Finance Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings’ operating revenue for 2012-13 was approximately $750,000, an increase of around $70,000 from the prior year. Much of the organization’s financial growth has been driven by its management services business, where DCWS shares staff with multiple other arts organizations. Net assets at year end totaled $365,000, which includes an operating reserve of approximately $111,000, a $45,000 collaboration fund, and endowed funds of $150,000. In addition, DCWS has an endowed fund at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan that was valued at $234,500 at the close of the fiscal year.
Development & Marketing 7%
Performance & Artistic 24%
Development 39%
Office & Operations 20%
AMO 35%
Investments 3%
For 2012-2013, DCWS incurred a small loss ($5,000) in unrestricted net assets.
Revenue
Artistic Programs 34%
Staff 39%
Expenses
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS
2013-2014 STAFF LISTING
Douglas Cale, Board Chair Sally Baker Betty Blair Mary Brevard Jane & Gerald Conway William Duffy Helen Ectors David Falvay Kevin Good Karen Hahn Thomas Hitchman Mary Jarman Victoria King Matthew Morin Lynn Myers Maury Okun Ralph Safford Edward Sharples Charles Stavoe Cynthia von Oeyen Noel Villajuan Beverly & Barry Williams
Cecilia Benner Art & Betty Blair Fund Betty Blair Kathleen Block Gwen & Dick Bowlby Lucinda & Robert Clement Jane & Jerry Conway Lillian & Walter Dean David Falvay Family of Burton D. Jones Florence LoPatin Lynn Myers Kate & Randy Safford Fred Steiner Ann Throop Beverly & Barry Williams Carroll V. Williams Fund The Family of Joseph Wright
Maury Okun, Executive Director Natalie Bruno, Chief Operating Office & Vice President for Development Margo Strebig, Director of Communications Jill Overacker, Public Relations & Marketing Manager Anne Ruffley, Development Associate Caitlin Taylor, Operations & Marketing Assistant Triet Huynh, Accounting Assistant Brooke Hoplamazian, Administrative Assistant
BUSINESS SPONSORS Butzel Long Center for Financial Planning Charity Motors Fran Twiddy, CFP & Jeff Brayton, MBA of Raymond James Financial Hagopian World of Rugs Luck’s Music Library Macro Connect Max 360 Group Plunkett Cooney Varnum LLP
GOVERNMENT Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs (MCACA) National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Oakland County Office of Arts, Culture & Film
FOUNDATION Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan John S. & James L. Knight Foundation Kresge Foundation Newman’s Own Foundation Target Lula C. Wilson Trust
2013-2014 ADVISORY BOARD Mary Ann Beaupre Daniel Boyce Michael Collins Henry Cooney David DiChiera Marilyn Gunther Justin Klimko William Lanava David Lebenbom Florence LoPatin Frederick Morsches Ann Parsons James Spica Frances Twiddy Gwen Weiner Kay White
Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings
2012-2013 Annual Report EXECUTIVE LETTER Our 2012-13 season saw the most varied performance schedule in Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings’ 31 year history. With the addition of two Structurally Sound concerts to our normal Spotlight and Nightnotes schedule, we were able to present a total of fourteen concerts throughout the metro Detroit area. Structurally Sound concerts, which take place within the limits of the City of Detroit, help to fulfill our mission of expanding the chamber music genre and reaching a wider audience. In addition to a more robust concert schedule, the 2012-13 season saw a number of world premieres. At the opening Spotlight concert, On the Horizon, American composer Eric Ewazen premiered “Fantasie Okunesque” a piece inspired by executive director Maury Okun and written in his honor. At the same performance, our young ensemble-in-residence, the Akropolis Reed Quintet, premiered two movements of David Heetderks’ “Pitchblende.” Our seasonal concert, Holiday Brass, enjoyed a premiere by Stoney Creek Choir Director Brandon Ulrich written for brass and choir titled “Christmas Cantata.” The organization’s operating revenue for the year was approximately $750,000, an increase of around $70,000 from the prior year while net assets at year end totaled $365,000. Overall, DCWS enjoyed a very successful season and we look forward to bringing this positive momentum into our future. Sincerely, Douglas Cale, Board Chair
CONCERT SERIES DCWS continued its tradition of presenting a six-concert Spotlight Series, a six-concert Nightnotes Series, and for the first time, presented two separate performances of Structurally Sound. Concerts took place in Detroit, Birmingham, Royal Oak, Grosse Pointe, and Bloomfield Hills. Venues included a number of local religious institutions, Seligman Performing Arts Center, The Community House, Chase Bank lobby in Detroit, and Eastern Market.
