SSO HONORS VOLUNTEERS WITH SPECIAL OPEN REHEARSAL OF FANTASIA FRIDAY, JUNE 26, AT 1PM

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1 Newsletter of the Seattle Symphony Volunteers - SUMMER 2015 W elcome to the Summer 2015 issue of Overture! Hard to believe that summer is here, and the concert season is almost over! Summers in the great Pacific Northwest are beautiful, but short, so make sure to get out and enjoy this wonderful time of year. Thanks to everyone for the great things accomplished during the season. The support we provide the Symphony--Docents, Artist Aides, Education, Ushers, Symphonica staff, Friday Matinee Bus Greeters, library and office assistants--has been essential for the Symphony's success. The support from the Volunteer Office, Member Events, and Newsletter was critical for the smooth operation of the Volunteer organization. The board has voted to donate approximately $8000 from our dues for refurbishing the symphony s grand piano. where new volunteers can apply and current members can choose from available comp tickets as well as other important information: seattlesymphony.org/volunteer The Season should be a great one! We ll begin our membership renewal campaign shortly to help ensure we hit the ground running. We'll kick off the new season with a Wine and Wisdom program that promises to be extra special. Keep a look out for an announcement in early fall. There are a number of benefit process improvements in the works that will be rolled out shortly. We'll continue to share the progress of the Symphony's Strategic Plan as it unfolds to help ensure we stay connected with the Symphony's direction and plans. Make sure to renew your volunteer membership in September to be part of the great things ahead! We've added over 70 new volunteers to the family and still counting. We're a little below our target of 100% coverage for ushers, but, at almost 90% coverage, we're ahead of last year's pace. There is also a new and improved section on the Symphony website On behalf of the entire SSV Board, please accept our sincerest thanks for all that you do and the way that you do it! Richard Mori, President SSO HONORS VOLUNTEERS WITH SPECIAL OPEN REHEARSAL OF FANTASIA FRIDAY, JUNE 26, AT 1PM RSVP to Volunteer@seattlesymphony.org

2 2 Exactly what is the endowment fund Where does it come from, what does it do? In June 1981 the Seattle Symphony Women s Association voted to use its Life Membership dues to establish its Endowment Fund with an initial investment of $5000. Its principal, increased by Life Member dues, memorials, gifts and excess money approved by the SSWA Board, is never to be spent. The interest earned by the endowment is to be used for capital gifts for the orchestra or for projects approved by the Symphony Board. By June 1993 the principal had grown to $50,000 and was merged into the Seattle Symphony Foundation to meet a challenge grant and also earn greater interest. Over the years the Endowment has purchased many items for the musicians not covered by the Symphony budget, such as chimes, calfskin tympani heads, the clear sound shields, tam tams, score boxes for the library, conductor podiums, custom stools, repairs, as well as the photos and frames in the Grand Lobby. Most recently the fund has donated over $19,000 for new lights for the music stands. And the endowment now totals over $ Marilyn Morgan, Endowment committee representative An Historical Note from Isa Nelson: Over the years the volunteer association we now know has evolved in different forms and titles reflecting changing social contexts over the more than 100 years of support for the Seattle Symphony: Seattle Symphony Orchestra was founded Women played an important part as volunteers but no formal group Women's Committee of the Seattle Symphony officially formed as a volunteer group After World War II re-activated as Seattle Symphony Women's Committee Seattle Symphony Junior Women's Association founded this year Name changed to Seattle Symphony Women's Association Name changed from Junior Women to Seattle Symphony League. In The Women's Association and the Symphony League merged as Seattle Symphony Associates and in 2004 renamed as Seattle Symphony Volunteers. The Nominating Committee proposes that the current officers be re-elected for : Richard Mori, President Carmen Spofford, President-Elect Treasurer - Stephen Guild Secretary - Bonnie Petersen Past President - Carole Rush

