I am delighted to tell you that we are now able to utilize our 2019 audience numbers, when last we had a full schedule, to compare our current audience attendance numbers and donation results and assess our financial position. The news is heartening – in March 2020, COVID turned our lights off, but now we are neck and neck with 2019 in sales and philanthropy. You, our audience are back, and we’re ready!
Summer of 2023 is loaded with great offerings here at the Shalin Liu Performance Center. First off is our cornerstone signature event – the Rockport Chamber Music Festival (RCMF). In addition to being a showcase of the world’s greatest talent of all generations for more than 40 years, RCMF this year will include a mélange of repertoire that will please all listeners. From the essential masterpieces of Brahms, Beethoven and Schubert, to the fresh, innovative and evocative musical language of today’s composers, including Mark Applebaum, our composer-in-residence this season, there is something for every pair of ears in town!
Our programming in other genres continue its usual trajectory of a wide array of artists and repertoire, chosen to delight the ears, including our Jazz Legacy Series curated by Bijon Watson, and the return of the Rockport Celtic Festival in September.
As busy as we all are here at Rockport Music, we find the time to continue our commitment to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion. The outcome of this work has been the heightening of our awareness of our communities and people, and to passionately share what we do here with everyone, breaking down past assumptions and expanding our desire to learn more and embrace all those who are both near and far to Rockport. The work is challenging, and consciousness expanding but yet, fun and edifying.
I am grateful for the leadership of our Board of Trustees, whose wisdom and generosity helps steer the ship, and Rockport Music Council whose passionate vibrancy helps us to make new friends every day.
Lastly, as you can imagine, it takes a world class staff to make all our concerts and events happen, and that’s exactly what we’ve got here! Kudos to them for making it look all too easy.
See you at a concert soon!
Tony Beadle
President & CEO
