I am writing in support of the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra. I have heard that the orchestra is facing cuts to its funding that are leaving it with no option other than to cut popular and valuable programming, as well as employees salaries.
I am a Canadian, a professional musician living and working in Chemnitz, Germany. Chemnitz is a city in Saxony with a population of 240,000. It has an opera house, a symphony orchestra with over 100 full-time musicians, as well as numerous well staffed museums.
This is not unusual in Germany, but it sure is in Canada.
That’s why when I came to Red Deer to perform as a soloist with the orchestra in September 2011, I was amazed to see how Alberta and Red Deer were doing something special, acting as a wonderful example to other mid-sized cities in Canada.
Music serves the community in ways that are hard to put a number on. An orchestra like the wonderful gem which the Red Deer Symphony is enhances the community in many ways beyond the wonderful concerts they present.
Musicians living, teaching, raising children in a community inject that community with creativity, with culture, with social skills or “emotional intelligence” and help to keep the discourse between people of different backgrounds and interests alive and healthy.
If Albertan politicians and Red Deer residents are proud of their city, they can be sure that their orchestra plays a big role in making it a place to be proud of.
I urge decision makers in Alberta to assess these values carefully and bring funding back — better still, increase the investment in the community of Red Deer.
Nancy Gibson
Chemnitz, Germany