When East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) performed in the Bermuda Festival over the weekend, the sound may have had special resonance for Bermudians.Bass player Thomas Van Dyke has ties to the Island.The 29-year-old is an active chamber and orchestral musician and was a recipient of the Maurice Schwarz prize at Tanglewood. He has appeared at The Mostly Mozart Festival and the People’s Symphony Concerts in New York City. He has collaborated with the Ying Quartet and the Lydian String Quartet. He is also a substitute with a number of famous orchestras including The Boston Symphony Orchestra. “My mom is Bermudian and her name is Barrie Trimingham,” said Mr Van Dyke. “She grew up in Bermuda but moved to the United States for college and has lived [in the US] since. I grew up in Philadelphia and come back to the Island a couple times a year to visit my grandmother, Dorothy Trimingham, who lives in Paget.”Despite the connection, this is the first time he’s been on stage with the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts. Ecco is famous for performing without a conductor. The ensemble comprises some of America’s most exciting young string players from major orchestras. The group has been around for ten years most members are between 25 and 35 years old.“ECCO started with a group of friends who knew each other from music schools and festivals who wanted to play together in a conductor-less orchestra to share musical ideas and just be around each other and have fun playing together,” said Mr Van Dyke. “Over the years the group has continued to play concerts with this mission in mind, with friendship and great music making up its core values.”Mr Van Dyke said being democratically governed meant all orchestra members had a full say in artistic, musical and logistical decisions.“In essence, we are all leaders and take on that responsibility,” he said. “Whereas most orchestras are top-down structures with the conductor making all decisions and management making logistical decisions we do all of these between us.“I am a member who is responsible, like all others, for making decisions with the group. We all have an equal say in these matters. I am no different from any other member. We all have the same rights and responsibilities, hence democracy. All of us play and manage the group outside of playing. It is fairly normal for chamber ensembles to do this but not for full-size orchestras.”He said that ECCO is reputed to have a fairly big sound considering it only boasts 17 string instruments. We like to have an orchestral size sound [large] with the intimacy, sensitivity and flexibility of a chamber ensemble,” said Mr Van Dyke. “We accomplish this by listening very attentively to each other and being very involved personally in our music making.“We play about four different periods [each lasting a week or so] a year together and usually perform between two and four concerts each time. Usually, they are a different set of pieces each time. We all do other things professionally. Some people are quartet musicians and some play in orchestras and teach.”Mr Van Dyke said he enjoyed chamber music because it offered a classical repertoire that was incredible and diverse.“In chamber music you can participate in making musical and creative decisions collaboratively and you can have your own voice,” he said. “In full orchestra this is not so much the case. The conductor makes these decisions and you are more responsible for blending in. Although we blend together we like to all be playing fully and [are] individually committed to our own playing and sound in the group.”ECCO performed on Friday and Saturday at City Hall. For more information about the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts or for tickets to other shows, visit www.bermudafestival.org or telephone 232-2255.