SPOTLIGHT SERIES The Spotlight Series presented many traditional and well-loved works from the chamber music canon as well as a number of world premieres. New works were presented by composer Eric Ewazen and Brandon Ulrich; while young composers-inresidence Tom Lopez and Peter Swendsen presented original pieces throughout the season. Japanese Harpist Naoko Yoshino was a featured guest artist for All Strings Considered, a concert which included a performance of Maurice Ravel’s “Introduction and Allegro.” For the first time, DCWS included their well-loved children’s musical story, “The Bremen Town Musicians” in a season concert. Once again the season ended with a performance at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. This year, DCWS artists joined with pianist James Tocco for a performance of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
NIGHNOTES SEASON With a wide range of performances, the Nightnotes season was once again a great success in the 2012-2013 season. On January 4, 2013 husband and wife trumpeters Thomas Hooten and Jen Marotta made history with the best-selling Nightnotes concert in DCWS’ history. Other concerts featured a number of great artists including Broadway star Lauren Molina, traditional Chinese artist Xiao Dong Wei, legendary jazz bassist Robert Hurst, and young ensemble-in-residence, the Akropolis Reed Quintet. The opening concert featured a performance by founding musicians Kevin Good, Victoria King, John Snow, and Hew Lewis after a more than 25 year hiatus.
STRUCTURALLY SOUND Two Structurally Sound concerts were presented during the 2012-13 season. The first featured DCWS trombonist Kenneth Thompkins together with electronic artist John Collins in a concert titled “Bits, Bytes and ‘Bones” which combined acoustic and electronic sounds in the lobby of Detroit’s “Qube” building. The second performance featured DCWS cellist Debra Fayroian and pianist Luis Resto. Titled “To Market, To Market” the concert took place in the Red Bull House of Art located in Detroit’s Eastern Market. The performance featured a performance of “The Cut” – a multimedia presentation that was a collaboration between Resto and photographer Michelle Andonian.
SPECIAL EVENTS
MUSICIAN NOTES
Arts Management Organization
31 and Counting – Annual Gala The annual gala was held at The Community House in Birmingham following the opening Spotlight concert on November 4th, 2012. Guest speakers included David Campbell, President of the McGregor Fund, and Lisa Myers, who directs the music programs for the Dearborn Public Schools. The Akropolis Reed Quintet also performed. A special highlight was an appearance and talk by composer Eric Ewazen, a faculty member at the Juilliard School. A commission from Ewazen was premiered on the concert that day, honoring the 30th birthday of DCWS.
Trumpeter Kevin Good has joined the faculty of Grand Valley State University. Good is continuing his responsibilities as a member of the DSO, and he is the Festival Director for Avanti, the successful summer program run by the DSO Musicians and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
For many years, DCWS has shared its staff with the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and Eisenhower Dance. These institutions maintain separate boards, finances, and artistic programs, but they share just about everything else that goes into the creation of a successful performing arts organization.
Corbin Wagner has joined the faculty of Michigan State University as horn professor. Wagner resigned from the horn section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra after a spectacular 30 year career.
More recently, DCWS has been extending its staff to provide services to other arts groups that could benefit from the institution’s expertise. The Motor City Brass Band and Pro Musica are two such organizations, and in 2012-13, DCWS added the Detroit Children’s Choir to its roster of administrative partners. DCC was founded in 2006 with a mission of using the power and discipline of singing to bring together Detroit’s children in grades 3-8. Its goal is to involve young people from urban and suburban communities, representing a wide range of ethnicities, religions and socio-economic levels – in a way that strengthens team building, creativity, social interaction, understanding, and connection.
STAFF UPDATE DCWS hired Triet Huynh into the new position of Accounting Assistant. Huynh previously worked for The Nielsen Co. in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She has her MBA from the University of Michigan.
Detroit Passport to the Arts Detroit Passport to the Arts (DP2A) is a program presented by DCWS along with its partners, Eisenhower Dance and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. DP2A is designed to introduce Detroit’s arts and cultural scene to the next generation audience, ages 45 and under. DP2A provides access to six performances including dance, chamber music, opera, film, symphony and theatre, each followed by an after party event. In DP2A’s fourth season: • The program defined the targeted audience of next generation as those ages 45 and under • A Partner Passport was created for those over age 45 who are interested in participating in the program at a level that helps keep the cost of passports low for the targeted audience • 195 new people joined DP2A • The majority of passport holders were between the ages of 20 and 40 • The number of Detroit residents who are passport holders increased significantly
BOARD NOTES Mary Brevard, retired Vice President for Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Borg Warner, is serving as Executive Director of Inforum Board Access, which develops women candidates for seats on public and private corporate boards of directors. Noel Villajuan has joined the staff of Fidelity Brokerage Services in Birmingham as a financial advisor. Villajuan had previously worked for Merrill Lynch. Lynn Myers is working with the schools of the United Way Network of Excellence to help mentor high school students in the region. As part of a team of retired General Motors Executives, Myers is working with students at River Rouge High School.
