July 24, 1996
Dear Friends,
As we approach the beginning of our sixth season of concerts, it's time for me to write and send what the Board of Directors now calls the "state of the chorus" letter. We have what I think is an exciting season of concerts and I'm delighted to write to you with the news. First, the concert season listed by project.
Fall - Saturday, December 21 at 8:00 PM, Handel's complete Messiah (1743 Covent Garden version) with members of The North Carolina Symphony in the new sanctuary of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Cary. There will be 15 Monday night rehearsals with 3 absences allowed. Soloists will be drawn from the ranks of the chorus as well as outside sources. Solo auditions will be held at the same time as new member auditions on Monday 8/19, Tuesday 8/20, Tuesday 8/27 and Tuesday 9/3 at The Page-Walker Arts and History Center. Call me at our new phone line (303-9100) if you are interested in solos and I will send an information packet to you.
Winter - Sunday, March 2 at 7:30 PM, Faure's Requiem with members of the North Carolina Symphony in the expanded sanctuary of First United Methodist Church in Cary. Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19, The Golden Age of Broadway with the North Carolina Symphony at Memorial Auditorium. These two concert programs will be combined into one project with one rehearsal schedule.
Spring - Saturday, May 17 at 3:00 PM, Simple Gifts - American Folk Songs with 200 children from Adams, Briarcliff, Farmington Woods, Northwoods, and Kingswood Elementary Schools choruses at The Cary Community Center.
This year is filled with great musical opportunities and will be one of our most active years ever. In other news...
Per Project Dues - we have had a figure of $10.00 per concert since our first year in 1991. At their June meeting, the CSC Board of Directors voted to increase the per project dues to $15.00, unless you preregister by mail to the P.O. Box in advance of the first rehearsal. In this case, the amount will remain at $10.00. The reasons for this reflect costs regarding the acquisition of music, be it purchase or rental and the time frame and cost of shipping. We've noticed a trend toward waiting until the last minute to register for a project, which has made it very difficult to properly prepare for registration or have enough music for everyone by the first several rehearsals. The only other alternative was for us to risk ordering more music and folders than we needed and absorb the costs of any folders not used. Since the average cost of a folders worth of music is about $17, that option was deemed too costly and rejected. We hope this will provide a sufficient incentive for people to take advantage of the lower rate, and if people must register at the first rehearsal, the higher rate will cover the organization's costs of getting more music quickly. Messiah Scores - we will be using the Watkins-Shaw edition published by Novello. For this concert only, we are requiring choir members to purchase their own copies which they may keep after the performance is over. I'm suire that many of you already have an old G. Schirmer or Coopersmith edition at home. These will not be satisfactory since they do not contain several of the choruses that we will be using and page and measure markings will not correspond. The cost of the Watkins-Shaw is about $7.50 and they are currently available at Burt Music which is located at 1341 Kildaire Farm Rd, near the old Roses/Brendles building. Please purchase a copy in advance of the first rehearsal.
Mozart Concert - my deepest thanks to you for a super job on the Mozart concert. I was very pleased after the concert and was still pleased after listening to the recording. Despite the concerns that many of you had with the Te Deum, I thought that it came off very well. The Requiem was brilliantly done. My hats off to both choir and soloists.
Concert Tickets - For the first time in our history we are selling season ticket packages for an entire concert season (tickets for The Golden Age of Broadway are available through The North Carolina Symphony). The packages include tickets to all three concerts plus one free Bring a friend! flex ticket that can be used at any concert. The establishment of a strong season ticket base is crucial to having consistent attendance at our concerts.
Publicity and Development Committees - while we've always been blessed with strong chairs for these key areas, we have for the first time in our history organized a talented group of people to work in each area, each of whom have their own piece of the responsibility. This is a break through opportunity for our organization because these areas are hot spots that long ago exceeded the ability of one person to accomplish. I am immensely excited about this and extend my thanks to David Lindquist and Rocky Alexander for their efforts in getting this accomplished.
New President Named - We are pleased to have Tom Bedick as our President for the 1996-97 season. Tom assumed his duties on June 30. We are deeply thankful to Priscilla DeLuca who now serves the board as Past President. Special thanks also goes to outgoing members Terri Ring, Mindy Speice, Marie Horne, Patti Wilson, Pam Kadzielawski, and Dick Bloom.
Town of Cary Planning Retreat - I'm sure that you have read in the paper that the town leadership traditionally takes an annual planning retreat that leads to future decisions regarding policy and facility for the Town of Cary. For the first time, The Concert Singers were invited to send a representative to participate in a panel discussion about the role that we play in the arts community and what we see as our future needs. This is a tremendous acknowledgement to the accomplishments of the organization. President Tom Bedick will have already participated on our behalf by the time that you receive this letter.
These are exciting times for The Concert Singers of Cary and we thank you for your contribution toward making this happen. I'm looking forward to getting started and I'll see you at either the auditions or our first rehearsal' on September 9.
Sincerely,
Larry
Updated 15 July 2003 |