February, 2015

NORTHWEST CHORAL SOCIETY

MEETING MINUTES

February 10, 2015

CALL TO ORDER:

The February 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 6:37 PM by NWCS Board President Penny Perles.  The following board members were present:

Meredith Bechtel     Mary Jane Matecki

Robyn Waldman Borek     Penny Perles

Kelsey Green       Diane Szuberla

David Hitch       Ruta Veitmanis                          

Also present: Alan Wellman, Artistic Director

MEETING  MINUTES:

The meeting minutes of the January 13th board meeting were reviewed.  No corrections were needed.  Meredith Bechtel made a motion to accept the minutes.  The motion was seconded by Diane Szuberla.  The motion passed.  Penny commented that the January 20th meeting of the 50th anniversary committee did not take place as originally planned.

TREASURER’S  REPORT:

  • Noreen LaValle sent the treasurer’s report for January.  Cash disbursements totaled $2,059.00.  Cash receipts totaled $769.00.  Our regular account balance now was $13,142.24.  Including petty cash, our final total was $13,177.24.  Mary Jane Matecki made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report.  The motion was seconded by Kelsey Green.  The motion passed.  
  • Noreen also sent the Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual for July through December 2014.  For the entire 2014-2015 season we had budgeted a total income of $26,850.00.  We have already met this goal with an income of $28,155.17.  Our gross expenses were budgeted at $35,575.00.  We have now spent 55.9% of it, $19,870.19.

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY:

When asked if all the donor thank you letters have been sent out, Mary Jane answered that she thought so, but will check one more time.

ARTISTIC  DIRECTOR:

  • Rodney Holmes’, from Gargoyle Brass, wife has a medical problem.  He is unsure how much time he will be able to devote to the group.  The Gargoyle Brass is still eager to continue the CD we were planning together, but we may have to readjust the recording times.
  • Alan Wellman presented the music for our 2015-2016 season:

◦  December holiday concert: Gabrieli’s In Eccelsis, Z. Randal Stroope’s Hodie, Rutter’s Gloria, and Conrad Sousa’s A Christmas Garland.  These we will perform with the Gargoyle Brass and organ.

◦  Spring concert: Bach’s Singet dem Herrn, Haydn’s Little Organ Mass,  Mozart’s Dixit et Magnificat, and Brahms’ Geistlicheslied and Liebeslieder Waltzes, op.52.  These would also be appropriate for our 2016 concert tour since they can be performed with just a piano or organ accompaniment.

◦  June concert – our Golden Jubilee.  We will sing selections from our past 50 years – 2 or 3 from each 10 year period.  These will be performed with piano only.

◦  Selections for our 2016 concert tour: Americana – Frostiana Suite, How Can I Keep from Singing, the Mozart, Haydn and Bach pieces from the spring concert,and O Song.

  • Alan stated that the DePaul University School of Music is presenting 5 days of Music Management & Recruitment Workshops, June 22 – 26.  The entire 5 days cost $600.00, but the 2 days of music recruitment only cost $300.00.

ADVERTISING  COMMITTEE:

Kelsey Green stated that her father’s place of business, although out of state, would like to become a corporate sponsor for us.  Also, she would like us to approach her place of work for donations or corporate sponsorship.  She will work with David Hitch and Mary Jane to accomplish this.

MEMBERSHIP  COMMITTEE:

Mary Jane stated that we continue to have people inquiring about joining us.  We may have one new member already this session and another joining us after the April concert.

PUBLICITY:

  • Penny will send letters and posters of our Annelies concert to all the area synagogues and press releases to area newspaper.
  • The Holocaust Museum in Skokie is not interested in reciprocal advertising with us.  However, David will send them 2 complimentary tickets to our Annelies concert and a poster.
  • We will only print 8 x 11 concert posters.
  • Kelsey will post our concert on Eventbrite.com and Goldstar.com.

FACEBOOK:

Kelsey continues to active
ly post things on our Facebook page.  She thanks everyone who shares these posts on their timeline, especially Mary Jane, Meredith, David and Robyn.

WEBSITE:

A photo from our performance at the CSO is posted on our website.  David asked Mary Jane to also send him the photo since he is preparing a 3 minute video of our activities to show at next summer’s Meet & Greet.

50th  ANNIVERSARY  COMMITTEE:

The committee has begun looking for venues for our anniversary dinner.  Penny already visited the Meridian Banquet Hall in Rolling Meadows.  Several more banquet halls were suggested.  

2016  CONCERT  TOUR:

So far we have 23 people interested in our tour including 16 singers.

OLD  BUSINESS:

  • Since the subject of a new name for our group has not come up any more with our membership, we will continue as the NWCS through our anniversary concert.  Perhaps at that time we can introduce our audience to the subject of helping us select a new name for us for the next 50 years.
  • There will be no voice classes as enough people have not signed up.

NEW  BUSINESS:

A discussion on reimbursement for outreach performances began.  Should we have a flat rate?  Should a substitute for Alan and Lori have the same rate as Alan and Lori?  The discussion was tabled until our next board meeting since several members had already left the meeting for auditions.

NEXT MEETING:

Our next Board Meeting will be Tuesday, March 10, 6:30 PM, before rehearsal at St. Martin’s. 

ADJOURNMENT:

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM by a motion from Ruta and a second from David.  The motion passed.

Ruta Veitmanis 

Recording Secretary
Northwest Choral Society