The September evening soire honored John Lambert and his formal entry into retirement from his position as CVNC‘s Executive Editor, an inexorable period in his life, but one that hosts of his admirers view as bittersweet. The evening could be considered a success from any angle. Karen Allred and Jack Griffith graciously hosted the event at their elegant and spacious home, along with bountiful quantities of fine food and drink.

To judge by the number of guests and their generous comments, one can conclude that John Lambert not only knows just about everything about music, he also knows just about everybody who knows anything about music.

Could one imagine a CVNC get-together without musical offerings? Four musicians of the first rank powerfully precluded that potential pitfall. Serenading John and his guests were the Delectable Divas, i.e., captivating soprano Kimberley Bentley and smooth mezzo Ellen Williams. Singly and together they offered works ranging from the unsurpassed aria “O Lovely Moon” (Dvorak’s opera Rusalka) to earthy pieces with lyrics unsuitable to print in this family journal. Even though he works in software engineering, Allen Bailey provided piano accompaniment on a par with the “pros.” Also assisting on a couple of numbers was Ed Stephenson, a consummate guitarist well known to readers of these pages.

Fast friends of John and CVNC generously donated raffle prizes of considerable value, awarded to a dozen or so fortunate ticket-purchasers. The proceeds went toward funding “The John Lambert Next Generation of Arts Journalism Program” for college interns. CVNC critics and editors work with students at 3 schools across the state with hopes to expand to other schools as funding allows.

So, Bon Voyage, John! We’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places, or so we hope, as you continue to occasionally review great artists throughout our state.

Note from CVNC‘s Executive Director:

If you would like to contribute to The John Lambert Next Generation of Arts Journalism Program please see the ways we accept contributions on our Support Us Page. To be sure your contribution is credited to this program, please make a note on your check’s memo line or send an email to info@cvnc.org. 

And of course we always accept donations for the other great services CVNC provides to the arts community across the state!