta this summer. Here he is practicing on Wednesday, July 6. (News photo — Katelin Geurin)

LAKE PLACID — A Memphian and tenured violinist with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta has found beauty, community and a feeling of home in the Adirondacks.

Gaylon Patterson, Principal Second Violin with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, first came to play violin with the Sinfonietta by following what he called a “tenuous thread.” There was a vacancy in the symphony in 2017, and the wife of a former colleague called Patterson “out of the blue” to see if he was interested in filling the position. Patterson said he didn’t know a single soul in the Adirondacks, but he was up for a new adventure. His connection to the area was instant upon arrival.

“As soon as I got here I thought, ‘Wow, this place is not like any place I’ve ever been before,'” he said. “It’s much more beautiful than I expected, and I expected a lot.”

Patterson plays Principal Second Violin with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra full time, and during summer breaks, he’s here playing Principal Second Violin with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta. It might seem like Patterson is working on his vacation by taking on the Sinfonietta job, but he said he treats performing here like a “working vacation.”

Patterson said he didn’t just feel a sense of place when he first got to the Adirondacks — the area felt like home. He said his ancestors from the 17th century settled in Connecticut, northern New York and Ontario. While his family hasn’t lived around here in a couple of hundred years, he wonders if that’s part of why he felt so connected to the area.

The Lake Placid Sinfonietta practices Wednesday afternoon, July 6, at the Lake Placid Center for Arts Annex building, in preparation for that night’s performance at Mid’s Park. The Wednesday Park Series runs through Aug. 10, and the Symphony Series at the LPCA runs from July 10 to Aug. 14. (News photo — Katelin Geurin)

“Who knows, maybe there’s some genetic memory in there or something that made me think, ‘Oh this feels right, this place feels really good to me,'” he said.

Patterson originally thought he’d have a one-year stint with the symphony, but there was another vacancy in 2018. He filled that seat, and after that, he was hired as a tenured player. He thought, “Yay! I get to come back!”

“So after that, it’s something I’ve looked forward to every year,” he said.

The Sinfonietta has a six-week season that started on Wednesday, July 6, with a concert at Mid’s Park, but Patterson arrived here early last week. He wanted to chill and get in a hike or two before the season started. He isn’t a serious hiker, but he loves trails like Baxter Mountain — which backs up to the Keene Valley farmhouse he stays in while in town — and Roaring Brook Falls.

“I’m not a 46er — I’m a 3er,” he said.

Patterson has a soft spot for Keene and Keene Valley because it’s quiet, the properties are spread out, and he’s found the community there to be friendly and easy to connect with. He said he loves the Keene Farmers Market on Sundays.

“I’m all about the cheese,” he said.

Patterson said he gets excited about local cheese, listing Dutch Knuckle, made by Sugar House Creamery in Upper Jay, as a favorite. He said he doesn’t find that kind of cheese in the rest of the country.

Playing it by ear

Patterson grew in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas — not quite as steep as the Adirondacks — but he’s played with the Memphis Orchestra for 37 years and considers Memphis, Tennessee home. Now, he said, he considers the Adirondacks as another home.

Memphis is a super friendly place, Patterson said — even though it’s a big city, it’s a little strange if someone doesn’t wave or nod to you in passing. He feels that sense of friendliness in small Adirondack towns like Keene and Jay. But even though he grew up in the South, he doesn’t consider himself a “Southerner” first. Maybe because musicians consider themselves global citizens rather than local, he said, and he’s found that “people are people, pretty much anywhere you go.”

Though he originally went to college for electrical engineering, Patterson said he was “dragged kicking and screaming back into the music program” after transferring to the University of Arkansas and running into a high school friend. His friend called the orchestra director there and told him he knew a guy who was a good violin player. One thing led to another, Patterson said, and he wound up back in the chinrest — brought to music by another tenuous thread.

Patterson said he’s learned to play life by ear.

“Things just kind of happen,” he said, “and if I listen and go with it, it works out.”

Even though the Sinfonietta’s season is packed with more than a dozen shows in six weeks, Patterson said all the musicians get Mondays and Tuesdays off and that everyone finds time to get to know each other. While the orchestra members don’t shift too much from year to year, Patterson said there’s usually an opportunity to get to know new musicians every year.

Playing here is different, he said, because it’s a small orchestra with 20 musicians who also have playing obligations elsewhere for most of the year.

“So we’re here because we want to be here,” he said, “and that makes for a really collegial atmosphere, and it makes it fun to make music together.”

The Wednesday Park Series runs through Aug. 10. The orchestra will begin its Symphony Series at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 10 at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts; that series runs through Aug. 14.

Learn more about the Lake Placid Sinfonietta at https://lakeplacidsinfonietta.org.