Board Meeting November 5, 2020

Type: 
Board
Date: 
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Status: 
Approved

In attendance: Madeline Beery, Hanan Bell, Teresa Metzger-Howe, Koko Morgan, Kathleen O'Keeffe, Doug Potter, Bruce Sherman, Anne Warner, and Gennie Winkler.

Welcoming of New Board Member
Doug announced Anne Warner as Membership Director and Bruce Sherman as Treasurer.

Minutes
The minutes for the August 12, 2020 and September 2, 2020 were approved as corrected.

Decisions via Email
September 24, 2020 - Resignation of Treasurer
Linda O’Gara resigned her position as treasurer. Her resignation was accepted and she was thanked her for her eight years keeping our money straight.

Doug proposed a vote to the following Board changes:
1. Elect Bruce Sherman as Treasurer
2. Elect Anne Warner to the Board to serve as Membership Director
Approval of these changes to the Board requires six "yes" votes. Doug asked the Board to reply to this email with a yes or no vote.

September 26, 2020 - Approval of changes to the Board
Seven members of the Board voted "yes". The changes to the Board members passed.

Summary of the Ensemble Activities
1. Play music and be coached by Teresa via Zoom
Ten people are participating in the Zoom meeting with Teresa. They have played together, had sectionals, and used variety of ways to learn the music. It seemed difficult at first, but most everyone seemed to be getting something out of it. There has been some good interaction with individual from different orchestral sections.

2. Play with a Small Group and being Coached
The experience of the players is that they enjoyed the interaction. The coach was a great guide. She will meet with them twice this quarter. Bruce's studio quartet is meeting at his studio. It is working out well. They are planning to record their music.

3. Use Computer Applications to play Together On-line.
Bruce is leading an on-line group. They started with Zoom to get organized and help people with set-up. They moved to the Jimjam software where 9 - 10 people play together. It is tricky to lead the group. It's a challenge to have everyone find the right place to begin playing once they have stopped. They felt this was because of the different versions of music people had. The group missed the visual cues that one gets when playing chamber music in person.

Changes for Next Quarter
1. Small String Groups
If the Music Center of the Northwest is open and the Covid-19 restrictions allow, then Teresa would be willing to offer a 90-minute session for string players at the Center. She would like to play the Mendelssohn String Symphony. The players would be chosen on a first come first serve basis.

2. Play Music and be Coached by Teresa via Zoom
Teresa also wants to meet with players in an online section on Thursdays.

3. Play with a Small Group and being Coached
The small group ensembles are authorized to keep the coaches for next quarter. The Music Center of the Northwest maybe available for nights other than Wednesday for small groups to gather.

4. Jamkazam Groups
For next semester Bruce wants it to continue with the Jamkazam playing, but he can no longer be the leader. It requires a lot of time. There are a few things to consider when using Jamkazam. Keep the groups small. Participants may need some help in forming their groups and gaining knowledge of the software and equipment requirements. It would be expected that one person in the group would be the leader and have the knowledge of the software.

Performances
Bruce is going to record their quartet. Madeline's group recorded themselves. There's a possibility of posting these recording, but before any are posted, they will be reviewed by Teresa. We want to post quality recordings.

The Fall Benefit Concert for the United Churches Emergency Fund will not occur this year. The thought was to use the performance recordings to encourage people to contribute. If the recordings are of quality, this might happen. If it doesn't, then perhaps the Symphony members could be asked to contribute to the fund regardless.

Treasurer Transition
Doug and Bruce need to work with Linda to transfer access to the Symphony's funds and Quicken software to them. Doug will be completing the paperwork to have the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program Loan forgiven. More back-up is needed to support this position.

Plan for General Meeting and Board Elections
The Symphony members will be invited to a General Meeting on November 18, 2020 via Zoom. Members will be elected to the Board and a summary of the quarter's activities will be made. Kim Waggie, the Venue Coordinator, does not want to rerun. A new person will be needed, but with the current Covid-19 restrictions, we could wait until next fall to recruit someone.

Grant Status
The King County 4Culture grant for $2,100 was submitted. The Seattle Arts and Culture funding is limited, because the money comes from ticket sales. The City is looking to increase funding for diverse groups, which leads to a need to know the Symphony member's demographic information. They seem to be looking for race equality in an organization. If demographic questions are asked, then we need to make sure people can decline to answer.

Next Meetings
The next meeting is a General Meeting for the Symphony members. It will be Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 7:30 pm via Zoom.

The next Board Meeting will be Wednesday, December 2, 2020 7:00 pm via Zoom.