Newsletter: November December 2011

PRESIDENT’S NOTES

Greetings Guild Friends!

As I write this, it is Sunday evening and we have just completed another season of the Guild’s “Nutcracker Boutique.”   With so much preparation which began almost when last year’s Nutcracker ended, huge accolades of gratitude go to Nancy Pittman, Mary Koepp and helpers for all they have done to get us to this point: that of finding, lugging, pricing and packing items and then unloading vehicles of zillions of nutcrackers and nutcracker related items that have just jumped into the arms and hearts of little aspiring “ballerinas” and “danseurs nobles!”  By the time you receive this, Nutcracker will have delighted countless big folks and little ones alike.

**We have sold close to 70 of our 100 available seats for the  up-coming Bavarian Christmas Dinner and anticipate filling the east side of the Edelweiss Restaurant to capacity.  Remember to send in your reservations now.  We are going to have a great time! **During this season of gratitude and thanksgiving, I have thought how very fortunate we are to have our exceptional CS Philharmonic whose musicians, new music director, CEO and staff are the best anywhere.  We have a radio station (KCME) which seeks to not only educate us but provide the finest of classical music.  We can enjoy a great dinner in any number of our first-rate restaurants, find easy parking and attend an outstanding concert of the most beautiful music, either classical or pop and all of this without having the hassle that comes with a big city.  If we want to attend an opera, we are always certain of a topnotch performance with much local talent.  With the CS Youth Symphony and the CS Conservatory we can meet the next generation of musicians and in addition to all of this, we have only to walk outside our homes and see the most glorious scenery imaginable in the U.S.   Enjoy and be thankful!

I look forward to seeing all of you at the Bavarian Christmas Dinner!    Musically Yours,   Mary

Bavarian Christmas Fundraiser

Wednesday,December 14

Edelweiss Restaurant

34 Ramona Ave.

      5:30 Social Hour, 6:30 Dinner

Directions: From the North: Get onto 1-25 South and take Exit 140 for S. Tejon and Nevada Ave. Bypass Tejon and turn right onto S. Nevada Ave.

Turn right onto E. Ramona Ave.

 

From the South:  Get onto I- 25 North and take Exit 140 for Nevada Ave. and Tejon. Turn left onto S. Nevada Ave. Turn right onto E. Ramona Ave.

Program: Silent Auction, Traditional Ethnic Music, German food, beautiful decorations, Stollen, and lots of fun!

Seats are limited. Call Gloria at 719-495-1278.

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January 18,2012 Meeting

Home of Nora Courier

158 Miramar Drive, CS, 80906

Program: Michael & Kathy Hanson’s violin students

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February 15, 2012 Meeting

Grace Episcopal Church

601 North Tejon, CS 80903

Program: Colorado Springs Youth Symphony scholarship winners.

Directions: The church is downtown on Tejon between Cascade and Nevada Ave. It is south of Monument Street and north of Willamette Ave

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Note: Save these directions as the next newsletter is not until February.

Many thanks to the Philharmonic for hosting a reception for the Symphonic Guild at the Pikes Peak Center on Sunday October 23.  Guild members appreciated the recognition and the kind words from CEO Nathan Newbrough.

Big turnout: Suite Bee at the Pikes Peak Center

October General Meeting

Dr. Abe Minzer and his wife Carol hosted the Guild meeting in October. Abe played and entertained the group with a piece by JS Bach which he played on the clavichord and a composition by Franz Liszt which he played on the piano.

Abe is the director and founder of Classically Alive, which sponsors salon concerts that are hosted in his home.  See the web for more information.

Abe is an instructor of music at the UCCS and so he naturally informed us about the composers and the history of the music he played.

November General Meeting

The November meeting was at High Valley Farm and

students from the Colorado Springs Conservatory which is an annual favorite performed.

 

Linda Weiss, Founding Executive Director

Reminded us of her new location at 415 S. Sahwatch. She warmly invited all Guild members to visit her new facility. It’s a beauty.

Stephanie Ewing helping with hospitality.

Special thanks to Allan Wendt and Ralph Gates for directing traffic into High Valley Farm in the cold wind!

 

 Getting to know you …

Katherine George and her husband John Duclos are new members. Katherine is orginally from Michigan and studied at UCLA and San Diego University. She is an editor and writer and has worked for several newspapers. She has been an associate professor at the University of Alaska and currently owns her own business,  Catalina Editing. She belongs to numerous organizations so she gives to her community. She even gave a kidney!

When asked how she found out about the Guild she said she had sat next to Mary Koepp at a concert.

That’s what we like to hear, recruit, recruit, recruit.

 

Sherry Toepfer was born in the Springs, grew up in Pueblo and went to nursing school in Ohio. We’re glad she’s back home. She has been a nurse for over 50 years and specialized in Pediatrics. She was a recent president of PEO in Colorado Springs. She’s interested in fundraising and that sounds good to us.

