Sunday, March 2, 3 p.m. Orcas School Old Gym
— from Kristen Wilson —
The Music Advocacy Group’s (MAG) 17th annual benefit concert will bring Orcas Island musicians together in support of school music on Sunday March 2, at 3 p.m. It is the single largest music concert on Orcas Island, with more than 100 musicians performing, and every year they come together to volunteer their time and musical talent to support one great cause: The Orcas School Music Program. The concert will take place in the Old Gym at the Orcas public school.
“Nothing would make us happier,” said Catherine Pederson, President of MAG, “than to fill the entire school gym for this concert. Thanks to the community’s support, the MAG concert has become an island tradition. The whole community joins forces, and by their attendance they are saying, ‘School Music Matters!’”
The concert will feature performances by Orcas Choral Society, Island Sinfonia, Orcas Island Community Band, Orcas Youth Orchestra and other school musicians. Orcas Choral Society, under the baton of Roger Sherman, will sing selections that preview their spring concert, Love Found, Love Lost. Island Sinfonia, led by Music Director Ned Griffin, will play Valse-Fantaisie by Mikhail Glinka, Slavonic Dance No. 6 by Antonin Dvorak and a selection from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Songs Suite.
The Orcas Island Community Band, with conductor Jim Shaffer-Bauck, will play The Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson and French Festival by Koger & Ulmer, Plante & Ferrari. Conductor Karen Key Speck will direct the Band in The Wizard of Oz by Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg. The Orcas Youth Orchestra, comprised of Orcas High School strings and band members (fresh from their highly-rated contest performances in Bellingham) will play Rhythm Stand by Jennifer Higdon and other selections. Finally, all groups will participate when Joe Babcock conducts the rousing finale, God Bless America.
Everyone is invited to stay afterwards for a reception, hosted by Lynne Howe, featuring delicious home-baked cookies and other treats. No tickets are necessary. Admission to the concert is by donation, and all proceeds go to MAG, a 501(c)(3) organization whose sole purpose is to support and augment the music program of the Orcas Island public schools.
“We rely on the funds from this concert to help us continue to build a strong school music program,” said Ian Lister, treasurer of MAG. “If you’ve heard about the outstanding performances by our young school musicians at the regional contests in Bellingham, or the invitation for our High School Strings to perform on the main stage at Disneyland, then you know how much your dollars help. ‘School Music Matters!’”
Those who cannot attend but wish to donate can make checks payable to “MAG” and mail them to MAG, P.O. Box 1171, Eastsound, WA 98245.
