I am struck at how differently these emails can be
interpreted. I've read all of them and see a lot of
questions, but I don't see the ugliness that you do
Anne. Sometimes when tough questions are asked, it is
difficult to do it in such a way that no one is
offended. I think they call it "political
correctness," and that's not what these concerns are
about.

Having said that, it is my opinion that when you sign
on to this volunteer organization, you sign on to
whatever it produces. Your livlihood is never at
stake, nor your integrity as a musician. You
contribute at your discretion, and no evil will befall
you if you fail to do so. In my mind I have even less
control with many other charities to which I
contribute; nor do those charities produce the
personal enrichment that is inherent in my HSC giving.

Lois Howell

P.S. I'm looking forward to the St. Paul Oratorio.
I've never performed it, but I have sung at Memorial
Drive Presbyterian. It is a beautiful venue and a
wonderfully appreciative audience.

--- Anne Campbell <anne@accessrehab.org> wrote:

> As I read all of these e-mails I am struck with
> profound sadness for our
> group. A number of truly valid questions have come
> up, but in an ugly,
> confrontational manner, that does nothing to elevate
> us. These kind of
> questions, when asked, need to be addressed at a
> time when respondants
> are available and able to answer fully. Negative
> innuendos and rumours
> will always abound in a group, but still, it saddens
> me that this list
> serve seems to serve negativity. It is not that
> discussion about any
> topic should not occur, and I am not advocating any
> kind of censorship.
> It is just that so often it is used to foster and
> encourage negativity.
>
>
> The questions raised are actually reasonable and
> fair. I am sure the
> Council will take into consideration all of these
> concerns, as well as
> the biggest concern of all - communication. But the
> acidic negativity I
> have read still saddens me.
>
> We are not meeting currently. Is this a correct
> forum and the time to
> challenge issues that require thoughtful effort on
> the part of the
> Council? If you had questions, why did you not ask
> them when we were in
> session? Why not hold them until that time? Why
> attack when perhaps
> the persons best able to answer may not be easily
> available? Why sound
> so ugly as to appear to be "attacking"? I do not
> know why, and actually
> I am not so interested in an answer as I am in
> seeing more sharing of
> culturally interesting comments and sharing of
> information.
>
> The Houston Symphony Chorus is a wonderful group of
> divers people
> contributing to the elevation of humanity through
> musical art. I am
> proud and honored to be a member and to share
> creation of wonderful art
> with you.
>
> I also look forward to singing the St. Paulus
> Oratorio again. It is
> wonderful. I prefer it vastly to Elijah. It will
> be an exciting event
> that I can be proud to be a part of.
>
> Thank you for these wonderful opportunities.
>
> Anne Campbell
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: HSChorus@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:HSChorus@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of P Bumpus
> Sent: July 28, 2007 1:31 PM
> To: cutvelvet_jung; HSChorus@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [HSChorus] Information on the Endowment
> Concert
>
>
>
> This is an excellent explanation. And as I read, I
> was struck again by
> the value of openness and communication in any
> situation, and how
> misunderstandings and high feelings could all be
> avoided through
> stakeholders being permitted to be active observers
> (and maybe permitted
> some input, whether or not it is taken) in the
> process. Perhaps annual
> publication of what the available draw is, of
> expenditures, and of what
> is being considered for use, certainly would serve
> to make
> contributors--and potential contributors--feel some
> ownership in the
> process.
>
> Pat B
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: cutvelvet_jung <mailto:j_jung@earthlink.net>
> To: HSChorus@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:HSChorus@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 11:09 AM
> Subject: [HSChorus] Information on the Endowment
> Concert
>
>
> Members of the HSC Yahoo group:
>
> There have been many comments on this group recently
> about the
> endowment fund and its' use for a concert this
> spring. I'd like to
> address those concerns and hopefully give you a
> little more
> information. While I cannot say much on the process
> used to decide
> on the spring concert of St. Paul as an endowment
> fund project, I
> can comment on why I think it is a good use of those
> funds.
>
> First let me say that I am looking forward to the
> St. Paul concert
> in April. I've never done the work before but from
> people who
> performed it in London several years ago, I hear
> that it is a
> wonderful choral piece. This is an opportunity for
> us to perform a
> piece that might never be performed at Jones Hall.
> We will be
> performing St. Paul at Memorial Drive Presbyterian
> Church with
> Charles conducting and with members of the Houston
> Symphony
> Orchestra. This church was selected because of its
> location, size
> of facility and staging to accommodate such a
> concert, their
> successful ongoing concert series, their invitation
> to the symphony
> and chorus to be on the series, and willingness to
> contribute to the
> costs of producing this concert.
>
> To my knowledge, this is the first time we will have
> the
> opportunity to have Charles conduct both us and the
> orchestra in a
> major concert. This a joint venture between the
> Houston Symphony,
> HSC, and Memorial Drive. I understand that funds
> will come from all
> three organizations. Our portion will be the draw
> from the
> endowment fund for three seasons. (2005-2008) This
> year the symphony
> also had extra "services" available which allows the
> musicians to
> perform two "split" extra concerts. Our concert will
> be one of
> those and include half of the orchestra (about 50
> players).
>
> The symphony and church will be doing advertising
> for the concert.
> We will probably start rehearsing the work this fall
> in the long gap
> we have between September concerts and the Christmas
> concerts in a
> year that is fairly light for the chorus. I firmly
> believe that
> this concert could lead to other opportunities for
> the chorus.
>
> I called David Nussman a few nights ago and talked
> to him about the
> concert to see what he thought. He said that this
> sort of concert
> was at the top of his list of an appropriate use of
> the endowment
> fund. The endowment was set up for "choral
> enrichment" activities.
> This was left very broad so it would not rule things
> out in the
> future. One thing it was not meant to cover is
> tours. A tour group
> is usually a subset of the chorus. The endowment was
> also set up so
> the Symphony management has final say on what
> activities the
> endowment will be used for. We fall into the family
> of the Houston
> Symphony and so our activities need to contribute to
> those artistic
> goals. Symphony management also approves anything we
> do outside
> normal symphony concerts, like tours. Several ideas
> were pitched to
> symphony management this year and this concert was
> the one they
> picked as an appropriate use of funds and as an
> activity that met
>
=== message truncated ===

•  1
  New Members

• Texas music
• Music
• Smirnoff music center dallas texas
• Smirnoff music center in dallas texas
• Texas country music