IMPACT REPORT 2019-2020 Season A Message from our Board Chair Dear Friends, Symphony in C’s 2019-2020 Season was our final season with Music Director Stilian Kirov, whose 5 year contract expired on June 30th. Our mission of training promising young musicians includes giving opportunities to conductors who are rising stars in the classical music world. During his time with us, Maestro Kirov developed his skills in programming artistically excellent concerts and worked with some of the world’s most talented orchestra musicians and soloists. He also endeared himself to Symphony in C’s staff, Board of Directors, and audiences. We will miss him, but are happy to have helped launch his successful career, and we wish him all the best. This season was one of our most successful in recent years – right up to mid-March, when we, like most other orchestras around the world were forced to cancel our remaining concerts. We had planned to honor Maestro Kirov for his accomplishments at our annual gala, which has been rescheduled for Sunday, May 23, 2021. The gala will also honor our former Board Chair C. Carney (Chick) Savery and Counsel to the Board of Directors, Charles (Chuck) Heuisler, Esq. The sudden closures in March left instruments locked in schools and exposed the technology disparities in many urban schools, but also served to show the resilience of Symphony’s teaching artists, who recorded lessons and provided them to the schools. Our annual summer camp was completely virtual, and was a big success. The need for the arts has never been greater as students deal with the social and emotional trauma brought on by the pandemic. Symphony in C is proud to serve on the NJ Arts Ed Task Force, working with schools to ensure equitable arts access for all New Jersey students. Although we do not know when we will be able to return to the concert hall, I can assure you that when the time is right, Symphony in C will be ready. We are already at work creating and planning for a bright new future. On behalf of our dedicated musicians, staff, and Board of Directors, I thank you for your support. Lee Hymerling, Esq. Chair, Board of Directors he mission of Symphony in C is to maintain a world class symphony orchestra that provides training for T tomorrow’s orchestra musicians, music directors, composers, and soloists; well-rounded, artistically excellent performances for a variety of audiences, and access to classical music and education programs for children, particularly those in its home community of Camden, New Jersey. A Message from our President Dear Friends, I hope you are all safe and well as we continue to navigate a path none of us would have chosen. I would like to thank all of you for your generous financial support. Your support has provided us with the funds to keep the staff employed and continue our education programs. The Symphony was also able to secure some of the Federal CARES funds through the Paycheck Protection Program, a Camden County CARES grant, as well as a NJ Economic Development Authority grant. When schools closed for in person instruction in the middle of March, Symphony in C’s talented teaching artists’ quickly devised effective ways of continuing programs virtually that allowed students to complete instruction last year as well as continue with new lessons this season. The staff and teaching artists also pivoted the popular summer camp program and youth orchestra to a virtual format. I would also like to update you on the Symphony’s concert plans for the 2020-2021 season. When everything closed in March, we cancelled our March chamber concert, postponed the April gala, and cancelled the May concert. The May concert was to have been Stilian Kirov’s farewell concert, when we would have celebrated his accomplishments during his five-year tenure as our Music Director. That evening we planned to announce the search for our next Music Director in the 2020-21 season. The search was to have begun in September 2020 with a season of five concerts, each featuring an incredibly talented conductor, with the goal of selecting the next Music Director at the end of that search season. The search will now begin in the fall of 2021, as long as it is safe to present large concerts with an audience. In the meantime, we are planning several smaller chamber sized concerts to begin this winter in accordance with the current CDC and state guidelines. They will most likely be virtual unless conditions improve and it is safe for audiences to attend. