President’s Message – July 2025
| Dear Friends – I hope you are enjoying the summer weather – though it is very hot as I write this and I’m cowering in my home office with the air conditioning on. CMK takes advantage of all available opportunities to bring great music and musicians to our local music students. You are probably familiar with the allocation of 10 seats to each of our main season concerts for students at Kelowna Community Music School, courtesy of sponsor Lawson Lundell. The Artistic Director at the School, Christine Moore, says: “After each CMK concert our students attend, they come away awed and inspired by new music possibilities. We are grateful for the generosity of Lawson Lundell and CMK.” Another, less visible way we support the School is to partner with Christine to provide Master Class opportunities for their more advanced students with our visiting artists. In March, Jaeden Izik-Dzurko offered a class for 4 piano students. Christine says : “Our students were so lucky to have the opportunity to work with a world class performer like Jaeden. He was made a tremendous impact on each performer through his specific guidance, respectful demeanor and generous musical sharing. We can’t thank CMK and Jaeden Izik-Dzurko enough for the chance to learn and grow for both the performers and the auditors observing.” These sorts of programs are a wonderful investment in the future of classical music. While not every student who participated will become a musician, we’re sure all will remember their interactions with Jaeden and we are delighted we could help to facilitate their participation in this very special opportunity. We saw both familiar and new faces at a very special evening with The Tesla String Quartet at Quails’ Gate Estate Winery on June 15. This was an intimate gathering in the Stewart Family Room featuring fine cuisine and wine pairings along with one of the most exciting performances of the Ravel String Quartet I have heard. We look forward to making this an annual event. I’m pleased to report that subscription sales are running somewhat ahead of this time last year and we are thrilled to welcome a good number of new members. The Box Office is still holding seats for all 2024-25 subscribers and you have until August 29 to renew – but please don‘t leave it until the last possible minute! Between renewing and new patrons, there are less than 50 seats remaining in the Mary Irwin Theatre available for purchase. If you are thinking of subscribing for the first time, the best advice is to get your request in sooner rather than later. If your first seating preference isn’t available, changes will be made after the renewal deadline in the order they were received. For the 2025-26 Main Season, we’ve added an option for subscribers to select five of our 6 concerts if you would like. As our season grows, we want to remain flexible and keep our prices reasonable. You can subscribe to all 6 concerts for $299 or select 5 for $260. More information is available to make your musical plans online at http://www.theboxoffice.ca or you can call the Box Office at 250-469-8940. If you have not received a season invitation in the mail and would like one, please send an email to [email protected]. We look forward to welcoming you! With all best wishes, Diane P. Diane Bond, President |