November 2004

Newsletter of the Boulder Chorale
303-554-7652
www.boulderchorale.org

Greetings from the President

Greetings from the President

Sue Hintz-Siegrist

 

I just had the pleasure of meeting together with Miriam Lindahl, Greg Herring, Tim and the group of people from the Boulder Philharmonic who will be orchestrating the Fauré concert series.  I think we are all in for a lovely experience, due in large part to the dedication and desire of everyone involved.

 

The collaboration of the Boulder Chorale and the Boulder Philharmonic is in many ways a return to our roots of performing in the Boulder community.  In looking back over the archives, information we found indicated the earliest concert the Boulder Chorale performed with the Boulder Philharmonic  was in June of 1978.

 

We have the opportunity to once again establish our union with the Boulder Phil, and create a foundation that will support us into the future.  I ask that each one of you contribute what you can to this effort, be it ticket sales, help with riser set up, asking friends to help usher, or just talking up the concert.  Our good will as an organization cooperating with another local music organization to create great music can only benefit and strengthen our place in this community.

 

On another note, I am sad to say that Christina Brady, our Fundraising Co-chair resigned from the board of directors.  Her duties as a mother with now three small children, (Rose being the addition) understandably require her full time attention.  The board will miss her wonderful contributions as our grant writer extraordinaire, as well as a dedicated board member.  We will all still see her regularly as an active Chorale member.  Thank you Christina, it’s been a real pleasure having you on the board!

 

 

Boulder Chorale

685 Inca Parkway

Boulder, CO 80303

303-554-7692

www.boulderchorale.org

 

 

 

 

 

Fundraising by Stephanie Wanek

 

Donate More Stuff!

We are proud to announce that our first Ebay donation drive has so far generated over $4,000 for the Chorale!  If you think you missed the chance to unload your stuff, you’re in luck!  The Chorale is now an On-The-Block Auction client and they will continue to collect and sell for our organization year-round.  The company has two drop-off locations in Boulder County.  Please bring your items to locations listed here and name the Boulder Chorale as the beneficiary of your donation.  You can also go to their website at www.ontheblockauction.com for more information.

 

Postnet Louisville                Postnet Superior

368 McCaslin Blvd.              1617 Coalton Rd.

303-664-1756                         303-494-5549

 

Gala Committee Call-Out

We need a group of fun and energetic helpers to assist with the Winter Warmth Cabaret Gala in February.  This benefit evening will be our only major fundraising event for this season and the proceeds will directly fund our operations and administrative needs (like paying Tim and Kim’s salaries, concert advertising, instrumentalist fees and the like).  All kinds of help is needed from running errands to addressing invitations, from tracking RSVPs to distributing flyers around town, from soliciting event sponsorship to planning the entertainment.  Please sign up at the Marketplace to help us put this big party together!

 

Sponsorship Packets are still available at the Marketplace and we encourage you all to distribute them.  Mail one to your physician or dentist, hand one to your banker, real estate agent or CPA and give one to a friend.  These tax-deductible donations are our foundation and help fund our administrative demands, accompanist fees, concert hall rental and many other operational expenses.  Individuals and businesses who value and support the Chorale are essential to our vitality.  Please help the Boulder Chorale continue to flourish, expand and grow!

 

 

 

Fundraising (continued)

 

SCFD Grant Award

On October 18 we received our Scientific & Cultural Facilities District grant check of $5,212.  Thank you to the SCFD!  The Boulder Chorale and many other non-profit organizations in Boulder benefit from this tax sponsored program.

 

Your Business Support

We appreciate that many of you with businesses are offering to support us through referrals of business.  And while we value your support, it’s equally important to our membership that rehearsals remain focused on singing without becoming an overly commercial zone.  After careful consideration and discussion of this issue, the Board has come up with the following ideas:

 

·                       The Marketplace tables can be used for placement of promotional materials from your business, as long as they show that you are willing to benefit the Chorale in some way.

·                       Sponsorship of the Chorale by your business is always encouraged.  With a donation of $250 or more, you may include an ad in our Holiday and Verdi programs—the ad may contain a referral message or coupon if you like.  Smaller donations are also honored in our Sponsor listings.

·                       At this time we will not start a classified section in our newsletters.  The newsletter is produced primarily for Chorale business and news on singing and choral events.

