About Us

Coastal Concerts promotes classical music appreciation in Southern Delaware and surrounding areas through live concerts, outreach and educational activities. Specifically, Coastal Concerts achieves that mission through:

• Presenting an annual five concert subscription series in a season running from October through March. These concerts feature "world-class" professional classical musicians that concert goers would typically have to travel to large, culturally rich metropolitan areas to hear.

• Offering free admission to all concerts for youths ages 10 to 18, including free admission for one adult accompanying each youth.

• Sponsoring an annual scholarship competition for musically talented Sussex County, Delaware high school students wishing to pursue further musical education or training.

• Collecting donations of used but useable musical instruments for use in the Cape Henlopen School District Elementary School instructional music programs, and in other Southern Delaware non-profit instructional music programs for youths.

• Presenting free in-school educational concerts in Sussex County public schools, using professional classical music musicians, usually from our subscription concert series.

• Presenting free outreach concerts, open to the public, and targeted towards senior citizens, families, and/or young children.

Coastal Concerts was established in 1999 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation by a group of volunteers dedicated to bringing world-class classical music to audiences in Southern Delaware. The organization was managed and operated entirely by volunteers until December, 2008, when the Coastal Concerts Board of Directors hired a part-time Executive Director. The nine Board members are all volunteers.

After initially focusing on residents of Lewes, Delaware and immediately surrounding communities, Coastal Concerts now draws audience members from throughout Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic region. Educational and outreach programs, as well as marketing activities are targeted to Southern Delaware communities, which are the primary source of support for the organization. Coastal Concerts is not a membership organization. Our audiences, donors, and volunteers make up our "membership."

The Coastal Concerts budget for the 2009-2010 concert season is nearly $66,000. Sales of series subscriptions and individual concert tickets are projected to account for approximately one third of the revenues needed to support that budget. The remainder of the funds needed must be raised through sales of program booklet advertising, grants, and individual and corporate donations.