Supplementing his fine work as a bassoonist with the DSO and DCWS, Marcus Schoon runs his own martial arts school, the Anshinkan in Troy (www.anshinkandojo.com), where he teaches Aikido, Kenpo Karate and Tai Chi Chuan. Horn player Bryan Kennedy and trumpeter David Ammer spent a portion of their summer at the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, KS. Cellist Debra Fayroian is enjoying an active career as a concert presenter in Northern Michigan. Her organization, Chamber Music North, continues to host multiple fine performances in the Traverse City region.
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH DCWS presents a number of education and outreach programs each year. Many of these activities occur in area schools. In 12-13, these programs stretched from early childhood through graduate school. Over the past several years, the organization has developed outstanding programs focused toward early elementary school students. One of these programs, “Science and Sound,” is a multi-visit, sequential activity to show students how sounds are produced. In 12-13, Science and Sound presentations occurred in several districts, including Pontiac and Dearborn. To reach older students, DCWS players provided open rehearsal and coaching sessions in the Birmingham Schools, and coaching services at Detroit Country Day School. DCWS also sponsored its Second Annual Chamber Music Competition for high school ensembles, selecting the Slatkin String Quartet from the DSO Civic Orchestra as the winners for 2013. The 2012-13 season marked the second year of a highly successful partnership between DCWS, the University of Michigan School of Music, and the Oberlin College Conservatory. U of M selected a young ensemble-in-residence for DCWS, a role filled expertly by the Akropolis Reed Quintet. Oberlin selected young composers Peter Swendsen and Tom Lopez, who worked with both DCWS and the Akropolis Quintet over the course of the season. In addition to its multiple local series performances, DCWS performed in a number of venues throughout the state during the year. Locations included the Temple Theatre in Saginaw, the Marine City Festival, at Detroit’s Campus Martius, and at the Detroit Institute of Arts. DCWS traveled to Dayton, Ohio in late 2012, performing a concert at Wright State University. As often happens with such appearances, individual DCWS musicians coached Wright State students, and H. Robert Reynolds guest conducted the School’s Wind Ensemble.
The Arts Management Services has grown to be an important part of the institutional fabric of DCWS, and a number of new partnerships are being planned. The DCWS Board, along with representatives of its sister organizations, is in the process of developing a plan that will enhance the impact of this portion of DCWS on the broader arts community.
AWARDS A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts totaled $12,500 for educational and outreach programs in the Pontiac, Troy, and Dearborn Schools. DCWS continued its work in Pontiac through multi-year NEA funding. Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs was a key player in supporting a variety of DCWS programming. In addition to operating funds, DCWS received awards from the State’s Professional or Organizational Development minigrant program to work with consultant David Bury; and full funding from the New Leaders Arts Council of Michigan for DCWS’ 2013 Arts Intern Summit. The organization also partnered with several schools in the region through the State’s minigrant Arts Project program. The Kresge Foundation continued to provide operational support with a two-year grant totaling $40,000. Other awards came from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Lula C. Wilson Trust, and the Target Corporation.
CONCERT SERIES DCWS continued its tradition of presenting a six-concert Spotlight Series, a six-concert Nightnotes Series, and for the first time, presented two separate performances of Structurally Sound. Concerts took place in Detroit, Birmingham, Royal Oak, Grosse Pointe, and Bloomfield Hills. Venues included a number of local religious institutions, Seligman Performing Arts Center, The Community House, Chase Bank lobby in Detroit, and Eastern Market.
SPOTLIGHT SERIES The Spotlight Series presented many traditional and well-loved works from the chamber music canon as well as a number of world premieres. New works were presented by composer Eric Ewazen and Brandon Ulrich; while young composers-inresidence Tom Lopez and Peter Swendsen presented original pieces throughout the season. Japanese Harpist Naoko Yoshino was a featured guest artist for All Strings Considered, a concert which included a performance of Maurice Ravel’s “Introduction and Allegro.” For the first time, DCWS included their well-loved children’s musical story, “The Bremen Town Musicians” in a season concert. Once again the season ended with a performance at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. This year, DCWS artists joined with pianist James Tocco for a performance of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
NIGHNOTES SEASON With a wide range of performances, the Nightnotes season was once again a great success in the 2012-2013 season. On January 4, 2013 husband and wife trumpeters Thomas Hooten and Jen Marotta made history with the best-selling Nightnotes concert in DCWS’ history. Other concerts featured a number of great artists including Broadway star Lauren Molina, traditional Chinese artist Xiao Dong Wei, legendary jazz bassist Robert Hurst, and young ensemble-in-residence, the Akropolis Reed Quintet. The opening concert featured a performance by founding musicians Kevin Good, Victoria King, John Snow, and Hew Lewis after a more than 25 year hiatus.
