Welcome from the Board of Trustees
Melynda Wilcox, President Dear Friends, Music can be a powerful medium for telling stories. This season the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s five concert programs will tell timeless stories in familiar ways (Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade) and refreshingly different ways (Nutcracker through the eyes of a young African-American girl in Harlem), stories composed in unlikely places (the beaches of Normandy in 1944) and by women who were ahead of their time (Florence Price and others). The ASO has its own compelling story to tell at this juncture in our 76-year history, and ASO Trustees are eager to share with you how our organization is a vital part of our community. Ask us about how Maestro Jim Ross envisions an ASO that reaches audiences in new and personal ways with adventurous music-making, and how our new executive director, George Hanson, is putting his 32 years of experience with orchestras around the world to work here in Alexandria. Ask us about the ASO’s increasing role as an incubator of innovative musical “start-ups,” seeking diverse voices and perspectives in all that we do and perform, and unleashing the power of music to touch the heart, mind and soul. Ask us about our music education program, ASO Sympatico, which has expanded to Patrick Henry K-8 School in Alexandria. Ask us about how our orchestra musicians will be connecting therapeutically with those suffering from Alzheimer’s and PTSD, and reaching new audiences at pubs, bars and other venues. We also want to hear from you. What can we do to make your concert experience more enjoyable? How should the ASO be telling the story of Alexandria? Please write to me directly at Melynda.wilcox@gmail.com or to Executive Director George Hanson at ghanson@alexsym.org.
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