Community is such an important element of life that we often took for granted but we now have a renewed appreciation for as the pandemic has stubbornly persisted. Please invite your friends to join the League and volunteer with the Symphony. Personal invitation is the primary means that the League can grow. Maybe consider sponsoring someone's League membership yourself for a year to show your own enthusiasm for your association with the Symphony. If you would like to be involved in the leadership of the League, please let us know your interest! You can email us at PSLeagueMembership@gmail.com.

The LEAGUE DIRECTORY for 2021-2022 is now available online on the League Access Page on the Pacific Symphony Website. Upcoming events and information are also available there.

If you wish to volunteer this coming year at a concert, and you already use VicNet (the Volgistic Portal) you will be able to see all the open dates and assignments on your phone. If you don't use VicNet, you can go to the Pacific Symphony Volunteer website here and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on ACTIVE VOLUNTEERS Sign in Here. All volunteering opportunities have been added to the site thanks to many volunteers that helped Abby in the past months.

Upcoming Social! Each month this year, we plan to have a League Event. Upcoming Events and more details about the Events listed below will be announced via email.

Social - Cooking Demo with a Symphony Rewards Restaurant Partner.

Jan 20th: 1-3PM "Managing Your Finances" Educational opportunity with special emphasis on Legacy giving. Refreshments Served.

Social - Pre concert Happy Hour and Discount Ticket Block seating.

March 14th: Quarterly Luncheon at Big Canyon Country Club.

Social - Wine Tasting Event.

Social - Pre concert Happy Hour with Discount Ticket Block seating.

Quarterly Luncheon at Pacific Club.

We look forward to seeing you!

Kean Coffee is a new Symphony Rewards Partner and graciously opened their doors to us, which was deeply appreciated. The Diedrich Family welcomed League members and friends to their coffee roasting headquarters in Costa Mesa on October 26, 2021 for a roasting demonstration and cupping (tasting).

The story of Kean is fascinating as they have a long time presence in Orange County starting as Diedrich Coffee and even inventing their own coffee roasting machine which is commercially available and well regarded in the industry. Their commitment to sustainability is admirable along with their emphasis on community. There were about 10 League members who enjoyed spending time together after such a long time apart. Some went on to have lunch together at Descanso, a local restaurant that is also a Symphony Rewards Partner. You can tell by looking at the pictures below that people were very interested in the demonstration and learned a lot.

About 20 League members and friends gathered for the inaugural Happy Hour Social at the Silver Trumpet Restaurant across the street from the concert hall before Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto on November 11, 2021. Silver Trumpet kindly let us use one of their exclusive private rooms. It was such a treat! Some stayed for dinner and some went to the hall to assume their volunteering roles for the evening. A handful of us took advantage of the reduced price that the Symphony offered the Happy Hour attendees to see Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in some of the best seats in the house! There is no doubt that this event was a success. We all had a wonderful time and the League will be doing it again in February and May . Most League events are held during the day. Many members who have daytime jobs, cannot attend Luncheons so the League is trying to be more inclusive and provide some new opportunities for everyone to attend events. It was a very Happy Hour indeed!

The Center Club welcomed 63 League members and guests on Monday, December 13, 2021 to our 2nd in-person Luncheon since the pandemic started. The holiday event, complete with a delicious meal of turkey with all the trimmings, was beautifully planned by Abby Edmunds, Volunteer Services Director, with input from League President, Marilyn Liu. Due to the vacant League Program Chair position currently, much of the detail of League events is carried out by the Volunteer Services Team. It was a joyous occasion since many members had not seen each other in person in over 2 years. 

League President Marilyn Liu began the program by reminding us that the League exists to be Ambassadors for the Symphony, Broaden its Volunteer scope to be available to serve as necessary, and to develop Community within the League. 

There were 4 lovely holiday themed gift baskets generously donated by League Recording Secretary Arlene Casaw included in the opportunity drawing. League Board Historian Linda Svehla gave us each the chance to buy tickets and a total of $350 was raised. Cindy Ellis did the drawing honors and amazingly, duplicate winners were drawn not once but THREE times! The winners were new League member Eva Wyszkowski, At Large Board Member Barbara Sue Johnson, League Social Media Coordinator Isabelle Prescott, and one of her FOUR friends that she brought!  

The room looked lovely with festive poinsettia centerpieces enhanced by Nutcrackers from the Symphony Shop available for sale. The Symphony Shop had an over inventory of these nutcrackers and convinced many of us to add to our holiday décor for a total of $303 sold. Members also participated in the Volunteer Services Holiday Toy Drive for Marine families planned and carried out by AmeriCorps Volunteer Services Fellow Abigail Torrence at the suggestion of Abby Edmunds, Director of Volunteer Services. 

Tony Ellis, Pacific Symphony Second Trumpet, and Cindy Ellis, Pacific Symphony Principal Piccolo and Flute, were our special guests. They performed a lovely program with a mix of duets of holiday music, classical pieces, and a new composition created specifically for them during the pandemic. They were warm and personable as they shared their experiences as a married couple who are both Symphony musicians together. The audience loved them and had a number of interesting and fun questions for them throughout the program as Cindy interacted with us.

Michael Lawler, Symphony Director of Individual Giving and Governing Members, gave a very brief presentation about the League "Have a Heart" for Youth Music Education in the "Give or Get" end of the year Pledge Drive. Our goal is to raise $60,000. Pledges are being accepted through December 31, 2021 with pledges payable by June 30, 2022. He explained that every donation counts even if not large and that together we have a significant impact and that the Symphony absolutely relies on philanthropy. If you have yet to pledge, see the article below for more information and a link to participate and make a tangible difference in some meaningful youth and community education programs for the Symphony! Watch the videos below to get a glimpse of how your donations will be put to good use. 

