Dear Friends of the Kamuela Philharmonic,

As noted in my May 2021 President’s Letter, our Board met on June 14 and held an election to fill the four Board seats that were then open. The three incumbents (me, Sharon Cannon, and Dan Schermer) were reelected, and one additional candidate (Niel Thomas) was elected to two-year terms and will serve until the end of June 2023.  The Board then elected officers to serve one-year terms: I am proud to have been reelected President. Dennis Yates is our new Vice President, and Binti Bailey and Sharon Cannon were reelected to serve as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.

We received thorough and encouraging reports from Sharon Cannon, Treasurer, Brian Dollinger, Artistic Director, Brenda McConnell, Grant Writer, Donna Nichols, Marketing Consultant, and David Turner, Fundraising Chair. My report focused on Governor Ige’s recent announcement regarding the relaxation of the Hawaii travel restrictions that, beginning June 15, will allow persons to fly inter-island and from the mainland and avoid quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated in Hawaii. Furthermore, once the fully vaccinated rate reaches 60% statewide, (it is now approximately 55%) the Safe Travels program will accept vaccination cards issued by health care providers anywhere on the mainland. Most significantly, when the fully vaccinated rate reaches 70% statewide, all travel restrictions will be lifted, and the Safe Travels program will be terminated.

Although we still cannot predict that we will be able to present live MasterWork concerts at the Kahilu Theatre, we are very hopeful that the indoor gathering restrictions will be relaxed to permit such performances. Accordingly, we will continue to plan for the events in the coming 2021-22 concert season. In addition to the season opening concert featuring the two winners of our Madeline Schatz-Harris Concerto Competition on October 3, 2021, we have reserved January 30, 2022, and April 3, 2022, at the Kahilu Theatre for MasterWork concerts. A season brochure with more details will soon be e-mailed to you, but in the meantime, please reserve the dates.

All of our activities, of course, require funding, and the absence of ticket revenue makes our dependence on contributions from donors like you more important than ever before in order to continue our efforts to bring classical symphonic music to the people of, and visitors to, Hawaii County.

Your donations to KPOS are always welcome and can be made here, or by sending a check made payable to Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra Society to PO Box 2597, Kamuela, HI, 96743. We are qualified as a charitable organization pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, so your donations may be a deductible expense. Mahalo for your consideration, and we hope you will donate generously.

Aloha, and stay well,

Joel Gimpel, President
Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra Society