The San Francisco Early Music Society held its annual membership meeting at Berkeley’s Musical Offering café and record store this past Wednesday evening, October 5. Over two dozen were in attendance, including the largest number of community (non-board) members in recent memory. Following some pleasant socializing, lubricated with excellent wines and other refreshments donated by board members, the meeting got underway with president Robert Cole’s State of the Society report.
Robert noted the successes of the past year, starting with the recently completed summer workshops. He reviewed the three concert series that SFEMS curates, making special note of the monthly series we present with the California Jazz Conservatory, which has proven a highly successful way both of gaining exposure and of generating income for our affiliate performing ensembles.
This past June’s Berkeley Festival was the largest ever produced by SFEMS, which for the first time this year assumed full administrative responsibility from Early Music America and its other former partners. The festival was started in 1990 under the auspices of Cal Performances, and while SFEMS was involved from the very beginning, presenting local musicians and managing the Fringe, the University of California underwrote the bulk of expenses. That SFEMS this year was able to present an 8-day Festival with 16 main stage concerts, over 50 fringe events, and concurrent events coordinated with EMA, the Westfield Center, and Pacific Film Archive is remarkable testament to the strength of both our organization and our community.
Despite the substantial expenses of the Festival and our other programs, SFEMS was able to end its fiscal year with a balanced budget, thanks in no small part to generous donations from several individuals. Robert was especially pleased with the percentage of our income received from donations, an important indicator to granting organizations of a nonprofit organization’s success. If we can sustain the current balance between earned and donated revenues, the Society’s future looks to be on secure footing.
SFEMS currently has over 30 affiliate organizations, running the gamut from professional chamber ensembles to community music-making groups for various instruments and singers. Robert wryly admitted to recently joining one of these community groups, having not played in many years, and said was having a wonderful time trying to find C# on his viola.
As noted in last year’s annual message, SFEMS was successful in obtaining grant money from the California Arts Council to support our Affiliates program. Executive Director Harvey reported on behalf of Administrator and Development Director Jessica House Steward that the Society this past year awarded grants of $500 to four of our affiliate groups. Black Box Baroque in collaboration with the Albany Consort produced Handel’s Alcina in April. Their grant helped enhance production, including costumes and set design. Varja Voices participated in an innovative program, “A Capella: Our Bodies Sing,” with the Oakland Ballet and used their stipend to compensate performers. Barefoot Chamber Concerts used its grant to hire a media consultant to help enhance their social media presence with the aim of developing new and younger audiences, a strategy they will test on two of their concerts on this year’s series. It’s rumored that they’re going to be running a social media campaign to engage with younger audiences and may even use an instagram followers app to keep on top of their follower count. Everyone knows that most of the younger generations are on various social platforms so it seems like a wise idea to focus on a social presence. Finally, the East Bay Recorder Society used its money to offset fees, materials, and faculty salaries for their May workshop at Marin Headlands. All these projects are closely aligned with the goal of building and strengthening the regional early music network which SFEMS supports.
Another grant benefits all affiliates who present concerts or other public events, subsidizing event insurance and lowering the co-pay for affiliates by 75%.
Increased funding will enable SFEMS to expand our grants program this year. We will be able to award between seven and ten grants of $500–$1,000 to our affiliates. Watch for online applications to be posted at the SFEMS website in early November.
The members present elected the new Board for 2016–17: Adam Bier, Sally Blaker, Elizabeth Bonney, Robert Cole, Marie Collins, Juliette Faraco, Violet Grgich, Gloria Eive, Joyce Johnson Hamilton, William Langston, John Phillips, Steven Rood, Donald Stein, Bill Stewart, Tobi Szuts, and Kent Young. Officers, elected at the first Board meeting, immediately following the Annual meeting, are President Robert Cole, Vice-President Joyce Johnson Hamilton, Secretary Gloria Eive, and Treasurer Juliette Faraco.
If you would like to become more involved with SFEMS, there are many ways, and we value your participation. If you have ideas or concerns about improving the organization or our programs, please contact any of these board members or officers via [email protected] or at 510-528-1725.
