Community Updates

September 30, 2020

Dear Juneau Symphony Family, 

The Juneau Symphony is a community-based, volunteer symphony orchestra founded to make great music and share that musical gift with our community. The Symphony membership is comprised of predominately Juneau musicians. Our members also include players from other Alaskan communities and the lower 48. Over the years we have found great value in collaborating with talented musicians, both members, guest artists, and other arts organizations. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, while we are unable to offer live orchestral performances on the mainstage, we are bringing chamber music and small ensembles to our audiences through virtual means. Unfortunately, social distancing and minimal rehearsals dictate that fewer musicians are afforded playing opportunities for now.  Post pandemic there will be more opportunities for all musicians.

The October concert will feature Juneau string musicians at the iconic Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The November concert will feature Juneau string and flute players at the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Shuká Hít Clan House. The December concert includes a chamber string ensemble made up of 13 Symphony member players and a brass ensemble that features 9 Symphony member brass players, and 5 Sitka Holiday Brass guest artists in a collaborative performance at the Alaska State Library, Archives & Museum APK atrium. 

Consistent with recent member and audience surveys supporting excellence in musical performance, we believe that these virtual concerts contribute to our mission to “foster and create high-quality musical experiences that contribute to the cultural diversity and vitality of Alaska’s Capital City.” In addition, they deliver our core values of inclusivity (music for all), collaboration (community focused), advocacy (growing the next generation of musicians), respect (artistic and cultural), and excellence (high-quality music/education). 

The Juneau Symphony is grateful to the dedicated, hard-working member musicians of this community and appreciate the efforts of many who are contributing their skills and resources to make it possible for us to present small chamber concerts during these challenging times. 

We look forward to when we can bring a full orchestra again to the mainstage.  We’re proud to offer this innovative season of programming, where others have none, and ask that you stand with us to ensure that the Juneau Symphony continues and remains strong into the future.  

We appreciate feedback from you. Please reach out to the Symphony office at 907-586-4676 or send an email to info@juneausymphony.org.

Charlotte Truitt, Executive Director

Juneau Symphony Board Members

Sharon Barton
Annie Carpenetti
Myrna Elgee
Nancy Jones
Stan Lujan
Margaret MacKinnon
Connie McKenzie
Heather Parker
Beth Giron Pendleton
Deb Rudis
Neil Slotnick
Missouri Smyth
Christian Veliz

The Juneau Symphony wishes to express our support of the many black Americans and other groups who are suffering. We remain committed to our mission of fostering and creating high-quality musical experiences that contribute to the cultural diversity and vitality of Alaska’s Capital City and hold to our core values which are centered on the principle of caring for our community.

We have a strong belief in these core values and yet realize our reality does not reflect the diversity we would love to see in our Juneau Symphony family. The Juneau Symphony is committed to growing in our understanding of racial injustices by supporting meaningful change to end racism, and will strive to broaden inclusion within our organization. We pledge to respect all cultures, inviting all to join in the shared joy of music, and will continue to work toward inclusivity for the health and vibrancy of our community.

We echo the sentiments in the statement below offered by the League of American Orchestras:

League Statement on Racial Injustice, June 1, 2020

“In the face of ceaseless intolerance, hatred, and violence against African Americans in our country, historically and currently, we are impelled to reaffirm that we value all Black lives. Our colleagues of color—and many communities served by the orchestras we represent—are living with deep pain and fear, subjected to the threat of police violence, to the risks inherent in serving as essential workers in a time of crisis, and to ongoing oppression in a society scarred by racism. There is an urgent need for White people and predominantly White organizations to do the work of uprooting this racism. We recognize that for decades, in our role as a national association and voice for orchestras, we have tolerated and perpetuated systemic discrimination against Black people, discrimination mirrored in the practices of orchestras and throughout our country. And while we have called the field’s attention to the need for change and provided resources to support that work, we struggle to move as quickly as we should to align practices with our stated beliefs.

There is a gap between our espoused desire to serve communities and our readiness to confront racism. Closing that gap must be our work going forward. And as such, we are committed to dismantling our own racism and our role in perpetuating the systems of inequity that continue to oppress Black people. We stand ready to listen, learn, take action, and support you.”

We welcome your feedback.

Stan Lujan, President
Beth Pendleton, Vice President
Charlotte Truitt, Executive Director
Board of Directors and Staff

Dear Juneau Symphony Family,

Over the past few weeks as we have closely monitored developments with the COVID-19 crisis, it has become clear that we will be unable to continue the Music Director Finalist Season concerts in June as we had planned. We deeply regret that we cannot be together for these performances, but be assured that when the time is right and it is safe for our community to gather, we will celebrate with great joy and have a new-found appreciation of the tremendous gift that the Juneau Symphony is to all of us.

To our faithful season ticket holders, we hope you understand that the cancellation of these concerts takes away our ability to generate income and that if you are able, you will consider donating your tickets back to the Symphony.  This is a challenging time but we know that we will get through it together. By donating your ticket you will help us defray some of the financial impact we are facing. If you cannot, we understand and will provide a refund in the amount of your purchased price for the two concerts we must cancel.

