Dear colleague,

   It may surprise you to know that in Cali, Colombia, a country and
   city sadly synonymous with conflicts and cartels, there has existed
   a fine symphony orchestra for the last 22 years.  We are a symbol of
   the other Colombia, of a society desperately seeking peace and social
   harmony.

   I have had the honor of being the orchestra's artistic director for
   the last eight years, and have seen with alarm how the government of
   Colombia has reduced almost to nothing our budget despite the fact
   that we have increased our activities from 40 to 150 concerts per
   year for audiences of all ages, ethnic groups and socioeconomic
   levels.

   Suffice it to say that this year if the government does not change
   its mind we will only have 7% of the budget that we had in 1993.
   Any help that you can provide would be most welcome.

   Above all letters, preferably via fax and email of support that we
   can present to the government would be invaluable.  After all it
   defies good sense to suppose that a government that spends four
   billion dollars a years on Defence (War) cannot provide a million
   dollars for a symphony orchestra.

   For more information about us our website is www.sinfonica.org
   <http://www.sinfonica.org> our fax number is (572) 8960050.

   Yours faithfully.

   FRANCOIS DOLMETSCH
   Artistic Director

   Orquesta Sinfonica del Valle.
   Carrera 5 No 6-44 Teatrino del Teatro Municipal
   PBX: (572) 6839321-22-24 Fax: (572) 8960050

Janos Gereben/SF, CA
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