3 3 U S H E R I N G U P D A T E There are currently 129 SSV members who are trained and serve as volunteer ushers. Of that number almost all are actively volunteering to usher this season. To serve concerts SSO have requested 1140 volunteer ushers thru May and were supplied with 995 volunteers or over 87% of requested volunteer ushers. These requests are about 15% below the ushers requested in We have several volunteer ushers who sign up for 4 to 8 concerts per month. The Discover Music and Christmas holiday concerts remain the most challenging to fill. To serve as a volunteer usher an individual must be a paid up member of the Seattle Symphony Volunteers and attend an orientation session lasting approximately two and one half hours. An orientation session is scheduled to be given by Keith Godfrey BH House Manager on June 13. So far this season we have added 56 new ushers to the volunteer usher rank. REQUESTED SERVED SEP % OCT % NOV % DEC % JAN For % FEB % MAR % APR % MAY % season thru 5/ % Despite the understandable dip in December, the fulfillment rate for this season is higher than last season by abut 7%. Thanks to all the volunteer ushers for the fine performance - let s keep it up next year. For prospective ushers, an orientation session will be scheduled before the season. Bill Messecar, Volunteer Usher Coordinator BUSY YEAR FOR ARTIST AIDES update from Carole Rush During the past season SSV Artist Aides drove nearly 400 miles (which includes 157 airport drives) for a total of 7768 miles for an equivalent contribution of $11,966 (including estimated parking fees of $308). Aides are no longer providing drives to all the rehearsals and concerts since most guest artists stay at hotels within comfortable walking distance and most prefer to walk. However, when the weather is inclement or when a guest prefers to have a ride to rehearsals and concerts, Aide provide rides. Drives are still added for off-site rehearsals or special meetings, and there have also been drives for Benaroya Hall events. One aide has driven 26 times, 2 have driven 17 times each, and 4 more have driven between times each. Many thanks to all aides for their assistance to performers and their contributions to the Symphony

4 4 WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBERS! Thanks for joining us - we now number 256 Jim Beka Denise Eggers Micki Hazen Grace Lee Yusi Liu John Melvin Mark Peterson Jane Pryjmak Jim Quitslund Ann Root Becky Rosenberg Doug Scott Jessica Southworth Jessica Westlund And there are 15 members who have volunteered over 100 hours during the past season--- Mary Czerniski Teresa Holappa Judy Otsuji Linda Stevens Raemarie Duclos Doug King Bonnie Peterson Lia Grace Wallis Diane Gray Sarah Light Frank Powers Antje Winkler Stephen Guild Bill Messecar Carmen Spofford DOCENT TOURS - take your summer guests.. Regularly scheduled tours for the summer will be held at 1:00 pm on Tuesday June 16, Tuesday July 21, and Monday August 17th. Joseph Adam, Seattle Symphony Resident Organist, offers free 30-minute recital/ demonstrations of the Watjen Concert Organ at 12:30 on Monday, August 3rd. Please call to schedule a building tour following this presentation. Group tours of 10 or more must be arranged at least one month in advance by calling Group tours are scheduled to coincide with the public tours listed above. Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

5 5 SSV EDUCATION ACTIVITIES We successfully completed another year of Link Up where over 10,000 students and many families enjoyed a great symphony experience that also included the UW Chorale and Chief Sealth drumline. Appreciation for our excellent volunteer work was expressed by Stephanie Rodousakis who is the Children's Program Manager, other Education staff members, some of the ushers and symphony staff. Special appreciation to Martin for arranging for parking for us and to board members for volunteering. We complete this year's season with a Family Concert on June 6 and several Tiny Tots concerts on June 12 and 13. At this time we have volunteers to fill their needs. The Education Department is still working on July activities. When plans are clear, requests will be sent out for the volunteers Thanks to all the enthusiastic volunteers who turned out in such numbers to support these very worthwhile and extremely well attended outreach activities. It is a valuable contribution to the community to provide these musical experiences to the next generation. Shirley Jenkins, Education Coordinator Volunteers reporting for Link-Up duties in May

6 6 DATES TO REMEMBER June 26 1pm - Volunteer appreciation event: SSV BOARD Richard Mori, President Carmen Spofford, President-Elect Treasurer - Stephen Guild Secretary - Bonnie Petersen Past President - Carole Rush Gaile Gray, Docents Marilyn Morgan, Endowment Opening Night Concert & Gala Sat., Sept. 19 7pm seattlesymphony.org/gala Shirley Jenkins, Education Sarah Light, Member Events Bill Messecar, Ushers Martin Johansson, SSO Megan Hall, SSO Cynthia Hamp, Endowment Isa Nelson, Endowment Dolores Palomo, Newsletter Frank Powers, Office Olga Sakharova, Matinees Antje Winkler, Membership Wonderful collage from Marvista Elementary, one of about 115 schools (bringing over 9,000 students!) who joined us for Link Up last month. The photo doesn t do it justice!