Guild News through the year, by date

As a member of the Asheville Symphony Guild, you are invited to join us at this year’s Annual Meeting to be held as a Zoom Meeting. This is a time to review our accomplishments of this past year and share in our plans for 2020-2021.

WHERE:

Zoom Video Conference

WHEN:

Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 1 p.m

HOW TO ATTEND:

Click this link (or the button below) to register in advance for the meeting. You must register to join the call, and you also must have a Zoom account (free) with your username and password. If you have not used Zoom previously, set up a free account here.

Once you have registered for the Guild’s Annual Meeting, instructions for joining the June 30 video call will be sent to you via the email address you registered with. Be sure to save this registration confirmation email!

At or before 1 p.m. on June 30, locate your registration email and click the link that says, “Click here to Join.” Just beneath that link, there should be a numerical password to join the meeting. Enter the password when it prompts you to do so.

We hope to “see” you there!

REGISTER FOR MEETING

ON THE AGENDA

The official business of the annual meeting is to elect the officers for the upcoming year, which begins on July 1.

The proposed slate of officers is as follows:

President: Sarah Van Gunten
Vice President: Betty Fox
President-Elect: Sue Luther
Treasurer: Otis Philbrick
Recording Secretary: Sylvia Cassel
Corresponding Secretary: Honey Solomon
Past President: BA Schenk

While the official meeting begins at 1 p.m., you may join the Zoom call at 12:30 p.m. to give us time to resolve connection questions and say hello to one another before the actual meeting begins.

If you have any questions, please call 201-519-2380.

Dear Asheville Symphony Guild Members,

We have some exciting news to announce! Guild members now have a unique opportunity to support our acclaimed Music in the Schools program. With your help, this program will expand to reach more than 7,000 students and provide classical music experiences to 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in all Asheville City and Buncombe County public, private, charter and home schools through a virtual curriculum.

This fundraiser allows you to put your checkbooks aside and look instead for a beautiful item that you can donate to the symphony.

Brunk Auctions, the Asheville-based world-class auctioneers of jewelry, antiques, fine and decorative arts are pleased to work with the Symphony Guild to accept donations of items to sell in their November 2020 auction. The proceeds of these items will directly benefit the Music in the Schools programs and the musicians involved.

We will be contacting Guild members directly, but if you have something you would consider donating to this auction and would like to talk to us personally, please email or call:

• Robin Harben: robharben@yahoo.com or 770-718-7536
• Betty Fox: foxbtty@aol.com or 703-254-3025
• Sylvia Cassel: sylvia.cassel@gmail.com or 828-275-7351

Note: This new fundraising effort is in addition to an “Estate Sale” to be announced for Spring 2021 in conjunction with the Bridge Foundation (formerly CarePartners).

As a part of our membership renewal in this difficult year, we are including the option to participate in our Matching Donation Campaign. Every dollar received will directly benefit the Asheville Youth Symphony Orchestra. As families assess their needs and expenses, the tuition fees for participation in the Youth Orchestra may become less of a priority. This fund will provide our young musicians with additional scholarship opportunities and help sustain the future of the AYSO.

The Guild will match your total donations up to $4,000, though we welcome and encourage final totals to climb even higher to support these wonderful young musicians. All donations received will go directly to the AYSO.

We know this is a time of great uncertainty and hardship, and we so appreciate your $60 membership renewals. We also respect your decision on the option to send in any additional amount for the Matching Donation Campaign.

ASYO Senior Violinist Laney Barnett performs Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor, III. Sarabande. Your donations will help the next generation of classical musicians.

THANK YOU to all our Guild members for your support. We hope to see you soon!

As May begins, we are still at home, apart but together, working to keep everyone healthy and safe. The Guild sends its warmest regards to you and your families. I, for one, am smiling behind my mask!

The Guild and the Symphony are hard at work to keep the wheels turning as well as possible. The Guild held our first Zoom Board meeting in early April and will meet again in May. Several committees have continued to meet via Zoom. Hooray, communication technology!

Next week, we will begin our Membership renewal campaign. We want to show the utmost respect for everyone who is looking at financial losses. At the same time, we do know that the best way to support the symphony and the Guild is by continuing to contribute and be a part of the recovery. There is a way out of this!

Reluctantly, the Musical Feast committee has cancelled the last Feast for the year. We are so appreciative that, from Feast to Feast, approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of ticket purchases have been donated back to the Guild. Many thanks to all! The committee continues to plan next season’s Feasts, despite the continuing uncertainty of the times.

The Nominating Committee is also meeting to recommend people for next year’s officer positions. We are able to hold a virtual election, so please stay tuned for further information.

Meanwhile, the Asheville Symphony has created a very moving video and audio montage of our Asheville, featuring musicians you’re sure to recognize. Please enjoy!

New, virtual “events” are in the planning stages — and we will pass information along as they become available.

Until next time, take care and stay safe!

Dear Symphony Guild Members,

With your health and safety as our top priority, the Symphony and the Symphony Guild are working to do our part to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. To that end, the following events are cancelled:

• The Guild program scheduled for March 19
• The Symphony rehearsal opportunity scheduled for March 19
• Symphony Talk at the Reuter Center scheduled for March 20
• The Symphony concert scheduled for March 21
• “A Night at Woodstock” scheduled for April 4

In addition, the seven Musical Feasts scheduled for late March to early May have been cancelled. People who have purchased tickets to these Feasts will be notified directly. We will continue to monitor the situation and make a decision regarding the remaining Feast scheduled for June 6.

We will continue to keep you informed on events as the Symphony season progresses.

Do stay well as we all keep washing our hands, not touching our faces, and keeping away from large crowds!

Save the date for a Flower Power Evening of Music & Fashion, the 7th annual Symphonettes Spring Fashion Show, held at Celine & Co. on Broadway, Friday, March 13 at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $40 per person to benefit Asheville Symphony Orchestra. To pay with your credit card, go to AVLSymphonettes.eventbrite.com. If you prefer to pay by check, make your check payable to Asheville Symphonettes and mail to Jenny Pritchard, 19 Park Road, Asheville, NC 28803.

Any questions? Call Jenny at 828-606-2866 or email scottandjenny@bellsouth.net.

---

March Guild Program

Join certified music practitioner Robin Gaiser for a refreshing and rejuvenating session of musical discovery, at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 19.

Listen, relax and learn how to use music for self-care, as well as for the care of others. Robin will employ her vocal and instrumental gifts, along with her knowledge about how music affects the human body and soul, in this interactive presentation at the Asheville Symphony offices, 27 College Place.

For more than 16 years, Robin Gaiser has offered live acoustic bedside music to the critically and chronically ill in hospitals, hospices, rehabs, nursing homes and in private homes.