2015–2016 Annual Report

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photo by Anthony Harden of Alt Media Pros

The [Blue Ridge Orchestra] performances which I saw over the last year rivaled any performances I have seen elsewhere in Asheville and beyond. [...] The works that they accomplished [...] were demanding and executed with vigor and skill. I sincerely hope they will continue the very fine work they have done and look forward to much more in the future.

–Audience Member, Britain to Brazil

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2015–16 was a proving ground for the Blue Ridge Orchestra. With Music Director Milton Crotts on sabbatical, the BRO’s musicians rose to the challenge under the capable direction of Season Conductor Chuck Taft, presenting eight stirring concerts that delighted over a thousand music lovers. Milt’s absence, coinciding with the departure of several key volunteers, prompted the Orchestra to hire its first Orchestra Manager, Melon Wedick, who became an invaluable member of the production team.

Financially, the season was a disappointing contrast to 2014–15, in which the orchestra saw its first profit. March 2015’s “Mozart Family Concert,” presented as part of ASO’s Asheville Amadeus festival, proved three times as profitable as this year’s “Paris to St. Petersburg,” despite the latter’s glowing feedback from concert-goers. We anticipate another bump in revenues with the 2017 Amadeus Festival, but also recognize the importance of strengthening our fundraising programs. This year saw a significant reduction in Friendships and member donations, revealing a need to spend more effort soliciting sustaining donors.

The Blue Ridge Orchestra remains financially sound, with over $20,000 in cash reserves. The Cole fund continues to sustain the orchestra and provide the basis for organizational growth as we move into a phase of building a stronger board and maximizing fundraising potential through grants and sponsorships. Milton Crotts has returned to find a stronger, better organized ensemble than he left, which will enable him to focus on the marvelous music we look forward to making in the season ahead. I hope you will join us.

John E. Moore, President

2015–16 Board of Directors

John Moore, President

Ruth Hall, Vice President

Brenda Phetteplace, Secretary

Erin Klimstra, Treasurer

Michelle Summey

David B. Teague

Leslie Zarnowskiphoto by Anthony Harden of Alt Media Pros

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2015–16 Blue Ridge Orchestra PersonnelVIOLIN I

Arnold Brown, ConcertmasterAsh Doty

Dawn ShepardKaren Rose

Chelsea BaroneClary LambertonDay Ann EmoryBrent Yingling

Kendra RempelLaurie Fisher*

Stephen Trismen*Karen Entzi*

Paul Stroebel*Mariya Potapova*

Lew Gelfond*Inez Redman*Alan Pearce*

Myles McKnight*Rachel Dunn*

VIOLIN IISarah MorganThomas KellySissel Topple

Alex WrayMargaret Stratton

Marian PlautKaren CianciulliJanet Spletzer

Leah HartKaty Carris

Kate RickenbackerElaine Sheridan

VIOLABrenda Phetteplace

Debbie BaumannAnnette Hudson

William PriceRochelle Hudson

Caroline ProkopowiczMarion Bradford

Nick Frost

VIOLONCELLOErin Klimstra

Elizabeth GlatsteinBill Bednash

Cynthia KeeverJudy HandleyJohn MooneyDean AngelesBrynn HayesPeggy Eckel

Nancy Bourne

CONTRABASSDavid Teague

Bill FoutyBJ Sharp

Brett TingleyKim Niedlinger

HARPLelia Lattimore*

FLUTEBradford Malbon

Amber CookSamantha IsaksonLeonard Lopatin*

PICCOLO / FLUTECarolyn Ziegler

OBOEPat Stone

Carlton AlexanderAlex Stewart*

ENGLISH HORNCarlton Alexander

CLARINETGary SpauldingStephen Loew

Jonathan Salter*Daniel Luper*

BASSOONLeslie Zarnowski

Mary ThomasWill Peebles*

HORNHobart WhitmanMary WilliamsonDavid Lehlbach

Barbra Love

TRUMPETCasey Coppenbarger

Richard PlylerDavid Peebles*Stan Schmidt*

Kiah Abendroth*Ashley Bollinger*

CORNETRichard Plyler

TROMBONERienette Davis

Charles JohnsonAndrew Johnson

Clare Nichols*

TUBARyan Bratton

TIMPANIMichelle Summey

David Fox*

PERCUSSIONMax Witt

Adam NietingDavid Bruce*

David Fox*Nick O’Leary*Ben Paulson*

Ben New*

2015–16 SOLOISTSGary Spaulding, clarinet Stephen Loew, clarinet

Jude Gotrich, mezzo-soprano*Franklin Keel, violoncello*

Kathryn Otwell, violin*

* = guest musician

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Season Conductor Chuck Taft Well-known local conductor Chuck Taft led the orchestra through a musically demanding season in Music Director Milt Crotts’s absence. A lifelong resident of the region, Chuck brought with him a sunny disposition, consummate skill as a conductor, and determination to expand the orchestra’s musical horizons. Together they conquered repertoire that seemed daunting to many at the outset.

