Reservations due today for symphony fundraiser

By Sequim Gazette Staff • March 22, 2017 1:30 am
Port Angeles High School chamber musicians to play at the March 25 Applause! Auction and Dinner are, from left, Hana Kildall, 18; Marley Cochran and Lauren Waldron, both 17; and Lauren Paup-Byrnes, 16. Submitted photo
Port Angeles High School chamber musicians to play at the March 25 Applause! Auction and Dinner are, from left, Hana Kildall, 18; Marley Cochran and Lauren Waldron, both 17; and Lauren Paup-Byrnes, 16. Submitted photo

An African safari and trips to Bali, Kauai and New Orleans’ French Quarter are up for bid in the Port Angeles Symphony’s most important fundraiser of the year: the Applause! Auction and Dinner.

The symphony invites supporters to make reservations by Wednesday, March 22, for the event set for 6 p.m. Saturday, March 25, at The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

Tickets are $75 including a gourmet dinner and Camaraderie Cellars wines such as the Rhapsody in Red III, a blend created especially for the Port Angeles Symphony.

Silent and live auction items include a never-before-published photograph by Sequim’s Ross Hamilton and a Holland America cruise to either the Caribbean or Mexico — top bidder’s choice.

A chamber quartet of young local musicians, three of whom are Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra members, will play chamber music during dinner. The ensemble features cellist Lauren Paup-Byrnes, 16; violist Lauren Waldron and violinist Marley Cochran, both 17; and violinist Hana Kildall, 18. The latter three play in the symphony.

Since concert ticket revenues provide less than 50 percent of the symphony’s operating revenue, this annual auction and dinner is key to its survival and prosperity, said Jonathan Pasternack, the orchestra’s conductor.

Founded in 1932, The Port Angeles Symphony offers five symphony orchestra concerts, two pops concerts and six chamber orchestra concerts every season.

For information about performances and the Applause! Auction and Dinner, call the symphony office at 457-5579 or email PASymphony@olypen.com. More about the orchestra also can be found at portangelessymphony.org.