Light at the End of the Tunnel

What a year 2020 was for all of us!  At Santa Cecilia Orchestra we had just completed our February orchestra concert when the world began to change. The concert was a great success and as always our wonderful audience lifted our performance to a new level. Little did we all know that just a few weeks later our lives would be completely upended. Around the world plans would come to a halt and life as we knew it would transform to an unknown and unexpected reality.

 Luckily, the orchestra had almost completed its concert season and school programs. But we had summer programs already in the works that would have to be canceled along with our final chamber concert for the year. For a while it looked like the fall season and programs could go forward, but that hope soon faded and we began a second series of cancellations. At the same time we began thinking about how to continue our work and reach our audience and students without personal contact. Never has the internet been so vital to our mission. 

Through it all, not a day passed when I did not think of each and every one of you – musicians, audience members, teachers, students and communities. You inspired us to continue our mission and our music, and you supported our efforts to remain vital and relevant in your world. 

While each of us went through different circumstances and challenges last year, what is important now is that we got through it and finally there is some light at the end of the tunnel. As the pandemic eases, we will return to our regular routines, to work and school. But our lives have been irrevocably changed by this experience. May we go forward remembering and embracing the quality time we spent in our homes with our immediate family. May we not take anything for granted and enjoy the moments and the people in our lives.

There is so much to look forward to – and number one for me is seeing you all again.

 Special thanks to all the musicians who performed our virtual concerts and helped create our virtual programs and to our staff and our editor, RJ De Leon Vega, whose work brought them to an accessible platform; to our loyal audience who joined us for the concerts; to our new audience throughout the United States and the world who found us through the virtual concerts; and to our deeply supportive donors and board of directors.

See you soon . . . in person.