Board of Directors – 2023 – 2024
Dear Friends,
Heroism and the Power of Love! What better way to headline our 2023-2024 music season! Greetings and a very warm welcome to the Carolina Master Chorale’s 41st concert season. 41 years … perhaps you were among our early patrons … oh my, has the CMC developed and grown. We are eternally grateful for the crucial component of ongoing support and love from our community, our sponsors, and our patrons who, together with our singers and the incomparable music direction of Dr. Timothy Koch, the CMC is widely considered the premier symphonic chorus in the region. The CMC emerged from the darkness of COVID into the light of a highly successful 2022-2023 season. Last December brought our highest concert attendance in CMC history! We are powered by your generosity, love, and mutual appreciation of choral music, as we strive to continually cultivate a combination of joyful and meaningful music.
The CMC endeavors to reach and encompass all communities. Last season we were thrilled to establish a new kinship with the Boys and Girls Club of the Grand Strand, with whom several of our singing members continue to volunteer their talents in teaching vocal and piano music. You may have experienced the joy and enthusiasm of the BGC singers, aptly named The Empowerment Movement, during our February concert last year. Representing the CMC Board of Directors, I was fortunate to attend the 2023 Waccamaw Nonprofit Summit. There, I was able to open new relationships for the CMC with other nonprofit leaders in our area, such as Giany Didier Guedjo, Executive Director at Carolina Human Reinvestment, where I have since become a volunteer. As you may know, Dr. Koch is a heartfelt champion for disenfranchised community members, and he has been instrumental in broadening the CMC reach to these populations. The CMC is committed to fostering and nurturing the area we serve. We embrace new ways of creating music and connecting to our community. Through our music, we hope to educate and inform, and to maybe even enlighten.
The CMC Board of Directors pledges to shepherd the CMC through researching funding resources, hosting fundraisers, and assisting our Executive Director with writing grant applications, among many other responsibilities. The BOD is ever thankful for the contributions you make to help sustain our mission. We cannot survive without you! New Board members are always welcome. If you have an interest in becoming a community BOD member or a CMC volunteer, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you.
As we perform and listen to this beautiful music, let us also reflect on its message, the power of love. While we grapple with ongoing and increasing violence against too many, the CMC is an organization that is dedicated to social justice and equality for all. Personally, I am especially moved to be entrusted with this position while we navigate these turbulent times. Music holds the hand of love. It can make you cry, laugh, rejoice, dance, invigorate or reflect. Music has the ability to evoke a full range of emotions, transport us through time, and even make us feel like a bona fide rockstar. Who hasn’t been caught belting out their favorite jam in the car? Music is the soundtrack of our life. In the difficult moments when there are no words, music knows just what to say. So, as you are rolling along singing the likes of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, “What’s New Pussycat”, or “Born in the USA”, remember these words from the late, great American saxophonist and composer, Charlie “Yardbird” Parker, “Don’t be afraid, just play the music!”
Judi Adams, President
CMC Board of Directors
Board of Directors – 2023 – 2024
Judith Adams, President
Katherine Jasmine, Vice-President
Suzanne Sharp, Treasurer
Donna McElveen – Secretary
Betsy Cowan
Cindy Verost
Terri Springs
Penny Reed
Ann Thomas
Ex-Officio Board Members
Dr. Timothy Koch, Music Director
Norma Culler, Board member Emeritus