Dear SSYO Families,
We hope this message finds you well and safe. It has been quite the year to say the least. The SSYO has been on the covid roller-coaster like all organizations and it is a year we do not wish to repeat. We are very grateful to Al Denike and Rudy Sternadel for their efforts and patience in creating a program as best possible given the circumstances. They did their best to keep the musicians engaged in the virtual environment they were restricted to. Well done.
Following an SSYO board meeting last evening, we are writing to confirm our plan to resume rehearsals on short notice. Throughout the suspension of rehearsals, this has always been our intention. With more people being vaccinated we are hopeful that case numbers will come down and restrictions will be lifted to allow us to come together as an orchestra in the near future. With this in mind, if public health guidelines allow and Knox Met approves, we are aiming to resume weekly on May 31 or June 7. Again, depending on public health orders at the time, we will rehearse as an entire orchestra or as two groups as we did previously (1. Winds, Brass & Percussion; and 2. Strings).
Our plan would be to continue with rehearsals until July 12 (the orchestra would not meet on the Monday of the July long weekend but another day that week). This would extend the season by 3-4 weeks and we anticipate this would be welcome by many. At the same time, we understand some may have summer plans and commitments. There will be no concert given the limited time. Together with our music directors, our goal is to give the musicians as much opportunity to play, learn and socialize together safely.
We are in the early stage of planning the 2021-2022 season and look forward to an exciting, normal year ahead.
All the best,