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Friends of the Rockbridge Choral Society 
  Vol. 48                                     ONLINE  ONLINE  ONLINE                                  June 2019
    
Providing financial support   since 1999 for
The Rockbridge Choral Society and The Rockbridge Youth Chorale   

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    June       
Birthdays  
in Music 

Tomaso Albinoni    6/8/1671

Edvard Grieg     6/15/1843

Lena Horne   6/30/1917
Hacking the Hackers
    We love this story!  The 1990's hit band, Radiohead, has officially released 18 hours of demos and outtakes recorded between 1995 and 1998 during the band's  OK Computer
 album sessions, after the tapes were reportedly stolen and leaked online. In a statement on the group's website, guitarist Jonny Greenwood says "We got hacked last week - someone stole Thom [Yorke's] minidisk archive from around the time of  OK Computer
 and reportedly demanded $150,000 on threat of releasing it.  So instead of complaining - much - or ignoring it, we're releasing all 18 hours on [music sharing site] Bandcamp in aid of London-based Extinction Rebellion."  Greenwood says the recordings will only be available for the next 18 days. "Never intended for public consumption... it's only tangentially interesting.  And very, very long."   You go Radiohead!

A Change is Coming
       The Friends of the Rockbridge Choral Society is changing its name!  Beginning in the fall of 2019, the fundraising entity for the Rockbridge Choral Society, the Rockbridge Chamber Singers and the Rockbridge Youth Chorale since 1990 will become The Rockbridge Choral Society.  The Rockbridge Choral Society as the adult chorus will get a new name as well - the Rockbridge Chorus. 
       In function, not much will change.  The choruses will continue making music as usual with our current artistic directors, William McCorkle, Lacey Lynch and Lori Parker.  Under its new moniker, The Rockbridge Choral Society (RCS) is a 503-c3 non-profit umbrella organization responsible for both financing and managing the three choruses. The Rockbridge Choral Society is managed by a board of directors some of whom come from the Rockbridge Chorus.  It is this board which will insure continuity through the transition.  As board members cycle off, new members will come on to the board.  If you are interested in board membership, here are the main responsibilities of the RCS and its board:
  • Future and long term development of the choruses
  • Stewardship of endowments
  • Budget planning and monitoring
  • Fundraising and marketing
  • Developing committees as needed to help with operations of the choruses
  • Hiring and paying artistic directors and executive director
  • Hiring and paying professional instrumentalists and soloists

And Now for
Something New
    Right now, a subcommittee of the board is working on a project we have wanted to undertake for years.  By fall when rehearsals begin, we will have our first Chorus Handbook and Welcome Packet.  We are excited to be able to put all the information singers will need to know about singing with the Rockbridge Chorus in one place, so stay tuned for that.
    In addition, the board is exploring and developing a plan for a steering committee to be made up of members from the Rockbridge Chorus.  We envision that this first ever committee will be composed of our current volunteers who are responsible for such things as ticket management, poster distribution, music cataloging, chorus communications, venue management, party and other social planning, section management, etc.  It's a work in progress, so if you have an interest in helping out with any of these volunteer activities, please be in touch with a section leader or any chorus/board member.  You may also contact the RCS board through our executive director, Melanie Griffis-Hooper by emailing to info@rcs.org.    
       We will be updating our website with the new name as well.  We are indeed fortunate that some years ago one of our sopranos, Virginia Lloyd-Davies, and her husband Dennis DeVito gave to the Rockbridge Choral Society the domain name, rcs.org.  We have taken care that this domain name will not change with the restructuring. Exciting times!  Watch this space for more info as we get closer to September.
Friends of the Rockbridge Choral Society
communication@rcs.org
Rockbridge Choral Society
P.O. Box 965
Lexington, VA 24450