News From Britt Hill – November 2022
The Britt summer concert season has ended. From the outside, it might seem that we’ve gone into hibernation. But these winter months are far from fallow—Britt Education & Engagement continues at full speed, focusing on school residencies.
Residencies serve our school kids all year. In October, Britt presented an education residency with the fabulous Sphinx Virtuosi. This month, Britt Education and Engagement will be hosting in-school residencies with percussionist Britton René-Collins. While these events are closed to the public, they serve an urgent need in our schools, giving kids the chance to experience amazing musicians up close. Arts education is essential for kids: it engages different parts of the brain and helps us process feelings and events. There’s a ton of research into this that I won’t even attempt to paraphrase, but all of it indicates how important this work is. As a mission-driven, community-based arts organization, Britt is passionately committed to supporting these programs for kids. All our education programs are admission-free—we provide these programs to schools at no charge. That means a portion of your concert ticket purchase, membership fee, and donation goes toward supporting this work.
Most of our residency artists are visitors who are also performing with one of our partner organizations. If you’d like to see Ms. René-Collins in action, she’ll be performing with the Rogue Valley Symphony on November 18-20, and tickets are available at rvsymphony.org.
Of course, the rest of our staff has begun sprinting a different leg of the relay race, planning for next season and the next five years. We’re in conversation with bands, thinking about new types of programming to serve our community, and brainstorming the next several Britt Festival Orchestra seasons with Music Director Teddy Abrams. We’re also launching our Membership program this month, and I hope you’ll consider joining us as a Member or Business Partner in 2023. Membership and Partnership come with all kinds of perks, including first access to our most in-demand shows. While I can’t share a peep of what to expect on stage, I can promise you that you don’t want to miss that early access!
This month is also all about gratitude, so I want to close with a word of thanks. Britt is here because of this community, and it’s a privilege to serve you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Warmly, Abby
Featured image is Sphinx Virtuosi Residency at SOU Music Recital Hall, October 6, 2022 – Photo by Jeremy Holmes