We welcome your support through the existing sponsorship process and thank all of you who are able to support us through your business!

 

All Boulder Chorale members are welcome to attend Board of Directors meetings, or talk to any board member about an issue that we should discuss at the meetings.  The meetings are generally held at Atonement on the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.  Please let Sue know if you plan to attend.

 

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Curious about our Angel Ticket Program?

 

Last summer, the Board voted to adopt what is now known as the Angel Ticket program.  The purpose of the program is to broaden the audience base of the Chorale and increase community awareness, outreach and education.  The Angel Ticket program also expands our fundraising potential as education and outreach programs make the Chorale eligible for many grants and funding opportunities.  In the past, outreach took place solely through the $1 Tickets for Children program.

 

For the trial year of Angel Tickets, four general categories were chosen to receive complimentary tickets to all the concerts over which we have control.  These categories (Youth, Elderly, AIDS and Mental Health communities) represent a diverse cross-section of the populations served by Boulder support organizations.  The 2004-05 beneficiaries of the Angel Ticket program are Niwot High School, Frasier Meadows Retirement Center, Boulder County AIDS Project and the Mental Health Center of Boulder County.

 

The program is a new initiative and evaluation is ongoing.  At year end, if the Board extends the program, it is expected that the full Chorale membership will participate in the nomination process for potential candidates and will vote for the final beneficiary selection for the 2005-06 season.  Many options are under consideration pending completion of the first year.  You will all be asked for your feedback as the program develops.

 

The Boulder Chorale is very thankful for 39 years of community support which has allowed us to flourish while providing quality choral music performances.  We hope you recognize these outreach programs serve to reinforce our strong ties to the Boulder area.

 

King Soopers Grocery Certificates?

Dede Beardsley

King Soopers gift certificates are the effortless way for you to make money for the Boulder Chorale.  The key word here is: effortless!  It reminds me of one of my favorite fortunes: “You will earn thousands of dollars simply by doing nothing!”

How Does It Work?

Through the Boulder Chorale, you buy King Soopers gift certificates that are as good as cash at King Soopers and at some Safeways.  If you normally spend $200 each month on groceries, you’d buy $200 in certificates and use them as cash when you shop for groceries.

 

How do we, the Boulder Chorale, benefit?

We buy the gift certificates at the following discounts:

·                       3% if we purchase $200-$2499 in certificates

·                       4% if we purchase $2500-$4999 in certificates

·                       5% if we purchase $5000 or more in certificates

 

The key is getting into the 5% bracket.  We can do that by each buying just $50 each month in certificates; that would net the Chorale $250 each month.  If we each bought just $100 each month, the Chorale would make $500 each month...simply by doing nothing!  You do the math.

 

Details

I will have certificates to sell at the Marketplace during each rehearsal break.  (They come in $25 increments.)  So bring your checkbooks!  Make checks payable to the Boulder Chorale.  They’re great gifts, too!  Throw some in the direction of your starving college student, for example!  Thanks!

 

Josephine will be selling Entertainment Books for a limited time.  The Books  are $22 each with $4 going to the Chorale.  Help support the Boulder Chorale while using coupons for skiing, dining out, going to the movies and much more.  Entertainment Books are available at the Marketplace.

 

...thoughts from Concert Manager Miriam Lindahl

Gabriel Fauré died on November 4, 1924.  Thursday, November 4, will be the 80th anniversary of Fauré’s death.  It is also the night of our dress rehearsal with the Boulder Philharmonic at the First United Methodist Church.

 

Our visual appearance and the quality of our music will be center stage in a few days.  It is an awesome task to place 170 singers on our new risers!  Greg Herring, Assistant Concert Manager, and I hope that your singing experience is a truly unique and memorable one.

 

Ticket Information

Laura Meyers

Make We Joy: Songs of the Season Tickets

Tickets for our December 11 and 12 concerts will be available for sale during rehearsal breaks beginning November 16 at the Marketplace.  We will offer you as many tickets as you feel you may be able to sell, and record what you take.  You take the tickets, ask your friends and family, then return the money for tickets sold, and/or tickets you have left, up until the Tuesday rehearsal before the concert.  At that point, we put the left-over tickets into our at-the-door sales. 

