Minutes of Chorus Committee Meeting

August 7, 2007

Concert Singers of Cary

Cary Senior Center, Cary, NC

Room 302

Except as noted, all Directors and members had received advance notice of the meeting. The tables below reflect attendance.

Chorus Committee Attendance

Present

Absent

David Lindquist

Executive Director

X

Larry Speakman

Artistic Director

X

Geiselle Thompson

Committee Chair

X

Barb Klimala

Soprano Section

X

Terri Ring

Alto Section

*

John Picha

Tenor Section

*

David Britt

Bass Section

Recording Secretary

X

Eleni Steadman

At Large

X

Cherie Spehar

Volunteer

X

Greg Tarsa

At Large

X

Emiko Kuroda

Librarian

X

Liz Cummings

Membership

X

Amber Farrelly

At Large

X

(Open)

At Large

*Terri and John were unintentionally omitted when the meeting invitation was sent out

Guests

Introduction

Geiselle called the meeting to order at 7:32 pm

Summer Items:
• Lazy Daze – August 25th

o Volunteer help is still needed to run the booth at Lazy Daze, particularly in the afternoon. Help is also needed the Friday evening before (the 24th) for setting up.

• Ad Sales
o We have started ad sales and can always use a lift with any business connections. Eleni is selling ad space now and so far has sold three ¼ page ads.
o The committee discussed potential advertisers and reviewed last year’s advertisers
o The cutoff for ad sales is September 15th

• Voice Care Seminar – August 13

o At this point, the focus is on talking-up the August 13 seminar on Making Your Voice Last a Lifetime. David expressed a need for greeters, ushers and set-up help with chairs. The room becomes available at 7:00pm.

Other Upcoming Activities:

• Start of Rehearsals – September 10th

o Organizing first night is a Chorus Committee responsibility

o The committee reviewed the list of things that are done each year with the start of rehearsals;
• Recruitment notices get sent out
• Amiko, the CSC Librarian, is taking point on putting together the music packages
• Logistics for collecting payment / music distribution
o There will be 7 stations;
2 stations to collect money
5 stations to receive music
o There’s a need for good line organization
• Payment
o Payment must be ensured before music is distributed
o Payment may be by cash, check or credit card;
o Don and Katy will handle credit card payments; David will assist

o Checks and cash may be run at the lines

• Materials Needed
o Pencils
o Handouts covering attendance, FAQs, etc.

o Signs need to be made to direct people clearly

• Section leaders should meet and greet the new people
• Cherie may have more ideas regarding welcoming the new singers

• Liz has offered to lead the opening rehearsal social

• Picnic: Cherie et al are working on October’s picnic; Date hasn’t been finalized. It will need to be finalized to secure the shelter.

• Christmas Carols: CSC will organize a group to sing Christmas Carols as the opening act for Cary Players Christmas Story. A director is needed and willing singers. We will only perform on the second weekend as one weekend overlaps with our concert.
o Repertoire will be comprised of standard carols
o Some individuals were suggested as potential directors
o Performance dates will be December 14, 15 (Fri, Sat)
o (On a related note, the Cary Ballet should be contacted for a possible performance at their Ballet in March)

Other Issues:

• Improvements to Virtuosos. Cherie has some ideas regarding the Virtuosos program, but discussion is moved to the next meeting as Cherie is not present

• Geiselle will email potential candidates regarding the vacant positions of House and At-large

• A suggestion was made for a possible candidate to help with the quartermaster role. The individual may not want to chair a committee, but has experience with and access to gowns.

Project Leaders Needed:

Voices of Light Concert
• Creative ideas to promote the Voices of Light Concert are welcome
• A Point-person is needed for publicity.
o The concert date is January 12, 2008
o Audiences have not been up to expectations
o David was handling publicity for the concerts last year and would like a person who can take on this responsibility for this unique concert
o The optimal candidate would bring a new style and energy to the role

o One potential candidate was discussed

Mailing List
• Someone is needed to lead a project to build our mailing list.

o Feedback garnered from the United Artists application process indicated that the group needs to bolster the direct mailing list / email list

Audience Development
• Someone is needed to lead a project to develop our audience in one underserved population (such as minorities, teens, disabled, etc.)
o Per United Artists feedback, David wants a task force to identify a target underserved population and implement a strategy for recruitment among some group that we haven’t gone after before
o A suggestion was made that we reconnect with the MLK project

o Recruitment of teens from local schools as representative of an underserved population was suggested

Director Reports:

Executive and Artistic Director reports were deferred until the September meeting due to time constraints.

Geiselle closed the meeting at 8:55

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday September 4, 2007

Respectfully Submitted

X

David.Britt

CSC Chorus Committee Secretary