April is here, but
there is no fooling around at the BCF offices!
We've been very busy
and are happy to report that Ruth VanTassel is back at
work and recovering well.
She sends her sincere
thanks to everyone who sent cards, notes and well-wishes!
We
Made It! We
Met the BCF Challenge!
Such
were the words to start the recent slate of thank you notes
from George Shaw and Trudy Weaver Miller sent to all of you
who so generously contributed over the past five years to the
BCF "Voice Your Support" capital
campaign. John Stookey, BCF's founder and long-time president,
made the challenge to us all in 2001 when he promised a $500,000
gift to BCF if we raised $1 million in new endowment funds by
the end of 2005. We can now confirm that more than 450
of you contributed approximately $1,009,000 in qualifying gifts
by December 31, 2005. And, there are still a few outstanding
pledges to be collected, so our final total will be even more.
The campaign was kicked off in
BCF's 20th Anniversary year and now that our 25th season is almost
here, we are thrilled to be enjoying the fruits of your generosity
which include a new, very efficient headquarters office building,
a firm financial foundation, and also, the apprentice and scholarship
programs that we are able to support and that so enrich the choral
and educational experience that BCF offers.
On behalf of the entire
BCF family, we extend our sincere thanks to each of you for
your help in achieving the goal of the BCF Challenge.
Trudy and Frank have
completed the selection of Apprentices and Berkshire Scholars for
the summer.
T
hanks to your generous
support of both programs, we will have 8 Apprentices in Sheffield
and 1 in Canterbury, and about 25 - 30 Berkshire Scholars.
This fantastic opportunity
means a great deal to these young musicians, and enriches the BCF
experience for all of us.
Speaking of Apprentices,
many of you will remember Kyle Siddons, apprentice
in 2004, scholarship recipient in 2005 and
author of the glowing
review of his BCF experience that appeared on the 2006 Annual
Fund envelope.
Kyle will be returning
as an apprentice for the 2006 season, and has recently been accepted
as an associate conductor in
a prestigious conducting master class weekend in Philadelphia
in May, presented by Chorus America.
When you see him this
summer, be sure to congratulate him!
Trudy, Frank, and Carlotta
Wilsen(see photo below) attended
the Carnegie Hall concert last weekend by the Saint Louis Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus. Amy Kaiser is
the music director of the Chorus and it was an exciting time
for her, a native New Yorker, to return triumphantly with her
wonderful chorus. This from the New York Times: "In
the Brahms, words served music. Amy Kaiser's fine preparation
of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus began with enunciation: German
consonants and vowels that emerge just before the musical tone
itself. The impression was of language less immediately powerful
for its meaning than for an ability to color and punctuate
the musical phrase."
For those of you anxiously awaiting
your study materials so you can get those notes learned,
you will be receiving your packages from us within the next couple
of weeks. Watch your mail!
