Thank you to every Lopez Islander, whether here to stay or here for now, for your enthusiastic support once again for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival concert at Lopez Center on Sunday August 11th!  Once again, you filled the house. Once again, your joyful welcome, rapt attention and rousing applause demonstrated your love for classical music played with perfection. Once again, our guest musicians returned to their major orchestras in New York, Los Angeles and Europe wrapped in the warm glow that the Lopez audience bestows. Once again, members of the Festival Board of Directors left Lopez Sunday night feeling very, very good about the “experiment” to extend the Festival to Lopez each August.

The Lopez Concert takes so many people to make it happen—29 volunteers on Lopez alone, some of whom were seen taking tickets and providing programs and tushy cushions to arriving concert-goers. Behind them others worked for hours, days or months steering the decision making, finding sponsors and donors, promoting the concert on KLOI, at the Farmers Market and in the Weekly, creating the reception, laboring to put up risers for seating and take them down again, providing transportation for the musicians, growing gardens full of flowers. Add to this the expertise of staff of Lopez Center and of the Music Festival office in Eastsound, the Festival Artistic Director, the program creators, and the all-volunteer Festival Board, and it proves it DOES take a village (or two!) to do something right.

And wasn’t that fun to get a bonus shoes-off rehearsal in the bargain!  Shall we do this again? I’d love to hear from those who may want to join the behind-the scenes team to bring this Chamber Music Festival back next August. Please feel free to reach me at 468-4442 or mickiryan@rockisland.com.  Planning starts before the end of December this year. Thank you all!

Micki Ryan

Lopez Concert Coordinator

Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival