Western Reserve Chorale
Western Reserve Chorale is grateful for public funding through grants from:
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Would you like to become a corporate sponsor?
Please contact Stacy Newman by email or call 216-282-4022.
Western Reserve Chorale is a registered nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
Your donation is 100% tax-deductible.
​Dear Chorale Members and Supporters:
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These last few years have been powerful for the Western Reserve Chorale. The chorale has faced a number of changes and challenges, met them as opportunities, and found success. We are writing to request your help to meet two pressing needs for the continued success of our chorale.
From the onset of the pandemic to this past year, you have remained engaged in inventive and enduring ways: we explored online rehearsals and created virtual performances; transitioned back to in-person singing; and relocated to new rehearsal and performance space - twice! Throughout it all, you have maintained community with one another. As you can all attest, the chorale has returned - now five years post-pandemic - to a full membership with 100+ voices joining together in wonderful music.
This continued success despite challenges is accomplished through the dedication, leadership, and support of you as chorale members, as well as the support of your friends, colleagues, and our wider northeast Ohio community.
Today, your help is requested for two pressing chorale needs! The chorale is seeking your help to overcome our next challenge while simultaneously meeting an opportunity for positive change. The board is hopeful that you help us find the Keys to Our Sustained Success ― in the form of a campaign for eighty-eight keys (to be exact) and a vision for our future. The WRC Board and Staff have identified two pressing needs: 1) a new piano to provide the artistic support the chorale requires, and 2) a planning consultant to collaboratively develop a sustainable vision for the enduring future of the chorale.
Piano purchase - 88 keys to our chorale’s artistic success
The chorale requests your financial gifts to purchase a piano equal to our artistic requirements. After the chorale’s move from Church of the Gesu to Church of the Savior in the summer of 2023, we discovered our Steinway piano (which, due to Gesu’s rental agreement and our needs, was in storage) was not in playable condition and would require a costly, complete overhaul. In 2024 the board installed a search committee to explore options, and concluded that a new instrument is in the best interest of the longevity of the chorale. The urgency of this need was abated somewhat as we moved once again to First Baptist of Greater Cleveland, however it is important that our group own its own instrument. Also following our recent meeting with the church staff, there is planning for pianos to be moved at the church. To ensure we have a great instrument for our rehearsals it is imperative we have control over an instrument of our own.
Our challenge and opportunity: raise $60,000 to purchase a piano of the size, timbre, and caliber to match
the artistry of the chorale and sustain us for the next 50+ years.
We already have commitments of just over $20,000 toward this campaign!
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Consultant contract - sustainable vision for our chorale’s future
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As we look to the future, we see tremendous opportunities to grow and forge a sustainable future for our chorale. We have the right people with the right talent to make Western Reserve Chorale as successful as we desire. After much discussion with the chorale staff and board, we have hired a consultant, Robin Segbers, to help us collectively review our vision for the future and develop ways better market our ‘brand’ to prospective singers and funding agencies alike.
You are invited to participate in this visioning and creating process - your charitable gifts and presence are both requested. The planning process involves surveys, interviews, and an in-person retreat to strategize, envision, and plan for the future of the chorale. All members of the chorale are invited to participate in this process - we need your presence, input, and brainstorming spirit!
Our challenge and opportunity: to help meet the cost of this consultancy, we need to raise $6,000 in matching funds
to receive an Ohio Arts Council Capacity Building grant.
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Would you consider a donation to the “Keys to Our Sustained Success” campaign? Do you have friends or colleagues who might consider a donation? Do you work for an agency/company which matches donations to not-for-profits? You, too, are a key to our success and every donation is invaluable.
HOW TO DONATE
We have established the following campaign contribution levels for piano and consultant support:
Piano support - 88 keys for our chorale’s artistic success - $40,000 GOAL (to reach $60K total)
Levels for listing in our program book
$500+ Persons of Note — buy one of 88 keys on a piano
$1000+ Harmonics — any two notes creates harmony
$2500+ Pentatonics — the intervals of the five black keys in an octave
$6000+ Chromatics — all 12 notes in a full octave
Consultant support - sustainable vision for our chorale’s future - $6,000 GOAL
$100+ Collaborator
$250+ Mission Supporter
$500+ Visionary
$1,000+ Longevity Advocate
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Please note which campaign you would like your donation to be applied to.
For questions and more details about these campaigns, please contact David Gilson at David.Gilson@westernreservechorale.org
Truly, we thank you for your continued engagement with the chorale. Thank you for considering a thoughtful contribution to the Keys to our Sustained Success campaign. Collectively, we can meet our pressing needs and transform them into opportunities for Western Reserve Chorale’s success for decades to come.
Sincerely,
The Western Reserve Chorale Board of Directors
​​Your check may be mailed to:
Western Reserve Chorale
c/o First Baptist Church
3630 Fairmount Blvd.
Shaker Heights, OH 44118
Donations may be made securely online through PayPal
(PayPal account is not required)
A Chorus of Thanks
From the Members of Western Reserve Chorale