Chuck came to the BRO with numerous past credits including: Director of Worship at Biltmore United Methodist Church, Music Director and Conductor of the Givens Estates Choir, Adjunct Faculty and Director of Choral Programs at UNC Asheville, Music Director and Conductor of the Reuter Center Singers, and more.

This partnership expanded the reach of the orchestra among local musicians and audience, and featured collaboration with the Reuter Center Singers during the Holiday Fantasies concert.

A Music Director AbroadMilt Crotts’s 2015–16 sabbatical took him to Tokyo, where he instructed student string musicians at the American School in Japan, reunited with musician friends, and played Traditional American music (and more) in local venues.

photo by Anthony Harden of Alt Media Pros

photo courtesy of ASIJ News

“Chuck Taft, conducting this past season, has been a

pleasure to watch”–Audience Member

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SonorousSoloists

Five talented musicians made solo appearances with the orchestra in 2015–16. Pictured clockwise from top left: Kathryn Otwell, violin (Homecoming: Vienna), Franklin Keel, violoncello (Homecoming: Vienna), Jude Gotrich, mezzo-soprano (Holiday Fantasies), Stephen Marc Loew, clarinet (Britain to Brazil), and Gary Spaulding, clarinet (Austria to France).

photo courtesy of ASIJ News

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2015–16 saw the Blue Ridge Orchestra embark on whirlwind tour of the musical world during their “International Studies” season. The voyage took off in September’s chamber concert and never looked back. The BRO Chamber Symphony’s exquisite rendering of Gounod’s Petite Symphonie for Winds presaged a season of repertoire that would showcase the Orchestra’s world-class wind section.

West Asheville’s Rainbow School Auditorium was the site of the full orchestra’s first

stop: a visit to Britain and Brazil with Benjamin Britten’s soaring salute to Henry Purcell, the Villa-Lobos Fantasia performed on clarinet by Steve Loew, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved Capriccio Espagnol.

In December, the BRO joined

forces with the Reuter Center Singers (directed by Chuck Taft) to present a holiday program that featured pops and classical favorites, including carols, Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, and selections from Handel’s Messiah.

The Music of 2015–16: International Studies

“We were blown away by the number of folks involved first and then by the way they worked together to make such beautiful music.”

–Audience Member, Britain to Brazil

“The 1812 piece and others during that performance were just glorious.”

–Audience Member,Britain to Brazil

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The orchestra’s spring offering, Paris to St. Petersburg, featured the BRO wind section to great advantage in Fauré’s Pavane and Bizet’s Symphony in C, but perhaps most impressive was the Orchestra’s performance of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, a work of impressive charm and surpassing difficulty. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture brought the concert to a crashing close, to thunderous applause. This concert was a high water mark in the BRO’s technical proficiency,

impressing orchestra and audience members alike.

The final concert of the season brought the BRO home to Vienna with works by some of that city’s best and least known composers. Vanhal’s Symphony in G minor cleared the aural palette between the moving

phrases of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and the elegant refrains of Brahms’s Double Concerto. Soloists Kathryn Otwell, violin, and Franklin Keel, cello, played the Brahms solo parts with verve and passion, impressing all listeners.

2015–16 was a season of accomplishment for the orchestra, upon which Milton Crotts will build in 2016–17.

“The program last night was spectacular! Thank you!”

–Audience Member, Homecoming: Vienna

“I don’t think you’re supposed to say this about classical music, but that last piece was [...] awesome!”

–Musician’s father, in response to the 1812 Overture

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The Blue Ridge Orchestra’s twofold mission embodies a community ideal. In 2015–16, we served Western North Carolina’s musical community by providing over 90 amateur, student, professional, and retired musicians the opportunity to play with us; we also served the larger

WNC community by bringing high-quality performances of music to a host of venues and neighborhoods around the region. BRO concerts are intimate affairs with plentiful opportunity for friends and neighbors to mix and mingle with the musicians, and the inviting atmosphere we cultivate allows even the youngest audience members to get up close to the action.

WNC’s Neighborhood Orchestra: In 2015–16, we performed at six different locations around Asheville: St. Giles Chapel at the Deerfield Episcopal

Retirement Community in South Asheville; the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville north of downtown; Biltmore United Methodist Church south of Biltmore Village; A-B Tech’s central Asheville Campus; the Folk Art Center; and Rainbow Community School in West Asheville. Although the orchestra’s itinerant lifestyle adds logistical difficulty, it helps reduce barriers to audience attendance.

