Whidbey Island Orchestra

Mission

The mission of the Whidbey Island Orchestra is to foster a positive musical experience for its musician members and for our local community. We perform for the love of music and for the opportunity to spread the joy of music to Whidbey Island audiences, be they residents or visitors.

Description

The Whidbey Island Orchestra was formed in 2007 to provide quality musical experiences for young and adult musicians of Whidbey Island and for our community. The Orchestra consists of strings, winds, brass and percussion of all abilities and backgrounds.

The orchestra is the only opportunity on South Whidbey for school-age musicians to participate in a professionally-conducted orchestral experience. In the Whidbey Island Orchestra, youth in primary and secondary school participate in the orchestra 'on scholarship' - that is, they do not pay fees. We encourage adult members to donate funds to the scholarship fund.

The mission of the orchestra is to provide musicians an opportunity to play in an organized fashion. As part of that mission, we believe that no one should be prevented from participating because of financial need.

WHIDBEY ISLAND ORCHESTRA RETURNS TO LIVE PERFORMANCE!

A group of twelve string players from the Whidbey Island Orchestra performed four Mozart string Quartets, including "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts on March 27, 2021. Other than Djangofest, this was the first live music performance on the WICA main stage since the lockdown.

Since then we have returned to a combination of live performances at WICA and, for Halloween and Christmas, videos on our website.  We will present our concert featuring soloists from the orchestra, 'I Solisti de Whidbey', at Trinity Lutheran Church on May 8.  Although so far Covid restrictions have prevented us from adding reed and brass instruments, we will get the full orchestra back together as soon as we can.  For the 2021-2022 season, we welcome back Assistant Conductor Gabriela Garza!