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SOGO Celebrates...
T
he SOGO Spring concert will be a celebration of all the good work each orchestra and each orchestra member has done throughout the 25-26 season with the support of their fine Teaching Artists and Conductors. Highlights will include a salute to our graduating seniors: SOGO alumni and soloists Dillon Welch (2009) and Elliot Weeks (2011); “buzzing” Conservatory flute section members (Gracie Park, Serenia Thibodeaux, Karina Bone, and Karlotte Meuse) playing Flight of the Bumble Bee with their Flute Teaching Artist Erin Happenny accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra. The Conservatory Orchestra will bookend its performance with Fanfare 250 by Noah Taylor and Berlioz’s Hungarian March to send us all out in a festive mood. In the middle will be What a Wonderful World and “Shelter for My Child.” The Philharmonic and Academy Orchestras, along with the Brass Choir, will complete the program with expressive performances of classical gems and adventurous contemporary works.
GREAT NEWS!! Our legislators heard us and took action! Thanks to the combined efforts of SOGO volunteers and people from all across the state coordinated by Inspire Washington, the legislature eliminated the sales tax on our tuition effective July 1. Thank you to everyone who reached out to your legislators on this issue. Milt Harper, President
And, a reminder that the fine work by the Debut Orchestra will be celebrated in the Black Box at their 2:30 p.m. concert with MOJO groups! I attended last year’s League of American Orchestras conference in Salt Lake City. World-renowned soprano and arts
advocate, Renée Flemming was a keynote speaker. The topic was Music and the Mind and the positive effects of music and music making for all of us mentally, socially, and physically. As I listened to speakers and panel discussions around that topic, the composer Lucas Richman and the Paths to Dignity Project kept being referenced. Those of us in the music education community have been very aware of the research linking the positive effects of music and learning to play an instrument for decades. This project is allowing us at SOGO to put that knowledge into practice. We plan that this will be only the beginning of conversations and collaborations between homeless advocacy organizations and our local musical institutions as well as a continued focus on the intersections of music and health. We are so very excited and proud to share the students’ work on May 17. It is a great joy to be involved with so many wonderful students and their families and we never take it for granted. I know I speak for all of the SOGO artistic faculty, administrative staff, and board of directors when I say we are thankful beyond words to be involved in this good work creating beauty together - so, let the music begin!
Where words fail, music speaks. ~ Hans Christian Anderson
On May 17, Dillon will solo in OGO is delighted to welthird movement, “Shelter come home professional S Meet the Soloist! violinist Dillon Welch, a SOGO the for My Child,” from Paths to
DILLON WELCH 2009 SOGO Alum
2009 alum. His musical path has taken him from concertmaster roles and symphony positions across the country to a fellowship with the New World Symphony, performances with the Louisiana Philharmonic, and now the Louisville Orchestra.
Dignity by Lucas Richmond. In the week leading up to the concert, he’ll visit senior centers, schools, Panorama, and the Olympia Union Gospel Mission, sharing the music and the composer’s intent with the wider community. Making music accessible in unexpect-
ed places is central to Dillon’s love of performing. Offstage, he’s an avid reader, cyclist, trivia regular, Oscar-film watcher—and remarkably good at the New York Times Crossword. We’re so proud to have him back on our stage.
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