A note from the Santa Fe Symphony Board President:
Dear Friends of the Santa Fe Symphony: Welcome to another season, and another series of fabulous concerts, from the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. We again will experience music of the great composers, performed by our outstanding musicians and chorus members, and by world-class soloists. Among the highlights is the 2009 Van Cliburn Gold Medal winner Haochen Zhang, who performed during our season’s opening concert in September 2010. 
In October 2010, the Symphony joined with the Adler Planetarium and Dr. Francisco Salgado in presenting Holst’s The Planets, in a special production featuring stunning visuals of the solar system choreographed to the music by Dr. Salgado. Among other treats during the season will be Jazz Meets the Classics in February 2011, presented in collaboration with Friends of Santa Fe Jazz, and in May we’ll perform all five of Beethoven’s piano concerti over two consecutive days, featuring Anton Kuerti as soloist. As I said, it’s another fabulous season!
We Santa Feans are awfully lucky to have music and performances of this caliber in our relatively small city. During the past year, we received the continued support of hundreds of donors at all levels, and were again blessed with several very generous individual contributions. Such support is critical if we are to continue to enjoy professional symphonic music right here at home. We’re all too aware the economy has not yet recovered, and like our peer organizations throughout the city and the nation, we very much need your continued support. Some of those organizations have been forced to drastically curtail their activities; sadly, others have closed their doors.
The costs borne by arts organizations are only partially covered by ticket sales; about two-thirds typically come from other sources. Individual donors, including every member of our board of directors, contribute nearly half of our annual budget. Our local business community, members of which sponsor most of our concerts, continues to show its support. We urge you to patronize them, as a show of thanks for their generosity.
Your support also makes possible the orchestra’s contribution to the broader community of Santa Fe and the surrounding area, especially to our children. The orchestra annually performs special concerts for all area fourth-graders, at the Lensic. Members of the Symphony perform in smaller ensembles in schools, retirement homes and other venues in Santa Fe and nearby communities. Through these outreach efforts, more than 2,000 students are introduced to symphonic music each year. Once again, I ask each of you, first-time donors and longstanding contributors alike, to consider a personal contribution to help support this most worthy cause. We need your help. Contributions can be made at www.santafesymphony.com/donate.htm. With your support, the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus will continue to bring great music to life.
Sincerely,
Michael E. Melody,
Santa Fe Symphony Board President |
