Dear Friends, Musicians, and Our Hard-Working Board~

I've watched and listened to the video of "Naughty or Nice". You are going to be so proud! I was, that's for sure. You all look marvelous and sound great. There are clear and recurring shots of everyone. Congratulations on a really fun, beautiful concert. Congratulations to our soloists and narrator, too, who did so beautifully at Trinity. Although we have Kathy Habel looking adorable on White Christmas, I'm sorry that we don't have Wyatt conducting this time, because he did a perfect job on Friday night. Allan Ament was a terrific and very believable Santa, as you'll see, we don't have Mark Cassidy in his Santa costume, or Enid Braun playing cello on Sunday. Nevertheless, I'm sure you and yours will love seeing this concert and Brian's goodbye performance in its entirety. Clyde, Josephine, Steve, and Lindy, you knocked it out of the park. So did all the internal soloists in brass and winds. We are so lucky!

Strings, percussion, flutes, and piano will join me at Island Church for our first rehearsal for the Valentine's Day concert at WICA at 6:30 on Thursday, January 5th. The music is available for download. I hope that those who aren't playing this concert will come to see us and enjoy the dancers and the Celtic singer who are also part of this romantic evening. A perfect date night when you need more than chocolate. Wait, that's an oxymoron, isn't it?

The full orchestra will reconvene at Island Church on February 16, Thursday night at 6:30. I will conduct the first rehearsal, during which we will aim to read through everything so at least you'll be acquainted with the program when the wonderful Gabriela Garza takes over the following week, February 23rd, for A Celebration of Disney. The concerts will be at WICA on March 3st, and at Trinity Lutheran on April 2nd. It's a fun, truly engaging program.

Thank you all for such a very generous gift. I was stunned. Honestly, your performances and friendship are more than enough, but it was so thoughtful of you, and I thank you. Now we move on with our new concertmaster, Jennifer Schiavone-Ruthensteiner. I hope you know how important every one of you is to the success of this orchestra. If you doubt it, just look at the video. Fantastic!

Have a Very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a Lovely Channukah. You have made this a beautiful holiday for me, that's for sure. I hope we've done the same for you.

Best wishes,
Cynthia and WIO