Summer Soirée 2025. Photo by Kathy Kmonicek
By Gina Malone
Souther Williams Vineyard, in Fletcher, will be the setting on Friday, June 12, for the Blue Ridge Orchestra’s (BRO’s) Summer Soirée, an annual fundraiser to help the non-profit orchestra pay for various venues at which to perform while its concert hall at UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium undergoes renovations. Ticket options include Dinner, Wine and Music at 6 p.m. or Lawn Seating and Music at 8 p.m. This performance will conclude BRO’s 2025-2026 season.
“One of the very special things about this event is the opportunity to showcase the range of Blue Ridge Orchestra musicians,” says Deb Kenney, board president for the BRO, “their ability to perform in smaller chamber ensembles and in a variety of musical styles. The BRO comprises members from all walks of life who perform for the love of it, musicians who are of the community—they live, work and play here in Western North Carolina.”
The laid-back atmosphere and natural setting for this performance offers attendees a distinctive experience. “When the formality of a stage and concert hall is removed, there is an intimacy created, with musicians performing a few feet from the patrons,” says Kenney, “providing an ability to socialize and mingle during the evening. Simply put, we get to know each other as fellow music lovers—as people, not ‘musicians’ and ‘audience.’”
On the program are Mozart’s well-known serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik, followed by four new works by contemporary composers: Red Clay & Mississippi Delta by Valerie Coleman, OBLIVION by Katahj Copley, Summer Suite by Greg Bartholomew and Suite for Strings by John Rutter. “Each work captures a different aspect of a summer evening,” says Dr. Emily Mariko Eng, the BRO music director, “from images of childhood, to a grooving piece from the juke joints and casino boats on the Mississippi Delta, to a piece centered on darkness and uncertainty, to a lovely set of pastoral folk tunes.”
This will be the BRO’s third year holding this season-ending fundraiser at Souther Williams Vineyard. “In the words of several patrons of past events, the evening is magical,” says Kenney. “Whether dining under cover of the pavilion or enjoying the music from the lawn, you are surrounded by the bucolic vineyard which creates an ambience of pure enchantment.”
The current timeline projects a completion of renovations at Lipinsky Hall in the spring of 2028. “The musicians are looking forward to a state-of-the-art performance hall with wonderful acoustics, to having a ‘home’ where they can rehearse in the same setting they perform in, to the ability to store our percussion equipment in the same location without having to transport heavy equipment for each concert (a challenge to our small staff and our budget!), a front hall with an actual box office, a balcony to seat more patrons and so much more,” says Eng. “We are grateful for the relationship with UNC Asheville that allows us the opportunity to rehearse and perform there, and, in exchange, we offer the opportunity for their students to perform with a symphony orchestra for credit.”
The Blue Ridge Orchestra is a volunteer, nonprofit ensemble. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit BlueRidgeOrchestra.org or call 828.782.3354. Souther Williams Vineyard is located at 655 Hoopers Creek Road, Fletcher.
