35th Anniversary Fundraiser

“This Fall, we have a unique matching gift opportunity that will fuel programming for years to come. “

Howard Martino, Board President

Lake Forest Civic Orchestra

35th Anniversary Fundraising Campaign

Lake Forest Civic Orchestra is celebrating it 35th year of bringing music to Lake Forest. Having a full symphonic orchestra in Lake Forest’s own backyard is an asset that is becoming more important as our community is not only where our houses are but also where we do our work. We are all living, shopping and enriching our lives closer to home.

Lake Forest Civic Orchestra’s sections are filled with community members from all walks of life who donate their time and talent to this community treasure. We take our mission of not only making music but supporting others through music seriously. We provide engaging musical experiences for our patrons and once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunities for our local high school students as featured soloists with the full orchestra. The LFCO brass forms a combined brass choir with Lake Forest High School brass players to perform at both the Lake Forest Tree Lighting and the Lake Bluff Holiday Lighting. We give back to other community organizations like the District 67 Home Tour, Lake Bluff Open Lands Association and the Lake Forest Public Library by donating our chamber music groups to their own fundraisers and filling their air with music. Our chamber groups provide musical enrichment to area nursing homes and civic organizations as well.

As a non-profit 501c3 organization we rely on the support of our community. That is where you come in.

Our 35th year celebration fundraiser begins with our October 15th concert and continues through our “Holly Jolly” family concert on December 17th. We have set a big goal to raise $25,000 and an anonymous matching donor will match the first $10,000 donated up through November 30th. Achieving this goal gives us enough runway to program larger, more inclusive pieces with the advance planning required for collaborative performances, such as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. That concert is scheduled for the 2024-2025 season and has been in the planning stages for over a year with area orchestras, choirs, and venues. Achieving our fundraising goal this year will also enable us to provide additional membership fee waivers for high school students and others for whom orchestra dues pose a financial hardship, secure longer-term rehearsal and performance space rentals at more attractive rates, commission new works for the orchestra and build the body of contemporary literature, and provide more educational performances for all ages.

More importantly new funding will allow us to expand our outreach programs to the community. We’ve worked diligently over the last few years to get music out of the concert hall and into other public spaces to make live classical music more accessible. We have big ideas and need your support for those to happen.

The past 35 years have not always been easy on the arts, but this orchestra has always been more than an orchestra. We are a community....a true community orchestra. There is no better way to celebrate 35 years in our community than by giving more music back to our community.

Please be a champion for local live music and help your community orchestra fill the air with music for another 35 years.

Your gift to the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra supports programming initiatives including:

• The Orchestra General Fund, which provides monies for general operations including rehearsal and performance facility rental, music rental, and other expenses. Donations to the General Fund enable the orchestra to offer reduced-price tickets to students, seniors, and our veterans.

• The Student Scholarship Fund. The LFCO is committed to supporting our community and students with performance opportunities for student members of the orchestra as well as soloists. Each year, advanced-level high school soloists from the area are invited to perform with the orchestra - a once in a lifetime opportunity for some, and for others, one opportunity of hundreds that will come in their professional music careers. Soloists for our 2023-2024 season come from Fremd Forest High School, Vernon Hills High School, and the Lake Forest High School Forester Singers.

• Community Outreach. Our LFCO small ensembles, including our string quartet, woodwind quintet, and brass choir, perform at community celebrations and fundraising events, as well as local senior centers, bringing the joy of music to people wherever they are.

• New Works by New Composers: We feel a deep responsibility to bring recently-composed works to a broader audience, enabling contemporary composers to showcase their work. The LFCO has performed works by Jim Stephenson, Gweneth Walker, Stacy Garrop, and Kim Diehnelt on recent programs.

Your Gift Counts Twice As Much

The Orchestra is grateful for the wonderful support we receive from businesses and individuals throughout the year to make our programming possible. Donations made during the fundraiser will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 through November 30th, 2023.

Please give today to support the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra and music in your community for years to come.