Rick Mackie Retirement Celebration

From: Ellsworth Brown, MSO Board President and the MSO Staff Leadership Team

Dear Friends,

When we postponed Rick Mackie’s August 20 retirement celebration and announced the rescheduled date of January 14, we were optimistic that we would be able to safely gather in person on the new date to enjoy food, drink, and fellowship to celebrate Rick’s retirement and thank him for all he did for the Madison Symphony Orchestra during his 22 years as Executive Director.

As we all know, the current Omicron surge has resulted in an alarming rise of COVID cases in our community, including breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated individuals. For the safety of everyone, including our guests, volunteers, artists, and staff, and after consulting with our guest of honor, MSO’s Board Leadership, Artistic Leadership, and Staff Leadership, we have made the difficult decision to change the way we will gather together tomorrow. Friday’s event will now take place as a virtual celebration on Zoom.

A significant number of guests who RSVP’d for the in-person celebration notified the MSO office this week that they would not be attending. We appreciate those of you who anticipated attending as planned. While we understand this change of plans may come as a disappointment, we believe it is important for you to know that Rick and his family support the decision to move away from an in-person event.

The retirement celebration will be held in Zoom webinar format, the same format that was used last summer for MSO’s Annual Meeting.  It will go live at 4:50pm at this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89449205050

A photo slideshow will begin looping at 4:50pm, and the live program will begin at 5:00pm.

Program Order

Musical Presentation, Leotha and Tamera Stanley & Friends
Welcome, Ellsworth Brown, MSO Board President
Remarks on behalf of the Orchestra, Wendy Buehl, MSO Violinist
Reminiscences, John DeMain, MSO Music Director
Board Gratitude & Presentation of Gifts, Elaine Mischler, MSO Immediate Past Board President
Words of Appreciation, Rick Mackie
Closing Remarks, Ellsworth Brown

We hope to see you at the virtual celebration on Friday afternoon.

Best regards,
Ellsworth Brown, MSO Board President
MSO Staff Leadership Team