January 2024 eNotes

Happy New Year!

We are SO excited to step into a new year filled with amazing experiences for our audiences! Maestro Murray and the orchestra are busily rehearsing for our Masterworks II concert, "Brahms & Bohème", with performances on January 20th at 7:30 p.m. and January 21st at 3:00 p.m. Ryan will host his fan favorite pre-concert talks at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday and 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, immediately preceding each concert.  We strongly encourage you to attend these insightful short discussions designed to enhance your enjoyment of the concert. This is a unique opportunity for Ryan to share the intriguing context of his musical selections and background about our amazing guest soloists and shining stars: Carrie Hennessey, Liisa Dávila, Salvatore Atti, and Robert Balonek. Our popular shuttle service will begin prior to the pre-concert talk, and our "Volunteer Village" will gladly help you to your seat, so you won’t miss a thing! There are a limited number of tickets available for these concerts, so please order your tickets today. 

A heartfelt thanks to those of you who generously donated to our Giving Tuesday/Year-End Giving Campaign! Your donations help us produce our annual concerts and build community through our outreach programs like Symphony Goes to School, Symphonic Sounds for Seniors, the Young Artists Competition, and Symphony Around Town.  We are so passionate about sharing music across all generations and these programs help to do just that. If you would like even MORE information about our outreach programs and/or have an interest to becoming more involved, please reach out to our office for more information.

Our annual Young Artists Competition entrance deadline is rapidly approaching on January 10th. This competition provides a unique opportunity for musically gifted youth (ages 8 to 18) to perform live before Maestro Murray and a panel of Auburn Symphony musician judges in early February. We award cash prizes to the winners of each of the three divisions, as well as awarding the “Grand Prize” winner the unique opportunity of performing at our Family Concert the following year as a featured soloist. We strive to make this competition a welcoming and positive experience for our applicants, many who may not have stepped onto a stage to perform in front of a panel of in-person judges before. We are so proud of these young musicians, and we will be sharing more with you throughout the year about what our previous winners are currently doing in their professional musical careers!

In January, our longest-running outreach program, “Symphony Goes to School”, will begin their tour performing at various local elementary schools. Our smaller-scale orchestra, under the direction of Conductor Paolo Reyes, connects with students, performing literature that is engaging and relatable to this age group. This year’s theme, The Conductor’s Spellbook, will be carried throughout these traveling performances which lead nicely to our Family Concert on Saturday, February 3rd, at 1:00 p.m. This is a concert specifically designed to appeal to ALL ages – we love to see young families attend and enjoy introducing new listeners to amazing live classical music. The extremely engaging narrator, Omari Tau, will be back this year to join us for this special concert, bringing a new level of musical theater to the enjoyment of all at this family event. This concert sells out quickly, so don’t delay in ordering your tickets for this wonderful experience.

The "Founder's Farewell Club" is still welcoming new members - a donation of any size helps honor the legacy of Monroe DeJarnette during this magical season.

Our Mother’s Day Season Finale at the Mondavi Center, where we will perform Disney’s “Fantasia”, a concert live to film, is dedicated in his honor. This is truly a unique experience where the orchestra will perform every note of the music live while the beautiful film is projected on a gigantic screen behind the musicians. We are proud to share that Maestro Ryan Murray is one of only 50 conductors in the U.S. and 100 conductors worldwide who is sanctioned by Disney to conduct live to their masterpieces. It is due to Ryan’s successful relationship with Disney and the high caliber of our orchestral performances, that we were able to secure an exception for our community orchestra to perform this piece, as Disney mostly contracts with professional orchestras. It is a real feather in our cap to have this rare opportunity and we are thrilled to share it with all our patrons! Tickets for this one-time performance must be purchased directly from the Mondavi Box Office at (530)754-2787 or online at the Mondavi website. We have a chartered bus traveling round-trip to this event, so if you are interested in leaving the drive to us, please contact our Business Manager Jennifer Sanders at our office to purchase your transportation tickets.

Thanks again for your unwavering support. We look forward to seeing you in the concert hall very soon.

Leslie A. Rogers, President

Auburn Symphony Board of Directors

Credits

"Music is Magic" courtesy Gini Crepps

"Conductor's Spellbook" courtesy Dana Ross

2023/2024 Season Sponsors

City of Auburn

Bobbi Machado

Mary & Dr. Dwight Odom

Stephanie & Bob Snyder

2023 Symphony & Art in the Park Sponsors

Mary Ann Flemmer

Emigrant Trails Greenway Trust

Auburn Symphony 2023/2024 Board of Directors

www.AuburnSymphony.com

Auburn Symphony

Box 74, Auburn 95604

985 Lincoln Way, #102, Auburn 95603

530-823-6683



AuburnSymphonyOffice@gmail.com

Tuesday - Friday / 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.