It has been an honor to have served as your president for the past eighteen months. That our SOG survived as a nonprofit throughout the pandemic is admirable. With grit and determination, we followed successful and proven leadership board governance: strategy, financial stability, and working committees.
Currently, our loyal SOG members have expressed the wish for us to focus on our mission basics. That unique mission is to serve the greater Seattle community with live opera previews and hosting live auditions for young opera performers to compete for financial awards.
To this end, our Board of Directors has been a team committed to preserving our financial reserves, evolving our website, and stabilizing our membership. It was decided to consolidate our preview groups into one happy family, and to suspend our grants to other nonprofits for now. These committed Directors are not in it for income, rather for outcome.
During our Annual Meeting last month, Patricia Pavia (VP Special Events) delighted us as she reviewed three successful live performance events. Jonathan Gerson (VP Education) beamed at the successful Singer Development Auditions with seven accomplished participants. Bill Maschmeier (Finance Committee Chair) took us on the “road trip” of how we achieved financial stability. Stew Law (Nominating Committee Chair) introduced the 2024-25 SOG Slate of Officers that was met with member enthusiasm.
Brava Seattle Opera Guild!
—Marilyn Leck