SymphonyNotes HomeWhat makes a Symphony run? Do all the players just show up, magically at the same time and place? Miraculously, with the same music in hand? How do you, our beloved audience members, know when to show up to Cary Hall to hear this musical magic?!
There are many moving parts when it comes to running a symphony.
Our Personnel Manager and Concertmaster Liz Whitfield makes sure the players show up at the same place at the same time with the same music. Maestro McPhee doesn’t just show up and wave his baton around and hope for the best! There are months of planning and studying and then coming together in rehearsal with the players, who have no doubt spent many hours practicing themselves!
As General Manager, it’s my job to tie everything together and to make sure that you are all aware of what’s happening here at the Symphony. Of course I wouldn’t be able to do that without help from my Communications side-kick Claudia Stumpf or without our dream team – the Board of Directors! And our Board of Directors was just honored by a national organization.
I am so pleased to announce that The Lexington Symphony has been chosen as one of five orchestras to receive the 2011-2012 MetLife Governance Grant for Board Development from the League of American Orchestras! The grant provides financial support to strengthen board governance practice. The orchestras are selected through a competitive applications process that assesses their plan for board development, its long- and short-term impact, and the measurement of results.
After spending a year getting used to having some staff, I knew that our board was ready for this next big step. So we spent some time completing a board self assessment survey that helped guide us through the application process and come up with plan for how to strengthen our organization from the inside out. The MetLife Governance Grant couldn’t have come at a better time in the life of our organization.
In the coming months, our board will divide into two task forces that will focus on development and governance. The task forces will work independently, examining our survey responses and creating suggestions to present to the rest of the board on how best to build governance and development resources and integrate them into our organizational structure. We will then bring our task forces together in a two-part retreat during which we will be able to use the MetLife Governance Grant to engage professional consultants in the areas of board governance and development.
In the short term, board members will know more clearly where they fit within the organization and how to best direct their energy and skills. They will have a better understanding of the Lexington Symphony’s mission and have a process for checking our progress against that mission.
In the long term, an effective governance team will recruit and orient a larger board – more representative both ethnically and economically of our community – and put in place a succession plan both for leadership and membership.
An effective development team will bring increased economic resources sufficient to permit the building of the infrastructure necessary to assure not only the sustainability, but also the continued growth, of the Lexington Symphony.
The fruits of these efforts will be passed on to you, our patrons and supporters, as well as your children and grandchildren. You’ve made Lexington Symphony an integral part of our closely-knit community. And we are committed to making sure that we continue to deliver the highest level of musical performance and to meet the needs of the community at large. Our goal is to keep being here for you.
Thank you all for your continued support. If you’d like to read the full press release, click here. Want to get more involved? Email Vanessa@lexingtonsymphony.org