By Mandi Johnson

Conductor Jim Shaffer-Bauck will lead the Island Sinfonia in their annual concert at Grace Church on April 3 at 2 p.m.

Mother Kateri of the Franciscan Nuns of Eucharist, formerly housed on Shaw Island, created the Shaw Island Consort in 1984. The original group consisted of only a handful of musicians.

“She was a terrific musician and teacher,” said Ginni Keith, one of the Island Sinfonia’s 35 musicians, about Mother Kateri. “Old-timers will remember her running the Shaw ferry dock with her dog Kanae (meaning “temple bells” in Japanese).”

In 2004, the nuns relocated from Shaw Island to Oregon leaving the Islanders to carry on Mother Kateri’s legacy. The group has only continued to grow since her departure.

These days, the musicians travel to Orcas Island once a week to rehearse

At this year’s Lopez performance, Shaffer-Bauck will lead the brass section to begin the show with “Fanfare” by Paul Dukas. The full orchestra will then join in to perform “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint Saëns, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise” featuring a soprano vocal solo by Keith, “Concerto for Oboe” by Georg F. Handel, “Symphonette #2” by Morton Gould and “John Henry” by Aaron Copeland.

Members of the orchestra who are Lopezians include Naomi Vliet on viola, Kristina Moen and Becky Johnson on violin, Gavin Goodrich plays flute, Tom Felber on the double bass, Corky Searls on flugelhorn and Keith rounds out the Lopez musicians on trumpet and vocals.

There is no charge for admission, but donations are welcome. The orchestra operates entirely on donations as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.