Welcome to the 2024 St. Augustine Music Festival!

We have welcomed large audiences at each of the three initial concerts, all of whom were very appreciative of each evening's program. If you were not able to attend the first week, we look forward to seeing you this weekend.

Three Remaining Performances at the Cathedral Basilica

on the Plaza de la Constitución

Doors open at 7:00 PM for 7:30 PM Concerts

 Donations are Requested.**     (see article below)   

Yukino Miyake, piano, will be featured on Friday, June 28 and Sunday, June 30.

Katharine Caliendo, horn, will be featured on Saturday, June 29.

Gabriela Peña-Kim, violin, is performing during every concert except Saturday, June 29..

Evangeliya Khukhua, piano, will return to to perform on Saturday, June 29

SECOND WEEK Concerts

June 28 - 30, 7:30 PM



 Chamber Music, Friday, June 28 “War & Romance”

Enjoy two contrasting powers, hate and love all in one night

Igor Stravinsky: Soldier's Tale for Violin, Clarinet and Piano

Dmitri Shostakovich: Quartet No.8

Wolf Ferrari: Sinfonia da camara String Quintet, Piano, Flute 

Chamber Music, Saturday, June 29 “Musical Saga”

Let music take you in your own musical saga by exploring two musical masterpieces

Johannes Brahms: Horn Trio           Igor Khukhua – Violin,

Katharine Caliendo – Horn, Evangeliya Delizonas-Khukhua - Piano

Jean Sibelius: “En Saga” Original Septet reconstruction for

Flute and Clarinet and strings. 

Chamber Orchestra, Sunday, June 30 “A Reflective Journey”

Enjoy one last musical story that will take you back in time

Dmitri Shostakovich:  Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings

Featuring Yukino Miyake, piano and Kevin Karabell, trumpet

Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor “Farewell”

Justine Tiu, harp, will return to perform on Sunday, June 29.

Igor Khukhua, violin is performing during every concert except June 29.

Les Roettges, flute, will perform again on Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29.

Kevin Karabell, trumpet, will be featured on Sunday, June 30

And let's also put the spotlight on the Co-Founders and

Co-Artistic Directors of the St. Augustine Music Festival!

Jin Kim-Peña, cello, will again perform on Friday, June 28

Jorge Peña, viola, will perform during each of the three remaining concerts - Friday, June 28, Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30.

• • Florida Arts and Culture Grants Vetoed • • 

Music lovers attending the first week of the St. Augustine Music Festival Concerts at the Cathedral Basilica have learned of the veto of the entire budget of $32M of the Florida Arts and Culture grants for 2025. Our SAMF board officers introducing the musical program each evening have highlighted this devastation, which impacts 19 St. Johns County arts and cultural organizations to the tune of $2M and our own music festival of $22,000 that had been approved.

Read more information below from the June 21, 2024 newsletter of the St. Johns Cultural Council.

Florida Governor Vetoes $32 Million in Cultural and Museum Grants

"Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million in cultural and museum grants from the state budget, leaving hundreds of Florida organizations scrambling to replace anticipated funding. In the state of Florida, arts and culture is a $3 billion economic engine in a tourist-powered economy. According to the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 6 calculator, the industry contributes $328 million in economic impact to St. Johns County."

"The Governor's veto affects 19 organizations in St. Johns County with over $2 million in funding requests to support jobs, programming, and tourism. This funding is usually provided annually on some level, but this fiscal year, the arts will not receive any grant funding from the State of Florida."

"On Monday, June 17, the Tourist Development Council heard public comments from several affected organizations and a presentation from the St. Johns Cultural Council describing previous years' state funding and the loss to the arts community resulting from the veto. In response, the TDC is considering a recommendation to increase the budget amount for the Arts, Culture, and Heritage grants in an effort to compensate for the losses from the lack of State funding."

Other articles about the Arts and Culture veto....

Gov. DeSantis’ vetoes anger the arts community as state funding gets wiped out By Gabrielle Russon Florida Politics

Advocates say a Shakespearean tragedy is unfolding in Florida’s arts community after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ $32 million line-item vetoes left nothing for the arts.

ARTS

DeSantis Vetoes All Arts Grants in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers. By Patricia Mazzei New York Times

Florida Gov. DeSantis Vetoes $32 M. in Arts and Culture Grants from 2025 Budget BY DANIEL CASSADY Art News

• • Thank You! • • 

The Artistic Directors and Board Members are very grateful to those attending the concerts this past week who have responded to our situation and made generous and spontaneous donations to the St. Augustine Music Festival to help offset the upcoming budget deficit.