We also heard a membership update from Membership Chair Linda Sholik who reported we now have 85 League members with the goal of 100 by this Spring. Please invite your friends to join the League! Sandy DiSario, League Volunteer Chair, invited members to contact her to volunteer and find the perfect role for you. League members at the Active level are reminded to be sure to schedule their required hours for the year. League member and professional photographer Stan Sholik generously photographed the event for us. 

The League extends a very special thanks to Abby Edmunds, Symphony Volunteer Services Director, who goes above and beyond to continually give of herself and lead her staff to support the League and all Symphony Volunteers, and to promote the Symphony in the Orange County community. We are fortunate to have her leadership, professionalism, and experience at Pacific Symphony.

The new League members above Liz Sliepka, Stacey Spohn, Rosemarie Morrow, Angela Leu, Luciana Marabella, Bob Crowson, and Jody Wedret received their new member pins at the Luncheon. We welcome all of you to our family!

If you weren't in attendance, you were sorely missed! We want to wish you the best Holiday Season!

The League pledge drive is finally here! We are excited to announce that we are well on our way to raise $60,000 by the end of the fiscal year in June 2022. The Board is participating by either giving or bringing in donations from friends and family or even doing both! Your League Board alone has pledged a total of $8,755! Won't you please join us? 

We are all working hard to make this pledge drive a success. It will of course fulfill the mission of the League to support youth music education and community engagement programs. It also gives the League a great deal of pride that we are a part of supporting programs like the ones below. Click on each picture to watch the video. It will take you to the YouTube site where you can push play and see the faces of those impacted by your generosity.

You should have received our earlier email about the League "Have a Heart" Pledge Drive with instructions on how to give. Additionally, pledge forms and envelopes were mailed to everyone to make sure that donating is easy. But the most exciting part of this is that YES you can now donate online! It's as simple as clicking on the button under the two pictures below if you are ready to easily make a tax deductible donation before the end of the year! If you would rather pledge and send in your donation in installments or by June 30, 2022, please fill out and mail in the form you received in the mail or print it from the League Information Page on the Pacific Symphony website. 

Much deserved gratitude to those of you who are supporting this pledge drive with your generous gifts and donations!

When you select Pacific Symphony as your supporting charity and complete your Amazon orders at https://smile.amazon.com Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to charity, at no cost to you. This is not a round up for charity program. Smile works with your current Amazon account. The only catch is you have to remember to complete your purchase through smile.amazon.com.

Purchases from www.amazon.com and installed Apps will not qualify. However, items placed in your cart from amazon.com and installed Apps will carry over to your smile.amazon.com cart. Shop your way, but complete your purchases at smile.amazon.com to support Pacific Symphony. It’s that easy!

The Holidays are here! We have many fun and cute items for your friends and family. All purchases benefit Pacific Symphony’s youth music education and community engagement programs. Find unique gifts for family, friends and everyone on your list!

Join Pacific Symphony in returning to live concerts and shop in person in the lobby of the concert hall at the Symphony Shop! Our beautiful new furniture showcases the artfully curated new and unique items available for purchase.

OR

Shop at Symphony Store Online!

Go to https://pacific-symphony.myshopify.com/

You can also experience the new and improved Symphony Shop in person and check out the new furniture.

Which area of volunteering are you interested in? Do you enjoy interacting with children? Then you would probably like Class Act, Heart Strings, Arts X Press, or Family Morning Concerts. Perhaps you prefer being with patrons at concerts. Being a Lobby Ambassador, sitting at the Welcome Table, serving in the League Shop, or conducting back stage tours might be more interesting to you. Or, there are many other opportunities at the Symphony office that would be right for you. Whatever it is, please contact me at disarios@aol.com to let me know what your interests are so you can be contacted as opportunities arise.

So far there have been 70 Volunteer Challenges sent by Abby Edmunds and they keep coming. Abby initiated these weekly emails as a way of keeping in contact during the pandemic. They require a lot of research and writing skills and are a testimony to her musical knowledge and dedication to the volunteers at Pacific Symphony! It is such a pleasure to read them each week. It is one of the good things that developed to keep us connected during the pandemic that we still continue to enjoy.

For your viewing and listening pleasure, I am cataloguing these challenges below. Click on the number to see the challenge and enjoy all the links and pictures!

Challenge # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, and 70.

Don't forget to visit the Volunteer Center from time to time to keep up with all the activities and opportunities to help make a difference at Pacific Symphony and in the Orange County community!

Erika Reed was born and raised in Northern California and has studied cello since the age of fourteen. At the age of seventeen, she was awarded the National School Orchestra Award. She earned her B.M at Bob Cole Conservatory of Music in cello performance and continues to pursue her M.M at California State University, Long Beach.

These days, she is studying with well-known cellist and professor Joon Sung Jun. She is currently a member of Amici Concert Artist as a cellist, located in Los Angeles. She has attended many masterclasses of notable musicians such as Armen Ksadjikian, Han Jørge Jenson, and Dennis Karmazyn. She enjoys working with children, where she coached young musicians at Harmony Project, Long Beach. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, hiking, and baking home goods with friends and family.

You can see her at the Shop most concert nights. Please stop by and say hello, if you can! She is a delight! We are very lucky to have her.

Do you have a member or news you would like to see included in our newsletter? Please email news@psleague.org!