Aloha Reader,

Today, I'm happy to give out some good news, and share what's been going on behind the scenes at Orchestrotica headquarters. I'm doing a craptastic job with some of our projects, and a decent one with some others ;-) Let's start with the good:

First, after over a decade of trying, we've been awarded not one, but (2) grants for touring/performing!

The first is a small award to fund our alien trio Czarna Wolgastar who will perform in Portland, ME @ Mayo Arts in early 2025. This date is not on the website yet, but will likely be Feb 7 or 8th. Our support comes via NEFA NEST (New England Foundation for the Arts - New England States Touring) and Mayo Arts.

The second grant is a $15,000 Southarts JazzRoad touring grant, underwritten by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation -- to help partially underwrite our quintet who will appear in Flagstaff, AZ, Las Vegas, LA/San Pedro, CA, La Mesa/San Diego, CA, and Mesa, AZ (1/29/25–2/2/25). Woot!

Tickets are not on sale yet, and some of these shows will be very small with extremely limited seating (especially in Vegas). Some of you wanted to see us in some tiki environments, and so you got what you asked for in part! (*Looking at you CA and NV folks!).

I'll let you know as soon as there are tickets available as we're just getting started on our travel plans and other logistics. Check the Shows page for current details, and know that info is subject to change (dates however, are firm). Thinking about coming? Hit reply and let us know! We love to hear.

So, what else?

Well, let me be truthful about something.

When we first got the Jazzroad grant, at first I was like, "well, that's a different result for a change!" I had a brief moment of excitement and shared it with the band—but pretty quickly, I was overwhelmed as well. I crashed on the inside - feeling like a giant weight had just been put on me vs. lifted off. Why?

Well, stay tuned.

On Friday, I'll go into part 2 of this dispatch—and why I think it's time for some changes here in our corner of the world. And, I'll let you in on the craptastic job I've been doing on our other projects!

Much love,

Brian O'Neill aka "Mr. Ho" and
Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica

(P.S. BBC Proms played a couple Esquivel tunes live Sept 2nd apparently! Saw a program on Facebook > Space Age Bachelor Pad Music group I think.)