NORTHWEST CHORAL SOCIETY
MEETING MINUTES
April 21, 2015
CALL TO ORDER:
The April 2015 Board Meeting of the Northwest Choral Society was held at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 1095 Dempster/Thacker, Des Plaines, IL. The meeting was called to order at 6:34 PM by NWCS Board President Penny Perles. The following board members were present:
Meredith Bechtel Mary Jane Matecki
Robyn Waldman Borek Penny Perles
Greykell Dutton John Schindler
David Hitch Diane Szuberla
Noreen LaValle Ruta Veitmanis
Also present: Alan Wellman, Artistic Director.
Penny Perles announced that alto Mary York is retiring from our chorus. In a letter Mary described her positive experience with us.
MEETING MINUTES:
The meeting minutes of the March 10th board meeting were reviewed. One correction was needed.
Under Old Business, first bullet, the first two sentences were replaced by the following: “We will reimburse Lori Lyn Mackie, our collaborative pianist, and Alan for outreach concerts. The amount of the reimbursement will be determined by Penny and Treasurer Noreen LaValle. This will also apply to a pianist or director we need to invite from outside our group.”
Mary Jane Matecki made a motion to accept the corrected minutes. The motion was seconded by Diane Szuberla. The motion passed.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
- Noreen presented the treasurer’s report for March. Cash disbursements totaled $4,735.85. Cash receipts totaled $1,282.05. Our regular account balance now was $8,438.44. Including petty cash, our final total was $8,473.44. Ruta Veitmanis made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded by David Hitch. The motion passed.
- Penny presented a summary of the expenses and income from our first two concerts this season. The December 2014 concert (The Many Moods of Christmas) provided us a gain of $380.10. Last week’s Annelies concert provided us a gain of $396.63.
- Gargoyle Brass has repaid us their share of the cost of recording our December concert.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY:
Chorus member Jamie Thompson has offered to send thank you letters to our helpers at the Annelies concert.
PROMOTIONS:
Diane Szuberla presented the ticket results of the Annelies concert:
- 230 audience members attended with a $5,063.63 income from ticket sales. This was the largest audience number for an April concert since 2011.
- 39 chorus members sold 181 tickets (90 tickets by the top 8 sellers). 49 tickets were sold at the door. 10 tickets were sold by PayPal and 6 by Go Payment. No tickets were sold by Goldstar.
- 45 members sang in the concert (2 members were sick on the day of the concert).
PUBLICITY:
Penny has prepared an article about our June The Magical Music of Disney concert. This will appear on our website and will be sent to Cutting Hall, Palatine, for their website. Penny will also send some new photos to Mary Jane for our website.
GRAPHIC DESIGN:
Jerry Borek is preparing the postcard for the June concert. He has been sent all the needed information.
WEBSITE:
Mary Jane announced that the committee is preparing a function on our website which will send an immediate reply to people who order tickets through our website.
SUNSHINE COMMITTEE:
Flowers will be sent to chorus member Linda Eberlein whose father died recently.
50th ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE:
- The committee is thinking about a Friday evening dinner in May 2016 at the Meridian Banquet Hall in Rolling Meadows. It would be a pay your own meal dinner for both members and guests. Under consideration still is whether to also have a silent auction or raffle.
- Should we have a reception for the audience at the June concerts? This would probably mean less sales at our traditional bake sale. Should we have a small thank you gift for audience members?
- For chorus members the committee is thinking of providing, for purchase, a commemorative pin and a tote bag. Greykell Dutton also suggested a T-shirt.
2016 CONCERT TOUR:
So far there are no ideas about where to go. A farther trip such as San Diego, CA, was suggested. However, the first reaction of most members would be that this would be a costlier trip. Alan suggested that we contact Heritage Festivals. Although they usually handle school trips, perhaps they could provide some ideas for us.
CD PRODUCTION:
- We will be going forward with preparing a commercial Christmas CD. Rehearsals will continue through June, August, September and October of 2015. Possible recording dates are October 17 or 24, and a possible location is Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest. Alan will prepare a schedule of rehearsals.
- We must start recruiting new members this spring, as well as informing previous members who are not singing this season. They will be presented with the schedule and the music we will sing and then be given the choice whether they want to participate in the recording. New members who join us next September will not be required to participate in the CD. We must also ask for commitments from our present members.
OLD BUSINESS:
- Robyn Waldman Borek, chairperson of the Nominating Committee, has approached three chorus member about joining the Board. So far only Angela Carlson is considering the invitation.
- Possible venues for our 2015 – 2016 concert season:
◦ Saturday, December 5th, Faith Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights.
◦ Saturday, April 9th, First Presbyterian Church, Arlington Heights, but has not been confirmed.
◦ Saturday, June 4th, Southminster Presbyterian Church, Arlington Heights, 4:00 PM and 7:30 PM.
Angela Carlson has agreed to make a data base for our audience emails. Please send her all the email addresses you may have.
- The Magical Music of Disney concert:
◦ We will have a Saturday rehearsal May 30th, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
◦ The concert program is about an hour long. Thus, we will probably not have an intermission.
◦ We will have a bake sale after the concert. No food is allowed in the auditorium.
◦ Only Cutting Hall can sell tickets. They keep $1.00 from each ticket sale. The auditorium seats 431 people.
◦ They have full chorus risers which we will use for a fee.
NEW BUSINESS:
- Our Annual Meeting of the Whole and Election of Board Members Meeting will be May 19th. Board members will present reports.
- The mailing date for our June concert postcards is April 30th.
- Cutting Hall should begin selling our concert tickets by this Wednesday. They are all general admission, no reserved seats.
NEXT MEETING:
Our next Board Meeting will be Tuesday, May 12, 6:30 PM, before rehearsal at St. Martin’s.
ADJOURNMENT:
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 7:15 PM by a motion from Noreen and a second from Mary Jane. The motion passed.
Ruta Veitmanis
Recording Secretary
Northwest Choral Society