July 17-20, 2013
APRIL 2012
OCTOBER 2007 OFFICERS Terry Conrad President Beth Mast Past President Tom Trigg Vice President Janet Palmer Secretary Peter Heyler Treasurer David Heidel Artistic Director
STAFF Melissa Blunt Executive Director
DIRECTORS Ernest Dewey Adele Gibbs Renie Gibson Bob Hermes Saxon Holbrook Lee Kirkegaard Doug Klein Nancy Labbe Doug Lawrence Dean Peterson Alex Subrayan Katie Van Dorn Angela Wilkes
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
My wife and I were among the thousands of Missoulians
who were enthralled with the many international visitors making music in July of 1987--the first International Choral Festival. Thanks to Don Carey and the dedicated members of the Missoula Mendelssohn Club, that first festival was an amazing success. My favorite memory is the quick change of venue for the final concert of massed choirs. At first they thought the Sentinel High School gymnasium would suffice, but the response from the community was so overwhelming that only the Adams Field House on campus could handle the crowds. Six to seven thousand people showed up, in the heat, and a new cultural event for Missoula was born. Over the years Germaine and I went from enthusiastic attendees to hosting singers in our home. Then, in 2007, I had the pleasure of joining the board of the Missoula International Choral Festival. And now, in 2012, I find myself president of the board and in the midst of bringing to life our ninth Festival scheduled July 17–20, 2013. Among the things I have learned is that it does take the whole community, and 3-4 years between festivals, to accomplish what is an awesome task: bringing 15-20 of the world’s best choirs to our fair city for the purpose of sharing music and cultural experiences. The board of directors and our single o.5 employee are a wonderful collection of talented, dedicated and hard-working individuals volunteering their time and money to make this happen. With the current global economy, we are especially challenged to raise enough money to make this work. The bulk of the $260,000 that it will take to produce our 9th Festival must come from the community. Each donation we receive, no matter the size, contributes directly to the success of the Festival. In the coming months we will also be searching for host families who want to welcome international guests into their homes for a few days in July 2013. The “hosting” experience alone is worth the effort. With a little over a year to go, we already are feeling the excitement of our town filled with choral music from around the world. We’d like you to join us! ♪ Terry Conrad, President ICF
The International Choral Festival of Missoula is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting artistic excellence, global understanding, friendship and goodwill through choral music.
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S report
I am one of those lucky people
Melissa Blunt Executive Director
who love what they do! I have always cherished this Festival, and am proud to be part of the team effort to bring the 9th Festival to Missoula. I remember at that first Festival in 1987 when the Italian men’s choir sang the Montana state song at the finale concert in the Adams Field House to the cheers of the packed audience. I was hooked!
Fast forward to today and I find myself immersed in the myriad details of planning what is shaping up to be another superlative installment of Missoula’s Festival. What I enjoy most is the frequent affirmation from choirs from across the globe that Missoula’s Festival really is held in the highest regard--we are renown for our artistic excellence, and our hospitality, and considered by many to be the flagship of festivals worldwide. Choirs WANT TO come here, for the sheer love of sharing their music in a non-competitive setting. To date, 23 outstanding choirs representing every continent except Antarctica have accepted our invitation to participate in July 2013, including a few from countries never before represented here, such as Israel, Costa Rica, and the Philippines. For a full listing, please visit our new website. Missoula’s Festival represents one of the greatest acts of humanity that I have ever witnessed, not only for the shared music and cultural exchange, but for the extraordinary generosity of this community, and the dedication of hundreds of volunteers and host families who help us produce each Festival—it truly is humbling. I hope you find yourselves hooked too. Thanks for all you do to make the Festival one of Missoula’s most beloved and enduring traditions. ♪
The International Choral Festival has a
NEW website! Sign up for our E-newsletter; check out the current list of participating choirs, or fill out our online housing and volunteer applications, at
W W W.CHOR A LFE STI VA L .ORG
Artistic director’s REPORT
Take a moment to do an
internet search for “International Choral Festival”. You will find dozens, if not hundreds, of festivals located all over the world. What is truly amazing, however, is the very FIRST website that shows up on most search engines is Missoula’s own International Choral Festival. David Heidel What makes our Festival different Artistic Director than the hundreds of others? Go to their websites and see what they offer; look at their concerts, activities, fees, their community and volunteer support, and their quality of participating choirs. Then go to our new website and see what we offer. There really is a difference. So how do we do it? How do we get all of these great choirs to come to Montana and sing? Since the fall of 2010, I have attended wonderful choral festivals in Ireland and Italy to listen to some of the world’s finest choirs in competition. I met with their festivals’ leadership and, armed with