VPO and COVID-19 crisis
VPO and COVID-19 crisis
Hello friends and fans of the VPO.
I wanted to give you an update on the balance of the VPO season amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
As you know, the BC provincial government banned any events with more than 50 people in mid-March. As our orchestra regularly rehearses with upwards of 50 people, it made sense at the time to cancel the remaining rehearsals for our April 25 concert as well as the concert itself.
Since that time, it is evident that this ban will not be lifted any time soon and in addition, we’re all isolating ourselves in our homes and (hopefully) keeping our interactions with any people outside of our homes to an absolute minimum other than quick trips to get groceries or other necessities.
This excludes those that are deemed essential and I hope we’re all doing our part to support those folks in whatever way we can.
As such, the VPO board has recently made the decision to also cancel our June 2 concert and all rehearsals that would have let up to that concert.
It was a somewhat difficult decision, but we are far more concerned with the health of our orchestra members and our audience to do otherwise.
However, I wanted to let you know that the orchestra will continue to pay Jin Zhang, our conductor and only paid orchestra member. We felt it was vital to do our small part to ensure those that have lost their incomes due to this crisis are assisted in getting by if possible.
If you or others you know would like to help us in doing so, as we are also missing out on valuable concert revenue and still have our regular expenses to cover, we would be very appreciative.
Donations can either be sent to us directly via our email address electronically () or to our postal address:
P.O. Box 27503
Oakridge Postal Outlet
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4M4
Alternatively, donations can also be made through the canadahelps.org website. Go to the website and search for VPO. They will accept securities as well as the standard monetary donations there.
Income tax receipts will be returned for any donations $20 or more.
We have high hopes that our final two concerts won’t be cancelled completely but merely postponed until the fall, when we’ll hopefully be able to resume making lovely music again.
Thank you again for being loyal friends and sharing our love of music together.
We hope to see all of you very soon.
Chris
Christopher Essex
VPO Board President
Important Openings for Positions
Please follow the link for current openings!
Next Concert: CANCELLED
The remainder of our season has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis.
