News & Notes - March 2012
MEMBERSHIP
Survey Says
Click here to complete our membership profile and skills survey. It will only take ten minutes or less of your time, so please participate! We'll collect responses through April 6.
The survey results will give us a better understanding of our membership, help us identify future SVA board members, and focus our efforts on improving all committee volunteer activities. SVA members without email addresses will receive a copy of the survey via mail.
SVA Membership Directory Updates
Please download an updated addendum for your 2011/2012 SVA Membership Directory.
Volunteer Hours Keep Growing
SVA members have contributed 3,691 hours of service in support of the Symphony to date during the 2011-2012 season. Keep up the good work!
SVA BOARD NEWS
We’re on a Mission!
The mission of the St. Louis Symphony is to enrich people’s lives through the power of music. The SVA will support this mission by focusing on three key goals through 2013:
- Increase SVA membership to 500 with 50% participation rate
- Increase SVA fundraising revenue to exceed $250,000
- Increase direct contacts of SVA education projects and tours to 25,500 community members
FUNDRAISING
Reservations, Please
Only two 2011-2012 Parties of Note remain, and you won’t want to miss either one of them. Make your reservation today!
Calling All Volunteers
Give us an hour or so and you’ll have the best time at one of the best parties in St. Louis! Sign up now to volunteer for the Pick a Party! Party on April 22. Volunteer now and choose your shift: 5:45-7:00pm and 6:45-8:00pm. Shift preferences will be assigned in the order received, so contact Anne Carman today.
Friends Mean So Much
Friends of Gypsy Caravan allows members to make a minimum contribution of $10 to show their commitment to the SVA’s largest fundraiser. Can we count on you? Last year over $2,100 was raised to help defray expenses for the second annual Gypsy Caravan Shopper’s Guide. All contributing SVA members will be listed on a special acknowledgement page in the Guide again this year.
Please fill out the Friends of Gypsy Caravan form and mail it along with your contribution to the SVA office before April 1. For more information, please contact Susan Hoffman or Becky Brown.
May is the Month for Gypsy Caravan…and a Great New Party!
A weekend at a fabulous condo in Keystone? Tickets for a prime Muny box? How about a “stay-cation” in St. Louis or a vintage pair of Chanel earrings? These are just some of the auction items Chair Jarmaine Migala and her committee members are busy securing in anticipation of the Gypsy Caravan 40th Anniversary Celebration which takes place on May 4, 2012.
The evening promises to be a memorable one. Each and every SVA member as well as their guests are encouraged to attend. Don't let this once-in-forty-years opportunity pass! Contact Jarmaine Migala for more details or to make an early reservation!
EDUCATION
Year 22 and Still Going Strong
Our longest running educational program, Picture the Music, invites students in grades K-6 to listen to a specific selection of symphonic music and then create their own artistic interpretations. This popular program is always enthusiastically received and this year was no exception. Under the leadership of Chair Margaret Lahrmann and Vice Chair Vi Steinmeyer, the committee recorded spectacular results:
- 107 schools entered vs. 66 in 2011
- 604 pieces of artwork were received vs. 432 in 2011
- 19,226 students listened to the music and created artwork vs. 14,000 in 2011
One of the reasons for the increase in participation is that this program fulfills many components of the Missouri Standards Grade Level Expectations In Music and Visual Arts, as well as the Illinois Learning Standards for Fine Arts. Previous Picture the Music chair persons worked very hard to get the program to fit within these standards.
The mailing for the postcard introducing the program went to public, private, parochial and home schools within 150 miles of St. Louis. The results produced entries from Teutopolis, Benton, and Mattoon, IL schools as well as Mokane and Beaufort, MO schools. Many of the entries arrived from several schools in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area.
Judging was completed on February 7 by professionals in the arts field. One hundred winners were selected and honored at the Awards Ceremony on Thursday, March 1 at 7:00pm at Powell Hall. The artwork will be on display at the Belleville Public Library, Schlafly Public Library, Saint Louis Zoo-Living World, Plaza Frontenac, The Magic House and the St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre—a new exhibition site for 2012. View the Picture the Music website for exhibition dates.
SVA OFFICE
She’s Here to Help
Susan Pribble, SVA member and former Director of Volunteer Activities (May through December 2010), is serving as the Interim Director of Volunteer Activities and will assist the SVA membership during Amee Colvin’s maternity leave through May 1.
Susan is available at the SVA office three days per week (Tues, Thurs, and Fri) from 9:00am to 5:00pm. She may be reached at 314-286-4153 or 314-289-4168 and via email. Please continue to schedule committee meetings two weeks in advance with Susan so she can secure parking and ensure that the office is available.
Susan will serve as liaison with our Symphony colleagues, manage publications, ensure that sponsorship and all vendor contracts are negotiated and executed, and manage the availability of the office and equipment, in addition to many other tasks while Amee is on maternity leave through May 1. The SVA Board will keep you updated about any additional changes during this interim period.
SVA Office Location and Directions
Centene Center for Arts and Education
3547 Olive St., Suite 370
St. Louis, MO 63103
Office Hours: Tues, Thurs, and Fri; 9:00am–5:00pm
SVA committee meetings can be scheduled at the SVA office with Susan Pribble, Interim Director of Volunteer Activities. For thesepre-arranged committee meetings, parking is available in the SLU lot just east of the Centene Center. Please obtain a parking sign from your committee chair prior to the meeting and place it on your car’s dashboard. This will indicate that you are with the SVA and you will not be charged. All of the parking spots have numbers, but none of the spaces are reserved.
A member of your SVA committee should be available in the Centene Center lobby to let you into the building. If you arrive late and no one is there, use the call box at the street entrance. Scroll down to “Symphony Volunteer Association,” hit the call button, and Susan will respond. You may also call the office directly at 314-289-4168 for building entrance.
