Congratulations to the Rosedale Valley String Orchestra and the Red Deer Youth Orchestra for an outstanding symphony concert, Music With A Mission, held on Saturday, May 2. Approximately 60 musicians brought patrons to tears and to their feet in hall filled with music that was powerfully emotional.
As a symphony parent, I am so pleased with the level of stringed musical instruction available right here in Central Alberta. Thank you to the teachers who are committed to excellence. Thanks to the parents who invest in musical education. Thanks to the students who are inspired by their teachers and by each other.
As an organizer to the event, I would like to extend several thank-yous to the community. Thanks to the patrons who made the concert complete. Thanks to the First Church of the Nazarene for inviting us to use their acoustically elegant facility. Thanks to Panago Pizza for feeding our orchestras. Thanks to maestro Claude Lapalme from the RDSO for guest conducting. Thanks to the Red Deer Advocate and Lana Michelin for the great story carried in the local news.
Music With A Mission is a partnership between the two orchestras and A Better World Canada, a Central Alberta-based philanthropic organization. The trio used the concert to raise funds for a primary school project being built by parents in Tulwap, Kenya. To date, the funds coming in have totaled $12,000.
We are already planning another concert for next spring. If you were in attendance, I would ask that you plan to invite your friends, your families, your co-workers, total strangers to a concert that will inspire.
Youth symphony is the jewel from Central Alberta. Let us not keep it a secret!
Michael Martin
Red Deer