It is important that we all reach out to the governor and our legislators to educate them about the importance of the financial impact of art and culture in Florida and to not only reinstate the budget cuts, but to increase the original requested funding that was reduced first by the legislature before the governor's veto.

We are blessed to have so many arts and cultural organizations in Northeast Florida and we need to continue to encourage them with attendance and support.



• • Reserved Seating at the Cathedral • • 

Have you ever asked who is entitled to sit in the reserved section of the Cathedral during our concerts?

The reserved seats are designated for our donors who have made significant donations.

These donors are entitled to early entry from 6:30 to 7:00 PM. This entry is from the door on the east side of the Cathedral (right side of the building).

This year, there are two categories of reserved seating:

• Those making donations of $1,000 or more - and concert sponsors - will be seated in the Prime reserved section, in the very first rows.

• A donation of $350 or more entitles the donor to sit in the regular reserved seating area

• General seating is available to everyone attending our FREE concerts. We do recommend that you go to the website and reserve tickets for guaranteed seating, especially for popular concerts. Click on the link below to reserve.

We apologize that it is necessary to make separate entries to reserve

your seats for multiple concerts. EventBrite does not provide an option

to fill in your information and indicate multiple dates.

Please Note that any donations made after the St. Augustine Music Festival Program was printed are not listed in the program. However, donations of $350 or more received prior to and during the concerts will still receive reserved seating during all concerts they attend.

Jorge Peña and Bill Boxer were special guests on 904 News

on Wednesday, June 12 talking about the St. Augustine Music Festival.

Watch the video below to hear more about the history of the festival

and the music presented over the two weekends.

In 2007, the St. Augustine Music Festival (SAMF) was conceived as a free chamber music concert series to celebrate the rich artistic and cultural traditions of St. Augustine. The SAMF Chamber Orchestra concerts, performed in the beautiful and historic Cathedral Basilica, offer exceptional acoustics in an uplifting and welcoming setting.

Celebrating almost two decades of world-class concerts, the SAMF Chamber Orchestra attracts internationally accomplished performers and young rising stars to its series roster each year and continues to be the nation’s largest free chamber music festival.

Personal and business checks can be made payable to the

St. Augustine Music Festival and mailed to:

Saint Augustine Music Festival

PO Box 833

St. Augustine, FL 32085-0833

Visit the following websites for information about

upcoming Cultural and Musical Events in St. Augustine

• • Become a SAMF Donor or Continuing Donor • • 

Donors are vital to the success of SAMF performances as each donor's contribution furthers the sense of connection and positive impact within the community as we offer FREE concerts at the Cathedral Basilica.

As you consider your donation, think about the cost of attending a comparable concert... would it be $25, $40, or perhaps much more? Are you planning to attend two or three, or perhaps all six concerts? If so, then consider making a donation to SAMF that you can consider as the cost of your tickets. Sponsor levels of $5,000 or more entitles the donor/organization to be the sponsor of an evening's concert and $7,500 to be the sponsor of the final June 30 concert.

We Have 8 Sponsor Donor Levels:

*Regular Entry and Recognized Donor in the Program

**Early Entry and Reserved Seating. Recognized Donor on Website and in the Program

*** Early Entry and Prime Seating. Recognized Donor on Website, in the Program and invitation to a Champaign Reception

****Possible Concert Sponsor with Early Entry, Prime Seating, Recognized Donor Logo on Website and invitation to a Champaign Reception

*****Possible Final Concert Sponsor with Early Entry, Prime Seating, Recognized Donor Logo on Website and invitation to a Champaign Reception

Or Use our SAMF QR Code

Personal and business checks can be made payable to the

St. Augustine Music Festival and mailed to:

Saint Augustine Music Festival

PO Box 833

St. Augustine, FL 32085-0833

Each and every level of donation is important.

Please consider the level you wish to contribute.

The St. Augustine Music Festival is a non-for-profit corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We are qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers, or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code and can provide you with a copy of our tax exempt status upon request. We greatly appreciate all donations and acknowledge our donors in the festival program and on our website.

Jorge Peña and Jin Kim-Peña

Artistic Directors

Bill Boxer

Executive Director

On behalf of the SAMF Board of Directors, we thank you!

Bill Boxer, Executive Director

Nell Seymour Toensmann, Board Chair

Jorge Peña & Jin Kim-Peña, Artistic Directors

St. Augustine Music Festival (SAMF)

billboxer@SAMFestival.org

Mobile: 904 982-0146

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

St. Augustine Music Festival

P.O. Box 833

St. Augustine, FL 32085-0833



904-484-4960

www.SAMFestival.org