We are actively working to develop our next season and look forward to completing our Music Director selection process with Dr. Steven Radcliffe, our third Music Director finalist, who is set to direct our next concert. As we move into a new “Normal” we are planning at least four concerts in the 2020-2021 season, with the June 2021 concert being the much-anticipated “Night at the Oscars” under the direction of former Music Director, Troy Quinn!

Until we can be together again, we are working to find new creative ways to reach out and continue our mission to foster and create high-quality musical experiences that contribute to the cultural diversity and vitality of Alaska’s Capital City:  

• Listen in to “Sundays with the Symphony” on KRNN at 1:00 p.m. to hear past performances;

• Watch Facebook and Instagram for “Getting to know your Symphony” short videos featuring our musicians and staff; and

• Join a Zoom afternoon tea/coffee virtual meeting.

In the coming weeks we will be holding Zoom meetings to give us an opportunity to get your input on a few questions pertaining to next season and tell you about an exciting new program we are considering launching: “Friends of the Juneau Symphony!”  Please watch your email for the invitation. Just give us a call if you need a little help with using Zoom. We’re happy to help get you set up and to feel comfortable participating.

As always, we’ll do our best to keep you informed as we are able to finalize our plans. We hope that you will continue to reach out and let us know if you have questions about season or single ticket refunds or need more information. Please contact us at info@juneausymphony.org.

Thank you again for your generosity and ongoing support!

Sincerely,

Stan Lujan, President
Beth Pendleton, Vice President
Charlotte Truitt, Executive Director
Juneau Symphony Board and Staff

P.S. Our largest fundraising event of the year—The 2020 Judy Knight Memorial Raffle—is ongoing!  We are grateful to our prize sponsors who have agreed to honor prizes through 2021.  To purchase your raffle tickets, please contact the Juneau Symphony office at 907-586-4676.  The drawing will be held early in the next concert season. 

Dear Juneau Symphony Patrons,

After careful consideration in consultation with our board leadership, local and state health authorities and officials we are rescheduling the April 4&5 concerts. Under the direction of Music Director Finalist, Dr. Stephen Radcliffe, we will perform Heroic Pictures June 27th & 28th at Juneau Douglas High School. 

We place the health and well-being of our community first and appreciate your understanding the need to reschedule. It is our sincere hope that for the good of our organization, our loyal patrons can attend one of these new dates and if not, will be willing to consider their tickets as donations back to the organization to help minimize our loses in this time of uncertainty.

If you have questions or need more information please visit our website. We will be updating the site with new information as it is available.

We are all in this together and trust that our community’s efforts to minimize the impact of COVID -19 will be effective and that the rescheduled date will be fine. We will of course respond to new developments if needed as they unfold.

In addition to the rescheduling of our mainstage concert, we are postponing our March 28th special fund raising event, Beethoven and Brews at Twisted Fish. We hope to reschedule the event, so please stay tuned for a new date.

Feel free to also reach out by phone to our office at 586-4676 or send an email to info@juneausymphony.org.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

-Juneau Symphony Board of Directors and Staff

Greetings Juneau Symphony Family, 

We hope this finds you healthy and managing well during this challenging time. 

We’ve been looking for ways to support the community and stay in contact with you and are pleased to announce that we’ve partnered with KRNN to begin…“Sundays with the Juneau Symphony!”

For the next several Sundays at 1:00 pm you can listen in and enjoy some of our best performances. This Sunday, April 5th, we begin by sharing with you one of our favorite concerts under the direction of former Music Director, Troy Quinn, “Opening Night” from 2017 which includes A Lark Ascending and Brahm’s Symphony No. 3.

Then, on Easter Sunday, April 12th join us for “Peace and Deliverance” from 2016, featuring Hovhaness’ Prayer of St. Gregory, Jeff Karlson, trumpet, Elgar’s Nimrod for Enigma Variations and William’s Dona Nobis Pacem with the Juneau Symphony Chorus and guest artists, Michelle Johnson and Steven La Brie. Maestro Quinn will provide an introduction and commentary for each concert to enrich our listening experience.

So, gather ’round the computer or radio and enjoy these concerts with us again! 

We are putting together more concerts to broadcast and if you have a favorite you’d like us to consider, please send us an email with your suggestion. Watch your email, as we will send updates with specific concert information as we finalize the schedule. While we are still hoping to provide the June main stage concerts in person (A Night at the Oscars on June 6 & 7 and Heroic Pictures on June 27 & 28), we hope you will enjoy reliving these previous concerts with us.

We are sincerely grateful for the ongoing support of the many season ticket holders, donors, sponsors, musicians, and volunteers that make the Juneau Symphony the strong, thriving community arts organization that we all love.  

If you are able and would like to make a donation or purchase a raffle ticket to help us during this time of uncertainty we would appreciate your support. The Judy Knight Memorial Raffle will continue throughout the summer and into the fall with an exact drawing date to be determined. If you purchase raffle tickets online, we will either mail your tickets to you or hold them at the office for pickup at a future date.

Thank you again and we’ll look forward to enjoying music with you this Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm on KRNN.

Best wishes for good health for all!

Stan Lujan, President
Beth Pendleton, Vice President 
Charlotte Truitt, Executive Director…
and the entire JS Board of Directors and Staff