A Prelude
The Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, during its 48 year history, has gained a reputation throughout the Mid-Atlantic region as a place where - weekend travelers come to get away from it all - music lovers come to be entertained - friends come to enjoy a picnic - couples come to star gaze - and history buffs come to visit a bygone era. Over the years, the Festival has come to mean many things to many different people. These people all have one thing in common however, and that is regardless of their reason for coming to the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, once they have discovered it, the Festival's music and unique character draw them back again and again!

The Setting
The Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, one of the Mid-Atlantic region's premiere outdoor concert series, is held in the secluded village of Orkney Springs, Virginia. A rustic, open-air pavilion on the grounds of a historic mineral springs spa and resort hotel, is home to all of the Festival's summer concerts. Known formerly as the Orkney Springs Hotel, it is now owned by the Episcopal Dioceses of Virginia as part of the Shrine Mont Camp and Conference Center. In its heyday during the early 1900s, the Hotel served as a popular resort where guests from the large eastern cities would come to spend their summers relaxing in the quiet Virginia countryside and soaking up the spring waters believed by many to have medicinal properties. Standing at the end of a winding country road leading west to the mountains from the Shenandoah Valley, the Hotel's secluded location still makes it a popular retreat for individuals and groups. The conference center complex is enormous, consisting of a main building, the Virginia House, which houses the "public rooms", two large lodges, the Maryland House and the Pennsylvania House, with antique filled sleeping rooms and several small cottages. The main building and the two lodges are encircled with porches and walkways on all floors, where guests can find a relaxing place to sit in one of the many wooden rockers or adirondack chairs. The famed mineral springs are just a short hike away. The Hotel, which has undergone recent renovations, still possesses a quiet turn of the century charm which continues to attract a variety of visitors and Festival audiences.

The Music
In addition to its unique setting, the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival's musical reputation accounts for much of its popularity. The Festival's main season includes eight to 10 evening concerts featuring symphonic - both pops and classical - folk, country, bluegrass, big band and an assortment of other genres. The concerts are held on select weekends throughout the summer. The performances feature many acclaimed regional and national artists. Audiences enjoy these outdoor performances from either reserved seats in the pavilion or relaxing on the expansive lawn area where picnics are welcomed and encouraged. Old-fashioned ice cream socials before every concert are a Festival tradition and a favorite of concert attendees.

The Beginning
The Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, now in its 48th season, began during the summer of 1963 simply because a group of local residents wanted to bring the symphonic music being performed during the American Symphony Orchestra League's annual Eastern Conductors Workshops in Orkney Springs to their rural community. This group of volunteers organized the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival Committee and began sponsoring public symphony and chamber music concerts each summer during the workshops. Originally the concerts were held both at Orkney Springs and in nearby Woodstock, where the Festival's office is located. During the next several years, the concerts were gradually all moved to Orkney Springs. The Festival's programming has, over the years, expanded to include a variety of music typically not available in this rural area.

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