Volunteer Opportunities

Perhaps you’ve contemplated becoming a home host for the Bellingham Festival of Music: How interesting and appealing to get to know a symphony musician, to become friends. How gratifying to support live music-making in Bellingham, Whatcom County and the Pacific Northwest. How several people you know have done it for many seasons.

You’ve hesitated before. But, maybe, this is the year you will give it a try and open your home.

One of the most distinctive and popular features of the Festival over its 31 years, home stays have not only supplied material support for the Festival, but also forged deep connections between musicians and hosts. Musicians keep coming back year after year, frequently staying with the same hosts, who become dear friends.

It’s Fun!

So, for example, Marti Caputi has three string players who have stayed every season with her, one for 20 years and the others for 17. “We have so much fun. It’s the highlight of my year.” Caputi said. “I’m already gathering up recipes for this summer. We often cook together and invite other players over for meals on the deck. It’s become a big eating frenzy and we joke about the Bellingham 15 (pounds).”

Ronalee Kincaid has been hosting annually since 2007, except during the Covid pandemic. She has welcomed “a variety of folks, most of whom have been percussionists.” It really is “rewarding,” she says, “when the musicians stay at the same place and long term friendships develop–especially for hosts who are not connected to the classical music community. It’s really educational to sit around the dinner table and talk about music.”

Friends Beyond the Summer

Diane Norman has been hosting BFM players for 10-15 years. For many of those years, her guest has been violist Christian Colberg. “He’s become like my third child,” Norman said. “He checks up on me throughout the year. Have I put oil in the car? Have I changed the furnace filters? Even though he lives in Cincinnati, he is concerned about my wellbeing.”

To Norman’s point, the family-like connections made during the summer often nourish host and musicians year round. So for example, Caputi and violinist Mark Reneau have become favorite travel companions, visiting the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, European cathedrals with their associated organ concerts, and several Gustav Mahler orchestra festivals.

Some musicians like violinist and current Board Chair Victor Costanzi, have even turned to their Bellingham friends during significant life challenges. When Covid shut down his work as concertmaster for Broadway shows, Costanzi fled New York for his home away from home for 19 summers: Bellingham. He and Carolyn Canfield, his wife and fellow violinist, stayed with their longtime BFM home host, who insisted they be her guests. They were there for eight months until they could buy their own house and become permanent residents.

Extra Work for the Host?

A potential home host might worry that a home stay requires a lot of extra work, but that is not the case according to Host organizer and BFM Board member Barbara Young. “You’re not expected to cook. You’re not expected to drive them. They are independent individuals staying in your house.” Veteran hosts agree.

“You have to get the room ready, Kincaid said, but accommodations don’t have to be luxurious. A bedroom and bathroom are all that’s required.

Beyond that, the “musicians are pretty self-sufficient. They do their own food, and usually, they just need a small space in your refrigerator. They may share some meals with you but that is no more work than if you were having a few friends over. They don’t throw me off my schedule. Sometimes I have even gone out of town, leaving them on their own. And, with rehearsals and performances, they’re really busy!”

Home Hosts Needed this Year

This season, the Festival is looking for more home hosts than ever before, thanks to the increased number of players in the orchestra. Young, who is recruiting hosts, says they need 66 beds, up from 48 in 2023. So far, they have 46 guaranteed placements. Of the 20 still to be filled, 15 places need to be full time—that is, four weeks from June 26 to July 21. The remaining five would be short term placements (a couple of nights max) to accommodate players taking part in just one concert.