Thank you for your generous support of the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra! We are thrilled to be entering our 20th season. You heard us right. In 2003, Les Vielbig, Henning Ottsen and Bruce Walker had the vision to create a chamber orchestra with these core goals in mind:
- Present professional-quality classical music to local audiences
- Promote classical music to our youth through presentations and mentorship programs
- Provide local musicians with a musical home to perform orchestral works
And, with your support and enthusiasm, we have done just that!
This past year ended on an extremely high note with KuanFen’s invitation to conduct Morten Lauridsen’s Lux aeterna at Carnegie Hall. As part of our commitment to young musicians, we financially assisted the Santa Paula High School Concert Choir and the Ventura High School Chorale to travel to New York and participate in this concert on a world stage.
Speaking of students, here are a few fantastic CHICO Young Artists alumni updates: Scott Quirk (flute, 2018), who studies at Juilliard, appeared on NPR’s From the Top radio show and has been named a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist. David Gatchel (piano, 2015) is a Fulbright Scholar pursuing a second Master’s at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany. Alexa Constantine (piano 2012 & 2015) received her BA in Piano Performance from UCLA, where she is also a staff pianist. She also received her Master’s in Music Industry Administration this year, and is now working in music royalty calculations and processing in addition to performing. She is also on our board!
Last month, we journeyed to Los Angeles to Fox Studios’ historic Newman Scoring Stage to record two works that were commissioned by CHICO, Santa Monica Mountains by Bevan Manson and The Channel Islands Orchestral Suite by Ashley Hoyer. We will announce CD release info in the near future.
The past two years have been like no other, which has only strengthened our resolve to offer a place to unplug and experience the soul-filling joy of classical music. We hope to see many familiar faces soon. Here are highlights of our upcoming 20th season:
- Afro-American Symphony by William Grant Still
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21, by Frédéric Chopin, featuring Miriam Arichea on the piano
- An evening with Grammy® Award-winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor
- Annual Choral Spectacular with Channel Islands Choral Association and area high school choirs performing Jubilate Deo by Dan Forrest
What would an “ask letter” be without an “ask”? We hope that you, like us, are passionate about live music and will help us continue to achieve the vision that Les, Henning and Bruce had. We urge you to consider a sponsorship of the orchestra at any level. We also want to expand the size of our Board, so please contact any one of us to learn more about our current goals and activities which could be well-served by your participation.
We appreciate your support!
PayPal here
Check payable to CHICO
PO Box 2116, Ventura, CA 93002
KuanFen Liu, Artistic Director and the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra Board of Directors
Miriam Arichea, Alexa Constantine, Paul Hunt, Ted Lucas, Laura Mihalka, Karen Nelson, Steve Perren, Nancy Sieh
Henning Ottsen, Emeritus and Bruce Walker, Emeritus