President's Review: 2022 - 2023 Season

Annual Meeting: June 6, 2023

2022 – 2023 Friends of Music Concert Series

9/29/2022 Longing for Song, Two Rivers String Quartet
11/19 & 20/2022 – Highlands and Low, Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra
3/25/2023 – But of Chorus Redux, Winchester Musica Viva
4/15 & 16/2023 – Hapsburg by Happenstance, Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra Jed Gaylin, Conductor and Pianist
5/20 & 21/2023 – Folk ‘n Fancy, Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra soloists Jason Diggs, Barbara Spicher, and David Drosinos

Our second season after Covid was a resounding success, with memberships climbing to an all-time high of 118 persons. The season was a fitting way to celebrate Music Director and Conductor Jed Gaylin’s 10 years with Friends of Music. At a special concert in which he served as both conductor and guest artist, Jed played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major. He called it his gift to Friends of Music for all the joy and fulfillment our partnership has brought him. The board gave Jed two special gifts, a baton with a wooden handle from Israel, and a plaque commissioned from local artists Pam and Ren Parziale that was framed by Robert Michell, a Friends member.

The season bowed only modestly to Covid. We started with smaller ensembles, and then built to host a full orchestra of 31 musicians in May. A number said the finale was among their all-time favorites. It was notable in several ways, featuring several of our principal musicians as soloists and also bringing attention to lesser-known works. Many of the musicians had never heard some of the pieces, much less played them. And in something of a trial run, the second performance was taped by Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church’s Bill Howard, showing what might be possible aurally and visually in the future. The wonderful acoustics at that church and at Trinity Episcopal Church are widely appreciated; we are grateful to Bill and to both congregations for allowing use of their treasured facilities.

Outreach and patron satisfaction remain among our highest priorities. This pertains to our music performances and the various educational activities we have undertaken. With regard to our performances, the responses to our audience surveys have been most positive and we are honored that so many have taken the time to offer ideas and encouragement. However, promoting excellence in music doesn’t just involve meeting the expectation of current audiences. We must also work to develop audiences for the future by promoting music engagement among all age levels and especially by helping to support music education for children. With our grants to music programs in Berkeley and Jefferson County public schools and scholarships to students in those schools, we want to serve the community broadly, and not simply function as an organization that sponsors concerts. In this regard, I believe we are doing well; support from Ecolab for the in-school mini-grants and from the Nora Roberts Foundation for the scholarships and other operations helped tremendously.

Friends of Music has continued to improve its on-line registration platform, something that complements the two-performance format we implemented last year for each Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra concert. Some minor bugs seem to have been resolved, with check-in much easier now. When needed, registration allows us to gauge space available for teachers and students to attend free. The on-line platform is also used by donors, local public-school teachers applying for our grants, and students applying for our scholarships.

Making the most efficient use of print outlets and social media is a never-ending quest, as audience preferences change, and people’s technical proficiencies evolve. Responses to our survey requests for feedback have provided useful insights in this regard.. The production of our printed programs and other materials, and the use of local press outlets and social media, is no easy task, however. Peter Smith does yeoman effort here, and we are grateful to him and to Jen Rolston who handles our website and layouts for all printed matter, while Libby Howard helps edit behind-the-scenes. Having Sherry Sykes come on board as Administrator early in 2022 brought added benefit; among many other responsibilities, she processes and tracks memberships and donations as well as the distribution of our materials to patrons, etc.

Keeping our musician complement strong and happy is a labor of love by our board. We try to make their time with us as fruitful and pleasant as possible. During rehearsals we provide more than simple refreshments and this is much appreciated. Jed views the musicians we use as valued associates, not just hired hands, and together they continue to make wonderful music for us. Sherry’s knowledge of music and many of the musicians we employ allowed her to quickly assume myriad contracting responsibilities. Last minute changes in availability are a given, however, and Sherry handles them with incredible patience and good grace. She also assists the board in refining our in-house management processes and maximizing the use of board member talents. Many patrons have complimented her friendly, unflappable style and unflagging energy.

Our linkage with Shepherd University and help from Kurtis Adams, director of the University’s School of Music, is bearing much fruit. The Scott Beard Internship brings in talented students to work with us. With input from Dr. Adams and this past year’s wonderful Intern, Sianna King, the internship was modified to encompass a full-year experience; this will allow our interns to engage in the entire range of activities needed to keep an arts organization on track and successful. Support this year came from the Detlev and Mary Ellen Preissler Fund for the Arts, Music, Design, and Nature at the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation. Ms. Gabriella “Gabby” Tedeschi has been chosen as our Scott Beard Intern for FY2023-24; support will come from a new sponsor, the Marion Park Lewis Foundation.

Life at Friends of Music is not without challenges. Our two-performance concert format has brought much praise, but it is somewhat more difficult and expensive to administer. A key benefit is providing patrons scheduling flexibility and allowing us to seat more attendees, including local public-school teachers and their students who attend free. But while audiences are nearing pre-pandemic levels, individual ticket sales are not yet where we hope they will be. Ideally, this source of income will grow and cover our increased production costs, especially musician travel. (Payment for travel is stipulated by the state at the Federal rate of $ .655 per mile, more than doubling what we paid last year).

To reckon with the post-Covid realities of slow audience growth, and to prevent raising tickets prices, we have modified our business model. It calls for keeping music production costs as stable as possible, while relying more heavily on external grants and other fund-raising. This year, grant income and corporate support increased substantially. We also turned yet again to our incredibly supportive audience and the broader community. With much encouragement from a very generous anonymous donor, an outpouring of $12,000 in matching grant contributions brought the total amount of individual contributions to $40,000. This represents roughly one-third of our annual budget, something we were not sure was possible in these volatile economic times. We are incredibly blessed and grateful. (The list of our government, private foundation and corporate sponsors includes The WV Department of Art, Culture and History in conjunction with the National Endowment on the Arts and appears on our website and in each printed program; it is also displayed at each concert. ) The ability to sustain high quality programming and our various educational activities would not be possible without this range of state, foundation, corporate, and individual giving. We truly value all our sponsors.

Board member recruitment is something we began to address this season. Through the years of Covid, we put much effort into streamlining back-room operations. Now, with Sherry serving as administrator, we hope it will be possible to entice some new individuals to join the board. The board workload is not as burdensome as previously and fresh perspectives are always valued. Covid may have put a temporary damper on volunteerism, but life is returning to normal and knowing that board vitality is critically important, we are again making recruitment a high priority. Our board is talented and enjoys working together, and I greatly appreciate their involvement and support. A few additional members will make us even stronger.

Before we know it, the brochure previewing our 2023-2024 concert season will be in the mail; we hope that its arrival will elicit many membership renewals as well as advance ticket purchases and yearly donations. A noted guest artist trio will open the season in October and throughout the various Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra performances that follow, we will feature new works along with selections well known to our audience. We will also continue experimenting and innovating, this time exploring two new concert venues: Shepherd University’s Shipley Recital Hall and Zion Episcopal Church in Charles Town.

Bringing music to the Friends of Music audience and sharing the joys with others is a real privilege. Thanks so much your support and best wishes to all.

Judith Miller Jones
President