Sherry quickly became involved in the Guild and is in charge of meeting refreshments for our membership meetings.

A word about the Chair of Refreshments: This behind the scenes effort is more involved than one would think. It involves planning i.e. insuring that enough members have volunteered to bring snacks to all meetings and that at the meetings cold foods are served cold and hot foods served hot. It involves organization skills i.e. hauling boxes of supplies and serving ware as well as setting up and cleaning up.   It involves communications skills i.e. coordinating with the hosts of the meeting site and their requirements. And because the Guild is known for having delicious refreshments and presenting them in a way Martha Stewart would approve, this position needs many hands. Consequently, anyone that can assist please call Sherry at 473-0953. Thank you Sherry for stepping up!

Nancy Williamson is from Boston and worked for 20 years for MIT in Benefits Administration.  She moved to Florissant 20 years ago and was affiliated with Rampart Library District as Chairman of the Board of Directors.  She was a member of the Ute Pass (?) Symphony Guild there and worked for several years on the July 5 Symphony Above the Clouds, whose proceeds support the CS Philharmonic. She attended meetings as a guest of Evie Stark and thanks to Evie, she is now a member.

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Allan Wendt, Treasurer, reports the following balances as of October 31, 2011:

Administrative Account:  $ 3,695.13

Scholarship Account:       $    889.91

Fundraising Account:       $ 4,939.82

Patty Clark Savings          $ 1,015.55

CDs                                  $ 4,680.31

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We are making strides to upgrade our high tech capabilities. Marie Newbrough, a new member, is our new webmaster and has already accomplished so much. She has converted our previous web site to our new one. The new formatting looks great. The Philharmonic offered to create a website for us as a sub-domain of their website. Thanks to them, we have the flexibility to change information immediately and have technological support from their office.

 

Our new web site is guild.csphilharmonic.org. Please visit it and you will also note that we now have on-line credit card charge capability. People can charge for tickets or other orders on-line. Marie and Nathan Willers, Marketing Manager for the Philharmonic, put in many hours to get this set-up along with our Treasurer. We have already received paid reservations for the Bavarian Christmas fundraiser! This will help us capture a segment of the market that heavily utilizes the Internet. For example, the Philharmonic lent us their on-line credit card pay system for the Peachy Party and we received $1928 in orders. So it’s obvious this will be a great help to us. There are charges (3%) for each transaction to the Guild so members are encouraged to send in checks for events, if at all possible.

Marie posted the Bavarian Christmas Dinner invitation, which she also designed, on the web page which we expect to give us more publicity.

One of our goals this year is to increase the awareness of the Guild in Colorado Springs. With a new web site and other marketing efforts we will increase our profile. We have a full page ad in the CS Philharmonic Holiday 2011 program book, and postings on Peak Radar and the newspapers.

Quote For the Day          

“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and music.”

 Agnes de Mile

 Congratulations to Nathan Newbrough. The Economic Development Corporation awarded Nathan the Chairpersons Award.  The EDC, “honors individuals and businesses that have made unique and exceptional community contributions.” The Gazette reported that despite orchestra failures across the country the Philharmonic has survived and prospered with the assistance of the El Pomar Foundation and under Nathan’s leadership. He mentioned to this editor that this was thanks to many people including the Symphonic Guild. We’re proud to be affiliated with such a successful organization.

 

 

Open Houses!!

Jean Gronhagen invites you as she does every year to her Open House Sunday January 8, 2012 from 2 to 6 PM at 135 Miramar Drive. 719-579-0757

 

Also, Mary Koepp is having a Christmas Open House on Sunday, December 18, 2012 from 4 to 8 PM. Her address is 7519 Horsehoe Circle, Fountain, CO. Please RSVP at 719-237-5720.

 

UPCOMING CONCERTS

The Colorado Springs Philharmonic 2011-2012

Masterworks: January 28-29. Berlioz, La captive orientale; Bernstein, Symphony No.1, Jeremiah;

Beethoven Symphony No. 2.

 

February 18-19. Rossini, Overture from La Scala di Seta;  Prokofiev, Violin Concerto No.2, Michael Hanson, violin; Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 5, Reformation.

 

Vanguard: Thomas Wilson Conductor. March 10, 2012. Holst, The Planets; Stravinsky, Fireworks; Gandalfi, The Garden of Cosmic Separation.

 

Pops: Thomas Wilson Conductor January 14. Von Trapp Children, songs from the Sound of Music.

February 11. A Broadway Romance. Music from My Fair Lady, South Pacific and more.

 

HOLIDAY EVENTS:

Dec. 17-18 Christmas Symphony, concert of classics.

Dec. 31 A New Year’s Eve party. Perennial favorites and Broadway hits.

On behalf of Co Chairs Nancy Pittman , Mary Koepp, and the Guild thanks to all who helped with preparing for the Nutcracker Boutique sale. We could not do this huge project with out your help. Final report on the sale in the next edition.