RSO To Honor Michael Duff During Valentine’s Celebration 2026
By Susan L. Peña
Patrons, subscribers and friends of the Reading Symphony Orchestra can celebrate Valentine’s Day all weekend this year, by attending a romantic RSO concert Saturday evening, Feb. 14, followed by the orchestra’s Valentine’s Celebration 2026 at the Reading County Club on Sunday, Feb. 15. Delicious food, live music, auctions and a tribute to former RSO board member and president Michael Duff will allow guests to prolong their enjoyment and support the symphony as well.
The concert, featuring soprano Toni Marie Palmertree and tenor Charles Reid performing operatic arias and duets by Puccini and Tchaikovsky under the baton of music director Andrew Constantine, is part of the RSO’s season at the Santander Performing Arts Center, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The Valentine’s Celebration is the latest in a series of annual gala fundraisers, during which a community member who has contributed to the orchestra and the wider community is always honored. Duff, this year’s honoree, has been a familiar face among this community’s nonprofits, including the RSO.
“Mike has a deep, personal interest in classical music,” said Charles Bock, president of the RSO Board of Directors. “He has served on our board as a member—and for four years as president—and we are honoring him for what he has done for the RSO and for the community.”
Britt Kobularcik, the RSO’s Operations and Finance Director, added that Duff was near the end of his first two-year term as president when the Covid pandemic shut down the country. “He agreed to stay for another term, which saved us from having to transition to a new president then,” she said. “He got everyone through Covid.”
“He’s always handled everything with a wonderful sense of humor and he’s very even-keeled,” Bock said. “He’s such a good-natured person.”
Duff recently retired from the Penske Corporation, where he served as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Chief Compliance Officer, and also as Vice President of Corporate/Community Involvement. He was dedicated to community service, having served on and chaired many boards, including the United Way (including running the annual campaign with his wife Diane in 2011); Alvernia University; and Caron Treatment Centers. (He received the Richard J. Caron Award of Excellence from Caron.) He has also served as a volunteer for many local organizations.
In addition to a special video tribute to Duff, the celebration will include a sit-down dinner, and music provided by violinist Eric Silberger (who will also be the concertmaster for the RSO concert). Silberger is a fourth-generation musician who studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and holds a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. He was a prizewinner in the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, and the 2011 Michael Hill International Violin Competition. He is a highly sought-after soloist, recitalist and chamber musician.
“Eric has a passion for the Reading Symphony and for the Reading community, even though he’s not from here,” Bock said. “So he is donating his time for this event.”
Attendees will also have a chance to participate in a live auction. Kobularcik said the emphasis is mostly on experiences and excursions, one of which is a private concert in someone’s home by Silberger, who is also donating this experience (normally worth about $10,000).
Other auction items include a golf foursome and lunch with Duff at Moselem Springs Golf Club, and a chance to learn how to make tiramisu from Sweet Street owner Sandy Solmon in her own kitchen. Guests can also bid on the Golden Baton, which gives someone the chance to conduct the RSO for one piece of music.
Constantine will be attending the event, along with members of the RSO board and staff. Also in attendance will be Peter Brye, the former conductor of the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra, who is celebrating his 50th season with the RSO as its assistant principal cellist.
Guests can use this opportunity to support the Peter Brye Music Education Fund, which was established in 2016 upon Brye’s retirement from directing the RSYO since its founding in 1989. The purpose of the fund is to bring approximately 1,750 third-grade students by bus from all the county school districts annually to hear the RSO in an hour-long educational concert.
For more information about the Reading Symphony Orchestra season, and about these two events specifically, visit www.readingsymphony.org. The Valentine’s Celebration 2026 is open to the public; to make a reservation, call the RSO office at 610-373-7557.