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and hope we can be together soon to enjoy more memorable concerts together. Most sincerely, Pamela Brant President A Message from our Music Director Dear Friends, The past few months have been uncertain and difficult for all orchestras around the globe. We have witnessed something we have always been afraid of - the inability to make music for our audiences. This probably is the biggest fear of every artist and once COVID happened, we were all in shock wondering what the future will bring. The good news is that even in this difficult situation, the music did not stop. Musicians are finding ways to perform together from a distance, using the technological advances of our time. We have adjusted and evolved and I am confident that we will be stronger at the end of the crisis when we return to our concert hall. Although the pandemic did not allow Symphony in C to perform its last season concert, we were blessed to be able to perform all the rest. We were presenting exciting, diverse programming while allowing young talented musicians gain indispensable experience in their preparation for stepping into the professional world. Not only that Symphony in C engaged all these young and brilliant musicians as orchestral players but also many of them had the unique opportunity to perform as soloists. Symphony in C is about helping artists to find their artistic voice and I as a conductor am no exception. Not only this past season but also in the past five years, I have been growing together with these musicians. Discovering new pieces of music, learning and growing artistically. This past season included some quite outstanding programs from an all-Beethoven opening night to a romantic concert performing Clara Schumann’s Piano concerto. One of the most memorable moments of my tenure as music Director was the opportunity to perform with Peter Richard Conte and the Wanamaker organ at Macy’s in Philadelphia. The experience of performing along with the largest working pipe organ in the world is definitely unforgettable for all of us. The last concert we performed together this season before the pandemic was an all-wind and brass concert. This is something unique in the orchestral world because very often you would have an all-string concert but rarely you will have a concert featuring only the brass and wind players. This is what Symphony in C is all about, new experiences, opportunities to experiment while growing as an artist. Since I am completing my tenure this season, I will very much miss this group but cannot wait to follow all the musicians and for our musical paths to cross again. After all, the Symphony in C family with all its successful alumni is everywhere. Sincerely, Stilian Kirov 2019-2020 Season Highlights Our season opened with an all Beethoven concert featuring Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Symphony in C alumni Nikki Chooi, now Concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic, and Timotheos Petrin, acclaimed cellist and winner of the 2015 Astral Artists Management Competition. In December, our string section was highlighted with performances of Grieg’s Holberg Suite and Dvorak’s Serenade. Another pair of alumnae, Robyn Bollinger on violin and Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt on viola, joined the orchestra for Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. February brought the exceptional young pianist Fei-Fei Dong to our series for Clara Schuman’s Piano Concerto. The spotlight was on our woodwind section in March as they performed an arrangement of the Overture to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Strauss’ Serenade in E-flat Major, Mozart’s Gran Partita and accompanied alumnus Oliver Herbert in Ibert’s Cello Concerto. Symphony in C Musicians Appointed to Orchestral and Chamber Music Positions from 2018-2020 Lauren Anrade, Cello, Colton Fellowship Born Lau, Principal Viola New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Shanghai Symphony Myles Blakemore, Trombone Ze Yu Victor Li, Associate Concertmaster Naval Academy Band Toronto Symphony Orchestra Justine Campagna (Lamb-Budge), Violin Chris Lindgren, Principal Trombone Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Charleston Symphony Orchestra Karina Cannellakis, Music Director Zoë Martin-Doike, Viola Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Michael Casimir, Viola Chelsea McFarland, French Horn St. Louis Symphony Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Stanislav Chernyshev, Principal Clarinet Avi Nagin, Violin Fort Worth Symphony Amernet String Quartet Nikki Chooi, Concertmaster Andrew O'Donnell, Clarinet Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra San Francisco Ballet Stefani Collins Matsuo, Concert Master Slavko Popovic, Principal Clarinet Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Calgary Symphony Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal Bass Stephen Rudman, Bassoon Houston Symphony Orchestra The President's Own Marine Band Teodora Dimitrova-Marinoff, Violin Chris Stingle, Trumpet Sinfonieorchester Basel Seattle Symphony Andrew Doub, Principal Tuba Stephen Tavani, Assistant Concertmaster Louisville Orchestra Cleveland Orchestra Yoni Draiblate, Cello Agnes Tse, Violin Columbus Symphony* Baltimore Symphony Abraham Feder, Assistant Principal Cello Wyatt Underhill, Assistant Concertmaster Detroit Symphony Orchestra San Francisco Symphony Laura Ha, Violin Patrick Williams, Associate Principal Flute Utah Symphony Philadelphia Orchestra Elaine He, Violin Rimbo Wong, Viola Princeton Symphony Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Hannah Ji, Violin Mary Yong, Principal Viola St.