To Our Friends and Supporters:

I can say without reservation that the artistic quality of the eighth season of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival was outstanding. The 18 performances presented to music lovers throughout this region in 2009 further reinforced the Festival’s stature on the national music stage.

The array of internationally acclaimed stars who thrilled packed halls is too numerous to mention here but some of the more noteworthy performances included:

• Master violinists Robert McDuffie’s and Anne Akiko Meyer’s Beer and G-Strings concerts.
• Internationally acclaimed pianist Valentina Lisitsa’s and violinist Maria Bachmann’s performances in our Music Under the Tsar’s concert.
• The Eroica Trio’s renditions of Mozart, Gershwin and Bernstein at our closing gala at the Ritz Carlton.
• The stunning outdoor performance of Stravinsky’s “A Soldier’s Tale” at historic Fort Clinch.
• The world renowned Juilliard String Quartet at Amelia Plantation Chapel.
• The brilliant concerts of the Resident Fellowship Artists under the guidance of violist Roberto Diaz.

It is particularly gratifying to realize that the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival has become a firmly established part of the cultural fabric of this region. Working from this foundation of strength, the process of planning our ninth season is well underway. We will kick off the 2010 season with a “mini Festival” in February. A $9,800 matching grant from The State of Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs will underwrite a concert on February 4 at the University of North Florida’s Fine Arts Center that will be repeated on Amelia Island on February 6.  In between these performances on February 5, we will hold a free community event on Amelia Island. For these performances, we plan to bring the Georgian Chamber Players, with guests Andres Diaz, cellist, and Hsin-Yun Huang, violist, to perform music by Boccherini, Dvorak and Strauss.

The balance of the 2010 Festival will be held in May. Although we are still finalizing our schedule, I can say that we will return some Festival favorites as well as introduce several acclaimed musicians making their first appearance here.

• Internationally acclaimed pianist and superstar Andre Watts will be one of our Festival highlights.
• Valentina Lisitsa and her husband, Alexei Kuznetsoff, will perform a piano duo.
• The Eroica Trio will make a return appearance at a special event at the Ritz-Carleton Amelia Island.
• Other Amelia Island favorites will include pianist Wendy Chen and violist Andres Diaz.
• Artists we will be introducing the award-winning Pacifica String Quartet; William Preucil, concertmaster of the Cleveland Symphony; violinist Karen Gomyo; and soprano Jessica Rivera.
• Robert Spano, pianist and musical director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann’s birth

We will keep you posted about our progress at planning the 2010 Festival. In the meantime, your Board of Directors and I offer our sincere thanks for the part you have played at making your Festival a resounding success.

Sincerely,
Christopher Rex
Artistic and General Director