June, 2015

NORTHWEST CHORAL SOCIETY
MEETING MINUTES
June 23, 2015

CALL TO ORDER:
The June 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 6:50 PM by NWCS Board President Penny Perles.  The following board members were present:

Robyn Waldman Borek             Noreen LaValle
Angela Carlson                         Penny Perles
Greykell Dutton                        John Schindler
Kelsey Green                           Diane Szuberla
David Hitch                              Ruta Veitmanis

Also present: Alan Wellman, Artistic Director.

CONCERT  TICKET  REPORT:
Diane Szuberla presented the concert results of our June 6th concert at Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center, Palatine:

  • All tickets had to be bought through the Cutting Hall box office.  31 tickets were sold before concert day.  151 were sold on the day of the concert.  Of these 151, 51 adult, 84 senior/student and 16 children’s tickets were sold.  Ticket sales totaled $3,413.49.
  • 37 chorus members sang in bright colored polo shirts.
  • Girls from Ballet Expressions in Mount Prospect danced at various times to our music and singing.
  • Nestle donated candy for the children in our audience.
  • The bake sale earned us $344.00.
  • Just as we arrived for our concert preparations, the fire alarm went off in Cutting Hall due to a faulty sensor and we had to wait outside for almost an hour.  Cutting Hall gave us a $100.00 discount on our hall rental fee.
  • This concert had the lowest attendance of the past four June concerts.  Our June 2012 R&R/Motown concert had an audience of 319 people and a ticket income of $5,136.

ELECTION  OF  OFFICERS:
Since the present officers were willing to continue for one more year, Penny presented the following slate of candidates:

  • President – Penny Perles
  • Vice President – David Hitch
  • Treasurer – Noreen LaValle
  • Recording Secretary – Ruta Veitmanis
  • Corresponding Secretary – Mary Jane Matecki

Greykell Dutton made a motion to accept this slate of candidates.  Robyn Waldman Borek seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

APPOINTMENT  OF  COMMITTEE  CHAIRS:
The following board/chorus members accepted the chairmanship of these committees:

  • Advertising – Kelsey Green
  • Development – David Hitch
  • Facilities – John Schindler
  • Membership – Greykell Dutton
  • Promotions – Diane Szuberla
  • Audience Education – Due to his work schedule, John Morrison has not been able to attend rehearsals, but is willing to give pre-concert lectures.  Should he not be available on the day of a concert, Kelsey (lecture presenter) and Greykell (subject researcher) volunteered to present the lecture.  
  • Publicity – Penny Perles
  • Sunshine – Mary Jane Matecki.  So that all chorus member’s birthdays are equally recognized, each month the Sunshine committee will present the list of member’s with birthdays that month and we will sing to them.
  • Facebook – Kelsey Green and Robyn Waldman Borek
  • New Member Concert Attire – Jane Peterson
  • Handbook Publication – Angela Carlson
  • Poster Distribution – Meredith Bechtel
  • Email Database – Angela Carlson

CD  DEVELOPMENT:

  • Alan Wellman will meet with Rodney Holmes of the Gargoyle Brass next week.  They will work on the budget for our joint project.  
  • Alan also made some changes in the list of songs we will be recording.  The new list: Gabrieli’s In ecclesiis, Burkhardt’s Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel, Scheidt’s In dulci jubilo, Willcocks’ O come, all ye faithful,  Raney’s Once in Royal David’s City, Stroop
    e’s Hodie! This Day and Susa’s A Christmas Garland.  We will not be singing Rutter’s Gloria.  We will receive the new music this evening.  Gargoyle Brass will accompany us and record one piece by themselves.
  • The summer rehearsal schedule remains the same.  Recording dates of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 16, 17, 18, are being scheduled. 

NEW  BUSINESS:

  • Jerry Borek can no longer do our graphic design work.  Kelsey has a possible candidate she will talk to.  We will also ask chorus members for candidate recommendations.  We paid Jerry about $650.00 per year.
  • Penny will no longer be attending the monthly meetings of the Des Plaines Arts Council.  If anyone else would like to attend, they are welcome.  The council meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 AM.
  • Penny also presented the expenses and income of our three concerts this season:

◦  December 2014, The Many Moods of Christmas,  at Grace Lutheran and St. Raymond’s churches.

   Expenses: $8,015.00 – Income: $8,395.10 – Revenue over expenses: $380.10.

◦  April 2015, Annelies, JRC Evanston.

   Expenses: $4,767 – Income: $5,063.63 – Revenue over expenses: $296.63.

◦  June 2015, A Magical Journey of Song featuring the music from Disney films, Cutting Hall.

   Expenses: $2,569.00 (does not include the $241.00 fee for ASCAP membership and $125.00 toBallet Expressions) – Income: $3,757.49 – Revenue over expenses: $1,188.49.  

◦  Noreen presented the May Cash Disbursement and Receipts report.  Discussion was tabled for the next board meeting.

SUMMER  MEETINGS:

  • Our July board meeting will be July 14th, 7:00 PM, at Greykell’s home.  The main topics will be forming the budget for our 2015-2016 season and reviewing our Handbook.  
  • The August board meeting will be the 11th, 6:30 PM, before rehearsal at St. Martin’s.  Here we will approve the projected 2015-2016 budget and any Handbook changes.
  • Only if needed to finalize any unfinished business from the week before, we will meet August 25th, 6:30 PM, before rehearsal at St. Martin’s.

ADJOURNMENT:
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 7:19 PM by a motion from Noreen and a second from Robyn.  The motion passed.

Ruta Veitmanis
Recording Secretary
Northwest Choral Society