We had our end-of-season banquet on Monday and it really was great to have a chance to sit down and visit and enjoy some truly excellent food. Maestra Julie gave us all a heartfelt and meaningful speech and everyone had a good time. Thanks, everyone, for a great year!

I've posted recordings on the Media page. You can download them by "right-clicking" on the title. Otherwise, if you do a regular click it will play the recording through your speakers.

Have a great summer everyone!

​Chris

I want to thank all of our musicians and audiences for another great season. We had twelve concerts over the past four months and it's been a lot of work and also a lot of fun. We gave out $5000 to five schools at our concert at Kino Elementary last week. I know we are all proud of the good work we are doing for music education in Mesa. I'm also very proud of the orchestra for their excellent musical performances! It's a fine group of musicians and a pleasure to work with them.

Our last concert is coming up next week. I've posted the flyer below. Hopefully we can have a great turnout and start raising more money to give to schools next year!

I hope to see you at the concert on March 13th!

Yours musically,
Chris

Julie and I have picked the music. Karen has sorted and stuffed all the folders. We're all rested and ready to begin another season!

I hope everyone has had a good summer. I've got the music folders in my office, ready to give out. I've also prepared a flyer for our first concert: at St. Mark's Episcopal Church - Tuesday, November 28th at 7pm. Please distribute these flyers and begin building our first audience!

See you all at the first rehearsal - Monday, November 6 at 1pm!

- Chris

Our 2016-17 season has just come to an end and, as always, it was a full and exciting season. Among our accomplishments these last few months:
• we performed 15 fantastic concerts in 4 months
• we gave $6000 to six local schools for their music programs
• we became an official 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation

I know all of our members are very proud of the hard work they have put into the music and the business of this orchestra. Thank you to all of them for their efforts!

And thank you to our audiences and patrons! We couldn't do it all without you.

Have a great summer, everyone!
- Chris

Today's concert at Kino JHS was inspiring, to say the least. Those band and orchestra students have an infectious energy that really made our concert exciting for us and for them too. Not only did we put on a great show, but we gave out several thousand dollars to several local schools. We know that every penny helps, and it gives us a great feeling of accomplishment to know that we're making a difference.

Our primary fundraising concert for the Scholarship is just next week! We're hoping to have a full house at St. Mark's for this free event. Help us get the word out! Invite everyone you know that cares about the future of music education. Let's make a difference!!

​- Chris

This season we have been promoting the Bill & Cynthia Richey Scholarship at our Spring concerts, and the results have been amazing! Many of our audience members have shown very generous support for young musicians and music education. It really is very heartening to see this, especially considering the vast cuts that music programs and schools have had to endure.

At the end of last season -- in March 2015 -- we gave a significant amount of money to the music department at a local elementary school. This money has already been used to purchase instruments for the school, which are loaned to their students at no charge. These are students that can not otherwise afford to rent or purchase instruments to play. What a great gift that these students have received -- a gift made possible by our audience's generosity!

What's more: on Monday March 7th, 2016 at 10am we will play a concert at Kino Elementary school -- free of charge. In fact, we are using some of these scholarship funds to pay for busses to bring students from several local schools to hear our concert. In many cases, these are students that have never seen an orchestra before! We hope that we can inspire them in their own music making.

Finally, we intend to give another generous gift to another local school in need at the end of our season. All of these things are exciting for us! It is thrilling to be a part of something that is doing good and making a change.

Our thanks to all who have donated to make these things possible! Here's to a long and musical future to the Richey Scholarship.

- Chris

Thanks so much for coming to our concert at St. Mark’s Church tonight! It was a great success, not only musically but also for our music scholarship fund. What a great start to our Bill & Cynthia Richie Scholarship Fund! We raised our $1000 for our fund and then some. Thank you so much for helping us make a difference in our community in East Mesa. I know Edison Elementary School will benefit greatly from your generous contributions.

It was a great close to our 2014-15 season. Many people told me they are anxious to see what we’ll do this next year. We’ll be back at St. Mark’s for a concert on December 15th, 2015!

Looking forward to next season! Hope to see you then.

Chris

On Tuesday, March 24th at 7pm we're giving a free concert at our new home at St. Mark's! Please join us and help us give a warm welcome to our new neighbors and friends. We hope this can be a regular tradition as we settle in to our new space.

Hope to see you there!

- Chris

As we wrap up our latest season I've begun posting some recordings and pictures up on the Media Page, which can be downloaded to your computer at home. I'll post more of them as they become available.

It's been a momentous season for us, what with all the changes! Even so, I think all is going very well with the East Valley Pops Orchestra!

- Chris