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Dear Friends,
Well, we certainly went from the cultural famine of a pandemic to a feast of musical riches in what seemed like no time!
This past season has been incredible, and we started and finished at a breakneck pace! On the one hand, the season offered some of our most memorable musical experiences and was probably one of the most programmatically diverse seasons we’ve ever presented. On the other, it was, at times, literally dizzying. Both the fall and the spring were jam-packed with concerts, and because we never shy away from a challenge, we threw an office move into the mix. I think that we (my in-the-office colleagues and I) are grateful for the relative peace and quiet offered by the upcoming summer months, when we can rest for a minute and then focus on planning for next season, which will no doubt be just as busy. Some people slow down with age… luckily for us, Leila isn’t one of them!
This is the moment in the season when I get to say thank you to all the people who make this organization work and move us forward. And on the heels of a season like the one we’ve just had, the list is long!
Our Season Sponsor, the Peak Group of Companies, has continued its tremendous support of our activities over the past season, as have the RBC Foundation, the Estate of Edwina and Paul Heller and the Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation. Our amazing individual concert sponsors – Sherry Killam & Mamie Angus, Robert Bailey & Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey, Richard Carswell in Memory of Alison Kirkley, a Group of (extremely patient!) Goldberg Variation Sponsors, Ann Harding, Allison Hart, the Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation, Lynn Kagan, the John C. Kerr Family Foundation, the Estate of Denise Mara, George Pick & Santi Pick-Pelaez, Ric & Lynda Spratley, Stephen Schachter & Nancy Stern, Joyce & Tony, the VRS Board of Directors (more on this important group of people in a minute), Alexandra Volkoff, and London Drugs have made the journey with us this season, and we are so grateful to each and every one of them.
Our donors, subscribers and single ticket buyers, alongside the amazing artists we present, are the reason we do what we do and to each and every one of you we offer our most sincere thanks.
As always, we’re grateful also to the Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver for their invaluable support. I would like to express thanks to our colleagues at Vancouver Civic Theatres and, in particular, I would like to call out Louanne Rhine, who for as long as I can remember has been — along with Peter Kendall — one of our primary points of contact at Civic Theatres. Lou is family, and on behalf of all of us at the VRS I want to wish her all the best for her upcoming retirement. Lou, you leave big shoes to fill and we look forward to welcoming you as a member of the VRS audience in the years to come!
As always, there is a group of individuals on whom we lean heavily throughout the season. They are amazing colleagues and do so much to make your concert-going experience better. They include:
- Lydia Avsec of Copilot Design, who designs our brochures, ads and pretty much anything ‘pretty’ you might see from us;
- Ewa Borkowska, our bookkeeper, who has been with the VRS since the mid-nineties and who helps us keep the numbers straight;
- Scott Harker, who has continued to care for our Steinway as if it were his favourite child (sorry to Scott’s real kids, but it’s time you knew the truth…) – I said that last year, but it still holds;
- Dr. Donald Gíslason, whose program notes have continued to be every bit as entertaining as they are thought-provoking and informative; and finally,
- Our Board of Directors, both those who’ve recently left the board and those who’ve joined, works tirelessly to make sure that Leila and I are on the up and up, and do so with such warmth, care and consideration that we and the staff feel fully supported in everything we do. Thank you Christine Mills, Casey Ching, Jeff Dresselhuis, Gloria Tom, Valerie Hunter, Jonathan Girard, Jared Dawson, Jessica Yan Macintosh, Susan Wong Lim, Mamie Angus, Stephen Schachter, Jim Smith, and Yoram Minnes.
Next season is another big one, so buckle up because at 44 we’re just hitting our stride!
Most sincerely, and on behalf of all of us at the VRS,
Sara Getz
General Manager
PS – on a very personal note, I would like to make sure that I publicly call out my colleagues (past and present) Niamh Small, Alex Glyniany, Arlo Spring, Melodie Corbett, Lucas Hung and yes, you too, Ma, for being an absolutely outstanding group of co-workers.
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This week's video picks are from Niamh and Lucas. Enjoy!
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Niamh's pick: The Berliner Philharmoniker performs Khachaturian: Sabre Dance from Gayane Suite No. 3 with conductor Sir Simon Rattle
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Lucas' pick: Gyorgy Sebok plays Bach-Busoni: Adagio from BWV 564
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Please note our new address:
103 - 119 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1S5
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