 

Look for Laura Meyers, Karen Haimes or other Board members with tickets at the Marketplace table.  We’ll take cash and checks made out to the Boulder Chorale.  For this concert, ticket prices are as follows: Adult $12/ Senior $10 / Child (12 & under) $1.  We can sell out this concert with your help!  Let’s get out there and spread the word!

 

Of Interest by JoAn Segal

Sight Reading Classes Offered

David Greene, of our tenor section, is interested in offering Boulder Chorale members a series of low-cost classes in the solfège method of music reading.  He studied sight-singing using this method when he was in music school and has taught it in the Boulder area, including classes for his church choir when he was Music Director at the Unitarian Fellowship in Boulder.

 

This method uses the syllables do-re-mi-fa etc. with a movable do.  It was taught in American schools for many years and is widely practiced around the world.  Solfège helps to strengthen a musician’s sense of intervals,” says David.  He proposes two classes: one for people who don’t read music or who feel that they are weak sight readers, and another for people who are good readers but who would like to sharpen their skills.

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(continued from page two)

The cost of a 30-minute group lesson would be $2 each student for each session.  If either the beginner’s group or the intermediate group gets too large, the group could consider increasing from 30 to 45 minutes.  It is important that students have an opportunity to sing solfège in a group as well as individually (or in small groups) so that individual attention can be given to their needs and skill levels.

 

If you are interested, please get in touch with David at 303-859-2208 or by e-mail at fastest10@att.net.  Interested parties will meet to identify a time that could work for the greatest number of people.  Classes will probably be held in a classroom at Atonement Lutheran Church.  No textbook will be necessary.  David will tailor the teaching so that the mention of pitches in the Chorale rehearsals will be more meaningful to non-music-readers and people who do not read well.

 

Contact the Board Members

 

Sue Hintz-Siegrist                Elsbeth Pryer Diehl

President                               Vice-President

303-543-9871                 Women’s Chorale Liaison

303-443-2413

 

Peg Gorce                              Karen Haimes

Membership Liaison            Member-At-Large

303-447-8720                         303-442-7370

 

Jeff Hale                                 Julie Hale

Treasurer                               Graphic Production

303-494-1836                         303-494-1836

 

Paul Haynes                          Greg Herring

Librarian                           Asst. Concert Manager

303-494-9154                         303-440-6920

 

Miriam Lindahl                     Laura Meyers

Concert Manager                 Ticket Manager

303-530-2077                         303-447-0753

         

JoAn Segal                            Stephanie Wanek

Secretary                               Fundraising Co-Chair

303-541-1065                  Austria Tour Coordinator

                                                303-545-9677

Mary Weisbach

Chamber Chorale Liaison

303-530-2963      

 

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Calendar of Events

 

Tuesdays—Rehearsals / Small groups 6:00-6:50 p.m. Large group 7:00-9:30 p.m.

Atonement Lutheran Church

 

Thursday, November 4—Dress Rehearsal

7:00-10:00 p.m.  First United Methodist Church

1421 Spruce Street, Boulder

 

Friday, November 5Fauré Concert

6:30 p.m. Concert Call time

7:30 p.m. Concert

 

Saturday, November 6Fauré Concert

6:30 p.m. Concert Call time

7:30 p.m. Concert

 

Tuesday, November 9—Treat Night

 

Thursday, November 11—Board Meeting

7:00 p.m.  Atonement Lutheran Church

 

Friday, November 26—Deadline for December Newsletter

 

Thursday, December 2—Board Meeting

TBA

 

Tuesday, December 7—Deadline: Final 2004-2005 Payment for Balance of Dues and Sheet Music

 

Thursday, December 9—Dress Rehearsal

7:00-10:00 p.m.  First United Methodist Church

1421 Spruce Street, Boulder

 

Saturday, December 11—“Make We Joy”

6:30 p.m. Concert Call time

7:30 p.m. Concert

 

Sunday, December 12—“Make We Joy”

3:00 p.m. Concert Call time

4:00 p.m. Concert

 

 

Holiday Book Fair/A Night of Benefit Appearances

December 16—7:00 and 8:00 p.m.

Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble

29th and Pearl Street, Boulder

The Boulder Chorale will receive a percentage of sales at the Barnes & Noble Book Fair on December 16 from 4:00 p.m. until close.