AMSOV January 2025 eNews

Mission:

To ensure the continued existence of

major symphony orchestras in North America through volunteerism.

eNEWS January 2025

MESSAGE FROM AMSOV PRESIDENT

Dear AMSOV Members,

Welcome to 2025! Here at AMSOV we hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and that 2025 finds you well and eager to continue doing what we can as volunteers to assist our symphony orchestras around the country.

I hope you had a chance to attend our webinar last October 14 on "Aligning Orchestra and Volunteer Goals." Our presenter, Dr. Holly Miori, gave us a wealth of information about working with our orchestras, and in particular attracting and retaining volunteers from Generation X, which is her specialty. Our webinar attracted almost 20 attendees and I'm hopeful that they got as much out of it as I did.

We plan to present a couple more webinars in 2025, and then in 2026 our focus will be our AMSOV Conference in Toronto, Canada, coming up May 14-17, 2026. Debra Walker is our Conference chair.

Remember that January 15, 2025 is just a few days away. That is our deadline for receiving nominations for our Standing Ovation Award to be given this quarter. I'm sure that you know of an outstanding volunteer in your community who is deserving of this award. Please nominate that person! All of the information is available on our website.

I hope to "see" you at our next webinar. In the meantime, please take advantage of your AMSOV membership in 2025!

Don Dagenais, AMSOV President 2024-2026

JANUARY 15, 2025 IS OUR NEXT

STANDING OVATION AWARD

NOMINATION DEADLINE

The next deadline for you to submit a nomination for AMSOV's Standing Ovation Award is just 9 days away, as we publish this newsletter. It is January 15, 2025.

The Standing Ovation Award, as you know, is given to an outstanding volunteer for a symphony orchestra in a local community.

Surely you know somebody who deserves this award who has volunteered in your community. Why not honor that person with this opportunity for national recognition?

All of the information is on our website, amsov.org, under Awards and Standing Ovation Awards. The nomination form is downloadable from there.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT

Don Dagenais

Kansas City Symphony

President@amsov.org

VICE PRESIDENT &

CONFERENCE CHAIR

Debra Walker

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Conference@amsov.org

SECRETARY

Gloria Clark

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Secretary@amsov.org

TREASURER

Leslie Nossaman

Houston Symphony

Treasurer@amsov.org

PAST PRESIDENT & BYLAWS DIRECTOR

Marena Gault

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Past_President@

amsov.org

MEMBERSHIP

Maggie Stehman

National Symphony Orchestra

Membership@amsov.org

DATABASE

Nancy Wagner

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Database@amsov.org

WEBINARS

Vikki Sung

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Webinars@amsov.org

COMMUNICATIONS

Venise Stuart

Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Communication

@amsov.org

QUICK LINK

AMSOV WEBSITE

GLORIA CLARK JOINS AMSOV BOARD

AMSOV is proud to welcome Gloria Clark to our Board of Directors. Gloria is the new Secretary of the AMSOV Board.

Gloria has been a key volunteer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliates for a number of years. We are delighted to welcome her to a closer relationship with our AMSOV family. Thank you, Gloria!

CLASSICAL TRIVIA

It's Classical Trivia, a recurring feature of eNEWS and a lighthearted way to test your knowledge of the more arcane aspects of classical music. Answers are at the bottom of the newsletter. Thanks to Debbie Abels for submitting these trivia questions.

1. What is the term for two keys which sound the same but are notated differently; for example, F# Major and Gb Major?

a. Twin keys

b. Relative keys

c. Parallel keys

d. Enharmonic keys

2. Which of Beethoven’s nine symphonies was intended to be dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte?

a. Symphony No. 1

b. Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)

c. Symphony No. 5

d.. Symphony No. 9 (Choral)

3. Which composer is generally regarded as the adopter of the instrument “celesta” in symphonic music?

a. Peter Ilyich Tchaikowsy

b. Claude Debussy

c. Maurice Ravel

d. Johannes Brahms

We would love to know what the volunteers in your community are doing on behalf of their symphony orchestras. Does your organization have news you'd like to share with all of AMSOV? We invite you to submit a short article or photograph with caption to newsletter@amsov.org.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

Question No. 1.

g. Enharmonic keys

Question No. 2.

b. Symphony No. 3, Eroica or Heroic, was to be dedicated to Napoleon. Before the work’s premiere in 1805, Napoleon declared himself Emperor and an angry Beethoven dedicated the work instead to one of his patrons.

Question No. 3.

a. Tchaikowksy is acknowledged to be the first to use the celesta with full orchestra. His most famous use of the instrument is in “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” from The Nutcracker, where we hear the celesta’s tinkly, sparkly sound.

Note: We express our thanks to Debbie Abels for these trivia questions.

SPREADING THE WORD

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY PAGE for year-round updates and highlights of AMSOV member volunteer support groups, our biennial conferences and other news! Click on the Facebook Logo at the bottom of the page.

SHARE THE NEWS

Please send your organization's or orchestra's news to newsletter@amsov.org so information can be shared with our members.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL to your volunteer organization's officers and board members so they can learn about AMSOV and benefit from its programs, services and networking.

Association of Major Symphony Orchestra Volunteers (AMSOV)

https://www.amsov.org