It has an uncanny ability to remind us of all things American.

The donor simply stated that they wanted to 'create some momentum' in the Mesa Symphony's fund-raising efforts. The anonymous donor's gift is not attached to a particular program, although the donors helping to match the anonymous donor gift with matching funds can be donor specific.

We more than met our $10,000 matching grant challenge. We now have a new matching grant for $1,200 to keep the momentum going with this match expiring on March 4, the evening of this performance.

The music favors lush harmonies, long melodies and a grand scale. This grand scale is evident in the length of the piece, and also the number of the players. This particular combination of eight instruments is unusual, and also rather large for chamber music without a conductor.

I called 911, and they didn't believe us either.

It was a big game for us. We played hard and really did a good job, especially in the second half.