brochures, recordings, business cards, pens and other small gifts, I shared the joys and uniqueness of our Festival. Those that I considered the best choirs were invited and encouraged to come to Missoula at that time, followed up by an official written invitation. Every 3 years, the International Federation for Choral Music presents its World Symposium on Choral Music (WSCM), which took place last August in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. This was a gathering of truly elite choirs from around the world, as well as conductors, clinicians, and choral patrons. Our Festival was there as an exhibitor, and my wife, Michele, and I set up our new display featuring banners, audio and video presentation, pens, note pads, brochures, huckleberry chocolates and a good translator program on my iPad. Throughout the week we shared with people from around the world what an incredible Festival we have in Montana. The responses were overwhelming. We met with people who had attended our Festival before who gave us their first-hand accounts of how great of an experience they had. We even helped one choir fill out their application to our festival while they visited our exhibit. We also find choirs through their applications on our website; members of our Artistic Committee recommend choirs they consider worthy of performing at our Festival, and Missoula community members who have connections with choirs around the world encourage them to apply. www.choralfestival.org
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IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN!
The International Choral
As you might guess, this is not a one person task – just as the rest of presenting this world-class Festival to our community requires hundreds of volunteers. Our website appears first not just because of our domain name, but because we all work at making Missoula’s International Choral Festival first - first in quality, first in promotion and recruiting, first in uniqueness, and first in community pride. ♪
Festival (ICF) is looking for families to host international guests during the 2013 Festival. ICF would not exist without the generous support of the many Missoula families who open their homes and hearts to the visiting choirs. Hosting requires time and energy, but it is totally worth the effort! Hosting allows for a uniquely personal Festival experience, and many lifelong friendships are formed between host and guest(s) during the Festival. Janet Palmer Housing Chair
All choirs must pay their own way to Missoula; however, international guests are taken care of by local host families during their stay. It is one of the things that make the International Choral Festival so unique! Hosts provide comfortable, private sleeping arrangements, most meals, and transportation to the many activities during Festival week. Most choirs will arrive Tuesday, July 16th and stay through the farewell picnic on Sunday, July 21st. Most host families house two guests from the same country. Michele & David Heidel, with Dr. Dohn Kim of the Gyeongju City Chorale (South Korea) at our exhibit at the WSCM in Argentina
If you are interested, please see our website for more information about hosting, and then complete our online application.
what CHOIRS say about missoula’s festival...
And, I will be happy to answer any questions regarding housing. You can reach me via e-mail at host@choralfestival.org or by phone (home 406-251-9336; cell 406-274-0500).
“The Festival embodies our belief that music is an incredibly unifying force that brings people together and enables everyone to speak the same language of music.” – Leslie Britton Rocky Mountain Children’s Choir, Colorado
I look forward to meeting up with past hosts and making some new friends during the 2013 Festival! ♪
‘It always starts with a dream, every great idea. This one was a beaut’—a vision of a charming town in the remote American Rockies, hosting a festival of singers from all over the world. – Bill McGlaughlin Conductor, Host of Saint Paul Sunday “I travel around the world with my choir and this is the best festival we have attended.” – Park Shin-Hwa Ansan City Choir, South Korea
Host family children make instant friends with guest youth choir members from the Czech Republic in 2009
APRIL 2012
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Fundraising UNDERWAY FOR THE 2013 FESTIVAL
I wish I could linger longer on the success of the last Festival in 2009, not only for the magical
musical moments and friendships formed, but for the financial support we received--Missoulians were as generous as ever, and we were fortunate to conduct most of our fund-raising before the economy went south. But there is no time to look back--it won’t be too long before choirs arrive in Missoula for the convening of the 9th Festival in July 2013. Our budget this time is $260,000 of which 70% must be raised from the local community, so we have our work cut out for us. It might seem like we are asking for support awfully early–the Festival isn’t for another year and a half! But it takes an enormous effort to raise the significant amount of money needed to produce each Festival—in fact, our Events Committee has been busy for well over a year now planning events and raising money. This past October, chef Ray Risho conducted an entertaining cooking demonstration on Sicilian Cuisine, while raffle ticket winners dined on each course as the next was prepared in front of them. It was an elegant (and educational) night to remember--thanks to Ray and Susie Risho and Bruce and Nancy Bugbee. We also sold rodeo programs at the Western Montana Fair; sold burgers at a Grizzly Football concession, and hosted a Holiday Bookfair at Barnes and Noble. A thousand thanks to everyone who supported these fund-raisers!
