eNotes :: Friend, We're Back! 😁👏

July 2021 eNotes

Dear Friend,

For more than a year, I have been writing our monthly updates to tell you what we were doing in the Symphony office while patiently waiting for the day when we could play music, greet each other, and plan gatherings. Recently, the day came when we were able to come out and play! Here’s our Auburn Symphony Quartet with musicians Urs Wehrle, Lars Jakobsen, Judy Bromley, and Norma Sexton making new friends and enjoying the applause at the Roseville Galleria on a late June Sunday afternoon. Goodness, that felt GOOD!

With the reopening of California, we’re excited, busy, and optimistic. We’re also still feeling our way through health and safety precautions when necessary. We continue to keep the welfare of our orchestra members and patrons top of mind while moving ahead with a new season for 2021/22. Your mailboxes--both online and in real life--will burst with details in the coming months but here’s the short version about how the Auburn Symphony is reviving in the foothills with live music:

The first three concerts of the year make up our Finalists Showcase Series--conductor auditions in October, January, and February that will allow us to choose our next Music Director! These will be Sunday afternoon concerts only and seating is limited, so carefully read the brochure coming soon to see how to get tickets and secure your seats.

Our season finale Masterworks concert is a May 2022 Mother’s Day celebration of Young Artists Competition grand prize winners and a women composer, to be held in the historic Placer High Concert Hall and led by longtime Symphony friend and guest conductor Pete Nowlen. We’ll be back to our traditional Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon concerts, and will be able to honor season subscribers’ seat assignments.

Sprinkled throughout the summer and fall, we will also have opportunities in the Auburn community and Placer County region to share Auburn Symphony talents with the general public, spreading the joy of music in small ensembles.

First up among these opportunities will be a screening of the documentary Auburn Symphony: Scaling the Heights at the Auburn State Theatre on Sunday, July 25th. Come early at 2:00 p.m. for live music and no-host refreshments. The one-hour film begins at 3:00 p.m. and tells the story of our 2017 Mondavi Center performance of the Alpine Symphony, a remarkable achievement for a community orchestra! The screening is our gift to the community for such wonderful support this past year, so seats are free but you will need to reserve them by getting tickets in advance. Join us for a warm and fun time—gathering again with old and new friends!

Click here to order your FREE tickets!

On other fronts, I always like to include a brief update on Symphony business each month so you can feel comfortable about how we’re “running the place". Our corporate year ended June 30th on a strong fiscal note. We approved a spending plan for the next year close to $250,000--up from last year’s pandemic budget, but about $50,000 less than the previous year’s “normal” amount. The spending plan also allows for continued reserves, which have built in the last three years, since adoption of the Board policy, to $22,000. (Well done, us!)

At the annual General Membership Meeting of the Auburn Symphony Association, election results were ratified, approving three Directors (Kathy Albrecht, Michelle Jordan, and Karen Willem) to three-year terms ending in 2024 and the proposed amendments to the Bylaws. I also added two new agenda items to the General Membership Meeting this year. One was a look at the Year in Review, an annual report on our accomplishments and lessons of the past year. The other was the inaugural President’s Leadership Awards, given to volunteers whose contributions to the Symphony’s mission went “above and beyond".

The first Leadership Award was given to Director Patty Wassum for her extraordinary leadership and 360-degree dedication to keeping our orchestra members connected, all the while shepherding the Music Director search—before, during, and after the quarantine. Patty helped all of us keep our “eyes on the prize” of finding our next artistic leader while the world was virtually stopped—an endeavor so critical to our continued existence. Patty also serves as our orchestra’s volunteer Personnel Manager and our Principal Clarinet. Throughout the year, she kept us all in touch with the heart of our symphony, our musicians. (And she did it while working full time on the front line as a teacher learning to practice her profession remotely.) Hats off to Patty!

Our President’s Leadership Award also went to the dynamic duo of Directors Leslie Rogers and Allison Yee who teamed up to guide the technical requirements behind our first-ever online Gala fundraiser. Their courage and energy allowed us to succeed in an area totally foreign to all of us, and contributed to exceeding our $30,000 net goal in this uncharted territory. Both Leslie and Allison bring many other skills to the Board of Directors, including serving as Treasurer and Secretary of the Board, respectively. However, this technology-driven financial accomplishment during such an unprecedented year was truly laudable and a critical component of the Symphony’s successful year. Deepest thanks to Leslie and Allison!

That’s plenty from Auburn Symphony Central this month! I have said it before, but it can’t be overstated--thank you for being here for us this past year. We look forward to seeing you in person, hugs when appropriate, and all the familiar and new musical adventures on the horizon. Be sure to watch your mailbox and your email boxes for all the details of what’s to come. I am so happy that “someday” finally arrived!

Stay tuned,