Valdosta – The Valdosta Symphony Guild is preparing for its Moonlight Sonata Symphony Ball.
The event will be held Nov. 11 at the Valdosta County Club. Cash bar opens at 6:30 p.m. with dinner, auction and dancing following at 7:30 p.m.
This is a black tie affair and tickets are $100 per person. Money raised from the ball benefits a number of activities involving music and children’s program through the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra.
Tickets can be purchased by contacting Valdosta Symphony Guild President Jean Johnson at jeanjohnson39@gmail.com.
The Valdosta Symphony Guild supports the following programs:
The Youth Concert Series, presented at no charge, provide a symphonic experience to area school children and their teachers. More than 48,000 children have attended these special Friday morning VSO concerts, a shorter version of the Saturday evening concert, with age-appropriate explanation and narration.
Tunes for Tots introduces instruments of the orchestra to younger children. Usually held on a Saturday morning in January, Guild members and VSO musicians join together in this fun, hands-on experience for young children and their families.
The South Georgia String Project provides exploratory string classes for young students through the age of high school. Many students continue their string instrument studies beyond the String Project and some have performed with the VSO.
High School Honors Program provides VSO concert tickets for selected high school band students in the community, with the recommendation of their band director.
VSO Student Scholarships are made possible with support from the Valdosta Symphony Guild. Talented and deserving VSU music students, primarily string majors who earn a 3.0 GPA, are recommended by the VSO string players and qualify for a scholarship.
VSO Concerto Competition provides outstanding university performers at VSU with audition/competition experience and the opportunity to perform as soloists at a VSO Youth Concert.
Family Concerts provide children of the community the opportunity to see and hear the symphony orchestra experience with their families. The program also provides exposure to the symphonic music to college students university-wide.
Complimentary Tickets For Music Majors Program provides VSU music majors with “rush” or last-minute tickets to VSO concerts at no charge, when seats are available. The program is designed to support students’ studies in symphonic literature.
VSO Graduate Performance Assistantships supported by the VSO Board of Directors, provides for advanced studies in strings and orchestra for a highly-selected graduate student, in part through endowment resources. The graduate student also serves a key staff position in the orchestra.
The Glenn Wisenbaker Memorial Concert (formerly known as the LARC Invited Dress Rehearsal) provides an opportunity exclusively for the clients of Lowndes Advocacy Resource Center to enjoy an hour of music performed by the VSO. This program enables those in our community with special needs to experience a performing symphonic orchestra. Musicians from the VSO also make appearances at LARC prior to the concert to demonstrate instruments from the orchestra and talk about the music the clients will hear at the concert.
Music Enrichment Grant is provided by the VSG to help support VSU music students with special projects. The grant funds will be awarded to one or more VSU students who successfully complete the grant application and are selected by a panel from the VSG, the VSU Music Director and VSO Executive Director. Examples of special projects can include, but are not limited to, money to travel to summer festivals, attendance or performance at regional and/or national festivals, audition expenses for graduate schools or competitions, and special recitals or performances. Students must be performing members of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra when applications are made.
