As a growing not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization serving the Southern Delaware community, our ability to play and perform depends on your support. We need funds for a variety of expenses, including but not limited to rental of concert venues, cost of rehearsals, purchase of copyrighted music, expenses for our music director and soloists, marketing and media, printing of posters and programs, website and social media development and maintenance, and legal expenses.

Our ambitious plans include adding staff, growing the leadership in our orchestra and organization, purchasing and storing percussion instruments, having a year's worth of expenses in our account when we begin each year, and creating an endowment fund that will provide for growth and security.

We created two amazing concert experiences on August 15 and 16, capping off our streak of incredible growth in our first two years. Our journey has been extraordinary, and we are proud of what we have achieved.

Highlights include:

We have grown from 25 strings to 70 musicians across the symphonic spectrum.
We have grown from playing for 250 people in our first weekend concert to more than 1000 people over the August weekend, selling out a 900 seat auditorium at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes!
We have grown as musicians under James Anderson's leadership. Those who started with Sodelo are better musicians today, playing increasingly ambitious music. And our new musicians are truly extraordinary in their talent and enthusiasm.
We are extending our geography from Lewes and Rehoboth to truly be the Southern Delaware Orchestra, starting with Ocean View in August, and playing in Georgetown for our holiday concert
Having started by passing the hat at our first concert, we have earned the growing and generous support of our patrons, sponsors, grantors, donors, and orchestra members.
And, as a particular point of pride, we have grown from a volunteer group of three co-founders (Eva Delgallo, Steve Greifer, and James Allen Anderson) to over 60 community members and musicians who make everything possible, from managing the orchestra to community outreach, marketing, publicity, fundraising and everything in between.

Please visit us at sodelomusic.org to learn more about us. Here is some information on how we came together:

In February 2022, Steve Greifer started reaching out on local social media to see if he could find some musicians to play chamber music with when he moved to Milton. He hoped to play some duets or, better yet, play in a string quartet.

Eva DelGallo, a Lewes violinist and retired school orchestra director, responded to Steve’s first postings with a much bigger vision than a quartet. Seeing the enthusiastic response from the string-playing community, Eva saw the opportunity to bring her longtime dream of an orchestra in Southern Delaware to life, and jumped in with both feet.

Our third co-founder is our music director, James Allen Anderson, head of Orchestral Studies at University of Delaware. We reached out to Jim in our search for a musical leader, hoping he would refer some of his conducting students. Instead, Jim volunteered to lead us!

By May 3, an unnamed orchestra of 30 string musicians held its first rehearsal, and on July 16, a newly named/formed/incorporated/501(c)(3) Southern Delaware Orchestra, SODELO, played its inaugural concert at Bethel United Methodist Church in Lewes to a standing ovation from a capacity audience!

Today, we have expanded to over 70 musicians, adding winds, brass and percussion to our ensemble at our August, 2024 concerts, to become a full orchestra. We have many friends in the Southern Delaware community who support our efforts through playing, volunteering, attending our concerts, and donating to SODELO. We practice every Monday night and have a roster of upcoming concerts ahead of us. We are a welcoming community orchestra with members ranging from retirees to active professional musicians to talented teens!

We are all about creating a wonderful musical experience for both our musicians and our community, and we plan to be a long term member of the cultural scene in Southern Delaware!! We hope you will enjoy our music and support us in our efforts.

SODELO GIVING: PICK UP THE TEMPO!!!!

By Sodelo

SODELO GIVING: PICK UP THE TEMPO!!!!

Please support Southern Delaware's ORCHESTRA FOR ALL to help cover our expenses and growth