About the Mount Dora Music Festival
Mission and Goals
Mission Statement
The Mount Dora Music Festival is dedicated to presenting an annual, multi-genre, high quality, cross-cultural celebration of music.
Our Goals
- To entertain and educate through musical performances, lectures and workshops.
- To sustain and broaden the financial base of the festival through public and private donations.
- To build and strengthen cooperative partnerships with governmental agencies, businesses, foundations, community and cultural organizations.
Our History
In 1991, The Mount Dora Music Festival began as the dream of Jennifer Reed, a Lake County musician who performed as a violinist with the Orlando Philharmonic. She collaborated with Maestro Anthony Hose, who was known for organizing festivals across Europe. Together, they organized a dedicated group of community volunteers and created the Mount Dora Spring Festival to celebrate classical music and public education. The Spring Festival evolved into the Mount Dora Music Festival which now features a more diverse celebration of music. Over the years the festival has brought orchestral music to local schools, classical performances to retirement communities, and numerous free public concerts to the community at large. More recent internationally known performing artists include Rita Coolidge, Leon Redbone, Cab Calloway Brooks, Emile Pandolfi, and Alpin Hong, among others. The festival continues to be organized by a volunteer Board of Directors and is supported by public and private contributions.