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The League of American Orchestras Volunteer Council leads, advocates, and champions volunteer organizations in their efforts to support their orchestras' community outreach and civic partnerships to advance the experience of orchestral music.
Fall 2021 Edition
Darlene Clark, Volunteer Notes Editor | edwincf@swbell.net
In This Issue
President’s Message
Meet Your President
League National Conference in Los Angeles
Meet the LA Phil
2021 Gold Award Submissions
Maximize Your Charitable Giving Before Year End
The Volunteer Council
A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT
By Julie Meredith, Volunteer Council President
It is an honor to lead the Volunteer Council this year. I would like to thank our Immediate Past President, Cindy Kidwell, for her outstanding leadership. Her steady hand and guiding vision kept the Volunteer Council fully engaged throughout a difficult year, providing services to our constituency of dedicated orchestra volunteers.
We are pressing full steam ahead to help volunteer organizations as we work toward a new normal. We hosted a five-session Strategic Conversations program in October and early November for presidents and presidents-elect. After polling the participants on their areas of interest, we focused our sessions on Membership Recruitment and Retention, Strategic Planning, Diversifying Membership, Fundraising, and Communications and Technology. Keep an eye on www.americanorchestras.org/volunteer-strategic-conversations/. Minutes from these meetings will be available in the coming weeks.
Under the outstanding leadership of our Conference Chair, Ginny Lundquist, we are busy planning the Volunteer Track for Conference. Recently, I read through the numerous Gold Award submissions from all over the country. I am so impressed with the resiliency and creativity of orchestra volunteers. Not even a pandemic could stand in their way of serving and leading. They adapted ongoing projects and created new projects to help their symphonies. I invite you to join with volunteers from across the nation at the League of American Orchestras Conference from June 1 to June 3, 2022, in Los Angeles, as we showcase the Gold Award winners. It will be a wonderful opportunity to learn and network.
It is a pleasure to serve with the many talented members of the Volunteer Council and I look forward to learning from your experiences as well.
MEET YOUR PRESIDENT
By Darlene Clark, Volunteer Notes Editor
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing our President, Julie Meredith, for this publication. I hope you will enjoy meeting her as much as I did.
Volunteer Notes: Where did you grow up and where else have you lived?
Julie Meredith: I grew up in Salt Lake City and moved to Virginia after graduate school. We then moved to Maryland. We loved Maryland so much that, after 21 years back in Utah, we are preparing to return to Maryland.
VN: Did you play an instrument or sing growing up?
JM: I played the violin up through high school and sang in the high school choir. I started taking piano lessons 8 years ago and love it!
VN: What were your jobs before you began volunteering for your orchestra?
JM: I worked at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC for 11 years as a Legislative Affairs Specialist. I currently work as a math tutor, both for the local school district, as well as privately. I own a small business, Meredith Strings, which develops and produces practice aids for young musicians.
VN: What made you want to volunteer for your orchestra?
JM: I started volunteering for Utah Symphony’s Youth Guild Program and spent over a decade there. The Utah Symphony Youth Guild is dedicated to providing students with opportunities for greater involvement with the arts through volunteer service and educational activities. Membership is open to families with children ages 8-18. While the Youth Guild encourages everyone to reap the many benefits of learning to play an instrument, membership is open to musicians and non-musicians alike. My own children had many amazing experiences in the Youth Guild. I also served as President of the Utah Symphony Guild. My children took private lessons from Symphony members and played in numerous youth orchestras led by Symphony members. I felt that volunteering was my way of thanking the Utah Symphony for the richness their musicians add to the fabric of our community.
VN: What made you want to join the League’s Volunteer Council?
JM: I joined the League’s Volunteer Council in 2016 at the urging of the Utah Symphony’s then Chairman of the Board Pat Richards. It has been such an amazing experience to work with the dedicated members of the Volunteer Council. I am in awe at the countless hours and resources they spend in support of orchestras across the country.
VN: What is your favorite classical piece of music and why?
JM: One of my favorite pieces of classical music is Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. I also love Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. I am also a huge chamber music fan. My children have had the opportunity to play in quartets and there is nothing like it. I also volunteer for the NOVA Chamber Music Series and serve on their board.
VN: Tell us about your family.
JM: My husband Douglas and I have been married for 33 years and have four children. Anna married last year and started law school at the University of Utah this fall. Sarah is studying International Development at the Elliott School of International Relations at George Washington University in Washington DC. John is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is assigned to Rome, Italy. David is a freshman at the University of Utah. As a family, we love Shakespeare and attend the Utah Shakespeare Festival every year. They also love to attend Broadway performances. Between our four children, we have four piano players, three viola players, two violin players, one cello player, one saxophone player, one clarinet player, one drummer, and one soprano singer. Needless to say, I have spent countless hours in music lessons. We are a family that loves Cocker Spaniels. We lost our sweet Bella this last summer.
VN: What are your hobbies?
JM: In my spare time, I love to do genealogical research. I have spent the last several years focusing on a branch of my family in Germany and located their records back to the 1500’s in Sommerhausen, Bavaria. I also enjoying traveling and cooking.
VN: What is something interesting about yourself that you have never shared with anyone in the League VC?
JM: One family tradition we have is to prepare and serve a multi-course meal on Christmas Eve. We started this as an activity to keep the kids entertained on Christmas Eve day and it has grown into a 15-course event that we share with a few family members and friends.
VN: Thanks so much Julie for letting us get to know you better!