Ray Risho Sicilian Cooking Class and Dinner (above) ICF’s Hamburger Stand at the Grizzly Football games last fall (left)
Our expenses include choir recruitment, concert venue and equipment rental, audio and technical support, food and local transportation for visiting choirs, Festival publicity, and legal assistance for choir visa issues. If you have already contributed to the Festival, we thank you for your support! However, if you have not and wish to support this extraordinary Missoula tradition, please call in your support on Saturday, April 21st during our “Raise Your Voice” Telethon (see next page) or consider making a two-year pledge or one time donation of any amount by filling out the pledge form (also on the next page) and mailing it to us in the enclosed remit envelope. Thank you! ♪ Doug Lawrence, Fundraisng Chair
Save the Date!
Sunday, July 29, 2012 @ 5:05p.m. Meet us at Ogren Park Allegiance Field Missoula Osprey vs. Great Falls Advance tickets purchased from Festival volunteers and 50-50 raffle ticket sales at the game benefit Missoula’s International Choral Festival.
APRIL 2012
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“ RAI$E YOUR VOICE ” TELETHON SATURDAY, APRIL 21 FROM 6:00~7:00PM
Tune into KPAX TV for an entertaining Telethon in support of the 2013 Festival! Generously hosted by KPAX TV of Missoula, this one-hour live broadcast will take place from 6:00~7:00pm in the JC Penney Court at Southgate Mall, and will be emceed by Jill Valley, Mark Holyoak, and Erin Yost. Watch entertaining interviews with featured guests and Festival organizers and hear beautiful music! Enjoy performances from 5:30pm ~ 7:15pm by:
Dolce Canto ♪ Missoula Young Men’s Chorus Missoula Mendelssohn Club ♪ Sweet Adelines The Missoula Coyote Choir Missoula High School’s Mixed Chorus (with members of Big Sky’s “Sky Blues”; Sentinel’s “Spartanaires”, and Hellgate’s “Chevaliers”)
Please Help Us Reach our Telethon Goal of $40,000!
~ Watch the Telethon on KPAX channel 8 from home and phone in your pledge, or...
~ Watch the Telethon live at the Mall and donate on site, or... ~ Watch the webcast on www.KPAX.com and donate online (webcast will run for 2 weeks)
~ Or, please consider making a one-time donation or pledge to contribute in 2012 & 2013 by filling out the form below and mailing it in the attached remit envelope.
The International Choral Festival is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and your donation is tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.
Yes!
I/we want to support The International Choral Festival of Missoula
I/we will pledge $___________ per year for _____ years. I/we will pay this pledge as follows: I/we will make our payments _______ annually; _______ quarterly; _______ monthly I/we have enclosed a check for $_____________ as my/our first installment. I/we will send our first contribution in (month)_________________________ Please send reminders: _____ via e-mail _____ via regular mail
of (year)______________.
I/we cannot pledge at this time. Instead, I/we have enclosed a gift of $_________. Signature ____________________________ Printed Name _________________________ Date __________
NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
MISSOULA, MT 59801 PERMIT NO. 569
P.O. Box 8203 Missoula, MT 59807 USA
Missoula’s international choral festival was the proud recipient of the 2011
CULTURAL VISION Award “in recognition of its excellence and Leadership in cultural programming For the missoula community” Thank you Missoula Cultural Council!
“Bringing the World a little Closer, Through Music”