Rainbow Partnership: The BRO performed four concerts at the Rainbow School and rehearsed in residence for two months,

Music for and by the Community

photos by Anthony Harden of Alt Media Pros

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as part of a mutually beneficial partnership. Season Conductor Chuck Taft visited with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in April, talking with them about musical culture in the early half of the 20th Century.

Seeking out Seniors: The orchestra strengthened its relationship with local retirement communities this year, welcoming multiple groups of seniors and establishing a discounted group rate. In 2016–17, we plan to reach out to more area facilities to see how we can expand seniors’ access to our musical offerings.

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FY16 Operating Budget: $42,050 FY15 Operating Budget: $35,250

Current Assets: $23,277Current Liabilities: $ 162

Net Revenue 2015–16: –$ 7,378Cash Reserves 6/30/16: $ 21,759

Financial Snapshot

photo by Anthony Harden of Alt Media Pros

“I left each performance humming a few bars, richer than I was before.”

–Audience Member

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2015–16 was a season of musical accomplishment for the BRO. The orchestra presented eight concerts in the absence of its Music Director, Milton Crotts. It hired its first part-time Orchestra Manager, as well as a Season Conductor, and formalized many procedural matters. At the end of the year, the ensemble was in a more stable place than at the season’s outset.

However, the season was not a success financially. Ticket sales were down compared to the previous year, particularly in March, where income from 2015’s Mozart Family Concert, advertised through the Asheville Symphony, proved impossible to replicate. Friendships and business sponsorships were down 50% from the previous year, and member donations declined by 25%.

In order for the orchestra to become self-sustaining and secure its long-term role in WNC as an ensemble dedicated to ambitious, high-quality, low-cost and accessible music, we must turn our attention to fundraising. In 2016–17 we intend to strengthen and diversify the board membership, welcoming more non-musician members who have the time and skills to redouble our fundraising efforts; create new and unique membership perks to attract and keep Friends; expand our relationship management capacity by using CRM software; and look beyond tickets and individual donations to apply for grant funding from public and private sources. Through these efforts we hope to secure the BRO’s legacy for years to come.

A Need for Fundraising

Num. Value

Chamber Concert 4 $175Britain to Brazil 4 $300Holiday Fantasies 7 $1,500Paris to St. Petersburg 1 $50Homecoming: Vienna 10 $1,050

Not at a Concert 18 $1,550

Individual Friendships Sold FY16(non-musician)

SustainersIn Memoriam: Chuck Cole and

Nancy Yeager Cole

Benefactors ($1,000)Anonymous

Arnold & Marguerite Brown Ruth Hall & John Moore

Gary SpauldingDavid & Kay Kuroda Teague

Patrons ($500)Anonymous

Mary & Leland BartholomewJanet & Marion Bradford

Karen Cianciulli

Supporters ($250)Peggy & Kurt Eckel

Charlie LaikenRobyn Latessa & Tim Plaut

Craig T. SmithSissel Topple

Backers ($100) Dean & Kree Ann Angeles

William Bednash & Brent NappierNancy Bourne

Charles & Beverly BriedisElizabeth Byerly

Eugene & Lee CaseyDay Ann & Bruce EmoryCynthia & James Gagne

Elizabeth & Andy GlatsteinJune Grange

Annette & Stephen HutchinsIn Honor of Carlton Alexander

Pam IversonCharles Johnson

Renee & Roger LampilaBradford MalbonMildred Massey

Charles & Shirley MitchellJohn & Jean MooneyBrenda Phetteplace &

Tom TroutEd & Eleanor Reim

Dawn Shepard

Fred & Mary SteinmanMary K. Thomas

Gun & Harvey WechslerMary & Bob Williamson

Bobbie Coats WondraschEdward & Harriet Zaidberg

Associates ($50)Carlton Alexander

Deborah & Jose AlvarezDebra BaumannRobert C. Blank

E. Beverly BrodeurMike Dickinson

Marilyn GeiselmanJudy HandleyKaren Herrell

Annette HudsonSamantha Isakson

Cynthia KeeverErin Klimstra

Santina LaCava & Craig BohananDebbie Lee

David Lehlbach

Heather LewisStephen Loew

Barbra LoveManuel & Denise Medeiros

Brian & Sara MooneySarah E. Morgan

Sonja NielsenScott Parmele

Jack & Susan PierceMarian PlautHelen Reilly

Franklin & Jane SandersB.J. Sharp

Margaret StrattonMichelle SummeyCourtland WhiteHobart Whitman

Bill WilliamsMike & Joan Wilson

Leslie ZarnowskiNorman & Dana Zarr

Carolyn Ziegler

The Blue Ridge OrchestraPO Box 256

Asheville, NC 28802www.blueridgeorchestra.org

Thanks to our Friends