Hi - my name is Natalie Williams Calhoun and you might know me from my performances with the Atlantic String Machine, or the PEI Symphony Orchestra or perhaps with some of PEI's amazing singer/songwriters such as Tara MacLean, Rachel Beck and Catherine MacLellan. Why am I asking you for donations? Well, I would like to introduce you to a new string orchestra; the PEI String Collective. I am starting this LFEBridge to help us get our inaugural season off the ground. Who are we and what are we about? Read on... The PEI String Collective is a BRAND NEW community string orchestra and will be starting rehearsals in September 2024 for the 23/24 season. Formerly known as the UPEI String Orchestra, we are moving into the community and looking to raise money to fund our rehearsal space, conductor fees and everything to help us launch the group. The orchestra consists of approximately 30 string players from all over PEI featuring both adult amateur and older student players ranging in age from 17 to over 65, with me (Natalie Williams Calhoun) as music director. We plan to hold weekly rehearsals (location TBC) with monthly community open rehearsals, in case you'd like to see how the group works. I have chosen some ambitious repertoire for this inaugural season including music by PEI-based composers Sean Kemp, Kinley Dowling, Adam Hill, Karen Graves, Richard Covey and Natalie Williams Calhoun, as well as soloists Sylvia Abikhattar-Mutch and Kinley Dowling. We will also perform two of the pillars of the string orchestra repertoire; the Dvorak String Serenade and the Suk Serenade for Strings. There will be two concerts performed this season - December 2024 and May 2024 (dates TBC). Why do we need another string orchestra in Charlottetown? Well, this orchestra consists of a great mix of adult professional, adult amateur, university and high school-aged players and we work towards achieving a high standard of music making. At the moment, there isn't a group such as this, playing the repertoire that we are interested in playing. Why should you help me fund this group? Making music is cheap but finding places to rehearse and perform isn't... and we promise that if we get this group off the ground, we will perform concerts that you will want to attend, at a cost that you can afford. What will the money go towards? We will have weekly rental costs for a rehearsal space, as well as some fees for the conductor (because I can't live off of 'exposure') and we would like to pay our soloists, and perhaps even we can help pay a concertmaster and a librarian! Please help me get us off the ground! Thanks for your support! ps. If this intrigues you and you might want to consider joining us as a player, please let me know. I would be happy to listen to an audition!
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