Blog Editor’s Messsage Winter 2021

As the new year 2022 arrived, media outlets have been
spouting statements about “recovery” and “resumption of
activities” after the worst (we hope) of a pandemic that none
of us could have foreseen or been prepared for. But that is
not how I view TFO or NSA. Both have been working full
bore, albeit with a few hiccups, since days after our 2020
Bravura Brunch. And I am sure you have heard not once but
several times that TFO performed more live concerts during
the 2020-2021 season than ANY OTHER PROFESSIONAL
ORCHESTRA IN THE COUNTRY. Bravo!
Challenges are ongoing, of course. You heard that the
Coffee Concert and Pops concert of the week of January
9 was moved to May. That is just part of the story. The
week before the Masterworks concert featuring Prokofiev’s
Romeo and Juliet and Gershwin’s Concerto in F, a significant
woodwinds player tested positive for Covid. That meant
that 15 musicians that sat near her for rehearsals and
performances needed to isolate themselves. TFO had
contracted with a guest conductor and guest artist. The
concert could not be canceled or even rescheduled without
significant financial losses from reimbursing ticket holders.
So…. TFO got creative once again, flying in top-notch
professional musicians from around the country to take their
places (There were also plans B and C if that hadn’t worked.)
The concert was a tremendous success. Musicians were
still isolated for the next few days, so, rather than flying in
musicians again, TFO moved the Pops and Coffee Concerts
scheduled for that week to May.
We can all be so proud of how TFO has persevered and
succeeded during the past two years. And we can be proud
of our role in supporting TFO: donating $60,225 last May
to help TFO end the fiscal year in the black, holding regular
membership meetings with senior TFO staff providing
updates and musicians entertaining us. As you will read on
page __, our 2021 Holiday Gathering this past December
surpassed its $1,000 net income goal by more than $700.
Those funds will support TFO’s education and community
engagement programs, which include strings education
in public schools and after school and free concerts in
nontraditional venues. Thank you to NSA Vice President
Lynda Olander for chairing that warm and memorable
gathering.

Also, after years of talking about a website of our own, we will soon have one: www.tfonsa.org. Again, Lynda Olander led the charge on that big project. See page __ for an update. Our next activity, and a major one, is the Bravura Brunch on Saturday, March 5, at Innisbrook Golf and Spa Resort in Palm Harbor. This year’s returning event chair, Pat Donohue, has provided an overview and registration details in a message that starts on this page. If you haven’t purchased tickets and registered for the auction yet, please consider doing so now. There will be live classical music, a talk with TFO’s Resident Conductor Daniel Black about his journey crisscrossing the USA and the world as he has built his resume as a conductor, a silent auction with many new items, and always a fast-paced program led by our MC and auctioneer, Jason Alpert. See you on March 5