Hello Guild members and friends!
The Colorado Springs Philharmonic Guild has been standing by, waiting to hear the good news that a contract has been negotiated and agreed upon. We look forward with anticipation to our orchestra's return to the stage. This past season's fundraising efforts by all of you through the Philharmonic Guild culminated in a gift of $34,000 to the Philharmonic's "Comeback Campaign" which, now will be used as the Colorado Springs Philharmonic gears up for an abbreviated season through January and then we will be back up to speed for the Winter season. Your support has been greatly appreciated this past year, and now, we can look forward to an even better season for the Guild's fundraising efforts. Of course we hosted the Young Artist Solo Competition. The Colorado Springs Youth Symphony went to a great deal of trouble to ensure that the kids could compete safely, socially distanced, and even allow a few of us lucky ones to attend the concert after the competition. We are grateful to have the support from our membership to continue funding this decades-long partnership. In addition to our regular sponsorship of the cash prizes for 1st through 5th place, this year the Guild also made an extra $2,000 donation to help defray costs for students who are in need of a little extra support during their time at CSYSA. As we looked around in the community this past year, and with our own orchestra not playing, we wondered about an opportunity to help young musicians to grow and to have opportunities to pursue additional musical training. We settled on a violin program at D11's Bristol Elementary School; a program established many years ago by our own Concertmaster Michael Hanson. This year, the Guild will sponsor two students from Bristol Elementary's violin program to attend a full year of orchestra at the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony. We are very happy to have been gifted additional money through our very successful Kentucky Derby Party last May, and we put the funds to good use. (By the way, mark your calendars for Saturday, May 7, 2022) And speaking of Guild events, our September Guild member program was a great success with more than 54 attendees. We met at The Mining Exchange, listened to beautiful music compliments of Sergei Vasseliev, principal clarinetist for the Colorado Springs Philharmonic--who has started his own concert series, called Epic. I had the opportunity to present the budget for the Guild members' ratification. There were questions, which are WELCOMED, and then a vote taken and the budget was ratified. Thank you for your support. Speaking of budgets, we work to use membership dues to pay for our monthly Guild programs, so that the bulk of our money raised at our various events goes directly to the Philharmonic, as well as our youth and music opportunities. The September program was underwritten by two Guild member businesses: Sparks Willson and Broadmoor Dental. We appreciate their support of the arts in the Colorado Springs Community and we value their contribution as it allows us to keep our member programs at no cost--and we believe that our member programs are the highlight of membership in the Guild. A chance to gather monthly, to sneak a peek at a local venue, listen to live music, and enjoy the company of people who love and believe in the necessity of arts to a community. It's a beautiful thing. Our October program is right around the corner, happening next Wednesday, October 20, at the new Tejon Eatery at 19 N. Tejon St. We will have food, drink and of course, live music. Please RSVP here. Hope to see you soon. Joy Maples President, Colorado Springs Philharmonic Guild |
An update from Nathan NewbroughWinter Dinner moved to January 2022The Philharmonic Guild board voted to postpone the Winter Dinner. We thought through the variety of entertainment options that we could creatively use and enjoy, but when it came down to it, we wanted to celebrate the Winter Dinner with the musicians of the Philharmonic. It was hoped that by postponing for just a while, we would be able to feature the musicians at this premier fundraising event for the Philharmonic. The date for the event is Thursday, January 27, 2022, 6 p.m. and will be held at the new U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum.
The Winter Dinner is chaired this year by Catherine Creppon (Page Public Relations) and Michelle Karas (The Gazette). The committee is meeting regularly and we look forward with great joy to this upcoming event. We will need an army of volunteers for the upcoming Nutcracker BoutiqueGuild Board Member Trudi Pruett is chairing the very important Nutcracker Boutique this year. And this will be the very first performance that the Philharmonic will be presenting for the 2021-22 season. We are so very excited to be a part of this special time. I (Joy Maples) remember the first time I volunteered, along with Lisa Keenan. We so enjoyed seeing the delighted faces of the sweet children who were selecting their very own Nutcrackers to take home with them. Families all dressed up and coming in together. It was really so much fun. We hope you will consider volunteering Thanksgiving weekend to help us sell Nutcrackers for one of the seven performances. Please contact Trudi here via email, or call her at 830.370.9075
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