LEAGUE NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN LOS ANGELES
June 1-3, 2022
By Ginny Lundquist, Volunteer Council Conference Chair
Reconnect with friends and colleagues at the League of American Orchestras 77th National Conference next year in Los Angeles. Current plans are for volunteer-related activities beginning the evening of May 31. The Conference hotel is the Westin Bonaventure which is within walking distance of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The wonderful Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, is the host orchestra.
Joining us to help us plan our volunteer activities is Liz Shafer, currently President of the LA Phil Speakers Bureau, one of 17 Affiliates which total nearly 850 volunteers.
Your Volunteer Council is planning exciting and actionable programming for volunteers, capped by a performance by the celebrated LA Phil, recognition for the 2021 Gold Award of Excellence winners and numerous networking opportunities.
You won’t want to miss this “all in-person” League Conference, the first since Nashville in 2019. It promises to be a memorable event! So, save the dates May 31 through June 3. Registration will begin in February.
MEET THE LA PHIL
By Barbara Lake, Volunteer Council Member
The LA Phil was founded in 1919. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association presents and promotes the performing arts in its varied forms at the highest level of excellence to a diverse and large audience, at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and The Ford. Grammy winning symphonic and operatic conductor Gustavo Dudamel serves as Music & Artistic Director.
Gustavo Dudamel is driven by the belief that music has the power to transform lives, to inspire, and to change the world. Through his dynamic presence on the podium and his tireless advocacy for arts education, Dudamel has introduced classical music to new audiences around the world and has helped to provide access to the arts for countless people in underrepresented communities.
Each year, the LA Phil presents over 250 concerts in its two venues: Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
The Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen LA Phil Resident Fellows was launched as a centerpiece initiative of the LA Phil’s Centennial, creating a pathway towards a more diverse and inclusive orchestra of tomorrow. The fellowship is an excellence-based training program for superb early-career symphonic musicians representing or serving historically underrepresented populations. Its goal is to prepare these musicians to compete for, and win, positions in major professional orchestras. An annual cohort of up to five Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen LA Phil Resident Fellows will be appointed as musicians playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for up to three years while receiving salary and benefits packages.
Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) is the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s initiative to establish youth orchestra programs in underprivileged communities throughout Los Angeles. Mirrored after Venezuela’s El Sistema, a program which brings classical music education to children from low-income communities, YOLA provides free instruments, music training and academic support.
In August 2018, YOLA announced the construction of its first dedicated facility, the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen Center at Inglewood. The 260-seat concert hall has been designed by Frank Gehry, who also designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
In September 2021, YOLA at Inglewood opened its doors to over 100 students to begin their training at the new YOLA site.
Music critics have described the orchestra as the most "contemporary minded", "forward thinking", "talked about and innovative", and "venturesome and admired" orchestra in America.
2021 GOLD AWARD SUBMISSIONS
an overwhelming response
By Kathy Leibrand, Gold Award of Excellence Chair
The League of American Orchestras’ Volunteer Council received an overwhelming response to its Call for Gold Award Submissions in 2021. Kudos to all the auxiliaries for implementing and submitting such creative events in support of our symphony orchestras throughout the country. In such a restricted performance environment over the past few years, it was refreshing to receive the impressive number of submissions in an array of categories. This is a testament to the dedication and service of symphony volunteer organizations.
The League of American Orchestras’ Volunteer Council is currently in the process of reviewing all submissions for the Gold Award of Excellence and Spotlight Award. All recipients will be notified when the selection process is completed.
A heartfelt thank you to all for your participation.
MAXIMIZE YOUR CHARITABLE GIVING BEFORE YEAR END
By Samara Ungar, League Staff Liaison to the Volunteer Council
On average more than 31% of annual giving happens between now and the end of the calendar year. Here are some tips on how to maximize your charitable giving before year end. Whether supporting the League, your home orchestra, or other organizations close to your heart in the coming weeks, these tips can help you make the most out of your giving.
For information on how to include the League of American Orchestras in your year-end giving plans, visit https://americanorchestras.org/donate-now/ to make your gift today.
2021-22 LEAGUE VOLUNTEER COUNCIL
Our Mission
The purpose of the Volunteer Council is to support the mission of the League of American Orchestras by providing leadership, communication, and a resource link between the League and orchestra volunteers.
Leadership Committee
- Julie Meredith, President (Salt Lake City, UT)
- Janet Cabot, President-Elect (Madison, WI)
- Ginny Lundquist, Conference Chair (Detroit, MI)
- Bruce Colquhoun, Conference Chair-Elect (Spokane, WA)
- Cindy Kidwell, Immediate Past President (Tyler, TX)
Members
- Sally Bullard (Philadelphia, PA)
- Darlene Clark (Houston, TX)
- Loretta Davenport (Chicago, IL)
- Barbara Lake (Los Angeles, CA)
- Kathy Leibrand (Kansas City, MO)
- Charlotte Lewis (New Orleans, LA)
- Florence McClean (Baltimore, MD)
- Laurie Skjerseth (Quad City, IA)
- Irene Sohm (Santa Rosa, CA)
- Maggie Stehman (Washington, D.C.)
- Patty Wagner (Cincinnati, OH)
Ex-Officio Members
- Marena Gault, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, TX | Association of Major Symphony Orchestra Volunteers (AMSOV) Liaison
- Douglas Hagerman, League of American Orchestras | President of the Board of Directors
- Liz Shafer, LA Conference Volunteer Liaison
- Linda Stevens, Kansas City Symphony, MO | Sustainer Liaison
- Marylou Turner, Kansas City Symphony, MO | Sustainer Mentoring Program
- Samara Ungar, League of American Orchestras | Staff Liaison
Credits:
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