Believe it or not, the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra has entered its ninth season.  We’re fast approaching a decade of exciting music of high quality presented to local audiences by local players.  And this season, we are taking a number of significant steps upward and onward - please read on!

CHICO has planned a gem of a season for 2011-2012 with stellar selections and performers throughout.  Some of the highlights are:  The world premiere of John Biggs’ Double Reed Concerto, our Youth Concert featuring the three winners of this year’s youth soloist competition, and our choral spectacular featuring the fabulous Kelley O’Connor. 

On November 13 at 4:00 we completed our "Celebrating Our Youth" concert, featuring marvelous solo performances by Edaan Byle, violinist, David Gatchel, pianist, and Alexa Constantine, vocalist and pianist.  Also on the program were Verdi's Overture to La Forza del Destino and perennial favorite, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, with Molly Pei as narrator.  We held auditions and a competition this spring for three soloist spots in our youth concert.  From our experience last season we learned how important it is for these young musicians to have an opportunity to perform with an orchestra.  The excitement they exhibited and their appreciation for this recognition of their talent and hard work was clearly noted.  And – as you no doubt heard on November 13 – the talent of our 2011-2012 winners is again superb.

December 18 was our annual Messiah Sing-Along, with outstanding vocal soloists and the audience as the choir.  It was a fine experience for all.

For a major coup of the season, we are presenting Kelley O’Connor singing with female and male choruses and the orchestra.  She is a heart-melting mezzo-soprano who sang with us several times while a student at USC and who now is traveling the world, - an internationally acclaimed singer.  She regularly sings with the major orchestras and conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel.  She performed with the LA Philharmonic in their signature concerts on the orchestra’s European tour this spring.  Check out her website at http://kelleyoconnor.com.

March concert announcement: 4 PM, March 18th @ First UMC Ventura. 1338 E. Santa Clara St. Ventura, CA 93001. Program includes: "Danse" and "Sarabande" by Claude Debussy and orchestrated by Maurice Ravel; "Le Tombeau de Couperin" by Maurice Ravel; "Pavane" by Fauré; "Alto Rhapsody" by Brahms, and "Fern Hill" by Corigliano. We will be featuring Grammy Award Winning Mezzo-Soprano, Kelley O'Connor, who will be our soloist for both Alto Rhapsody and Fern Hill. We hope to see you there!