STRUCTURALLY SOUND Two Structurally Sound concerts were presented during the 2012-13 season. The first featured DCWS trombonist Kenneth Thompkins together with electronic artist John Collins in a concert titled “Bits, Bytes and ‘Bones” which combined acoustic and electronic sounds in the lobby of Detroit’s “Qube” building. The second performance featured DCWS cellist Debra Fayroian and pianist Luis Resto. Titled “To Market, To Market” the concert took place in the Red Bull House of Art located in Detroit’s Eastern Market. The performance featured a performance of “The Cut” – a multimedia presentation that was a collaboration between Resto and photographer Michelle Andonian.
SPECIAL EVENTS
MUSICIAN NOTES
Arts Management Organization
31 and Counting – Annual Gala The annual gala was held at The Community House in Birmingham following the opening Spotlight concert on November 4th, 2012. Guest speakers included David Campbell, President of the McGregor Fund, and Lisa Myers, who directs the music programs for the Dearborn Public Schools. The Akropolis Reed Quintet also performed. A special highlight was an appearance and talk by composer Eric Ewazen, a faculty member at the Juilliard School. A commission from Ewazen was premiered on the concert that day, honoring the 30th birthday of DCWS.
Trumpeter Kevin Good has joined the faculty of Grand Valley State University. Good is continuing his responsibilities as a member of the DSO, and he is the Festival Director for Avanti, the successful summer program run by the DSO Musicians and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
For many years, DCWS has shared its staff with the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and Eisenhower Dance. These institutions maintain separate boards, finances, and artistic programs, but they share just about everything else that goes into the creation of a successful performing arts organization.
Corbin Wagner has joined the faculty of Michigan State University as horn professor. Wagner resigned from the horn section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra after a spectacular 30 year career.
More recently, DCWS has been extending its staff to provide services to other arts groups that could benefit from the institution’s expertise. The Motor City Brass Band and Pro Musica are two such organizations, and in 2012-13, DCWS added the Detroit Children’s Choir to its roster of administrative partners. DCC was founded in 2006 with a mission of using the power and discipline of singing to bring together Detroit’s children in grades 3-8. Its goal is to involve young people from urban and suburban communities, representing a wide range of ethnicities, religions and socio-economic levels – in a way that strengthens team building, creativity, social interaction, understanding, and connection.
STAFF UPDATE DCWS hired Triet Huynh into the new position of Accounting Assistant. Huynh previously worked for The Nielsen Co. in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She has her MBA from the University of Michigan.
Detroit Passport to the Arts Detroit Passport to the Arts (DP2A) is a program presented by DCWS along with its partners, Eisenhower Dance and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. DP2A is designed to introduce Detroit’s arts and cultural scene to the next generation audience, ages 45 and under. DP2A provides access to six performances including dance, chamber music, opera, film, symphony and theatre, each followed by an after party event. In DP2A’s fourth season: • The program defined the targeted audience of next generation as those ages 45 and under • A Partner Passport was created for those over age 45 who are interested in participating in the program at a level that helps keep the cost of passports low for the targeted audience • 195 new people joined DP2A • The majority of passport holders were between the ages of 20 and 40 • The number of Detroit residents who are passport holders increased significantly
BOARD NOTES Mary Brevard, retired Vice President for Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Borg Warner, is serving as Executive Director of Inforum Board Access, which develops women candidates for seats on public and private corporate boards of directors. Noel Villajuan has joined the staff of Fidelity Brokerage Services in Birmingham as a financial advisor. Villajuan had previously worked for Merrill Lynch. Lynn Myers is working with the schools of the United Way Network of Excellence to help mentor high school students in the region. As part of a team of retired General Motors Executives, Myers is working with students at River Rouge High School.
Supplementing his fine work as a bassoonist with the DSO and DCWS, Marcus Schoon runs his own martial arts school, the Anshinkan in Troy (www.anshinkandojo.com), where he teaches Aikido, Kenpo Karate and Tai Chi Chuan. Horn player Bryan Kennedy and trumpeter David Ammer spent a portion of their summer at the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, KS. Cellist Debra Fayroian is enjoying an active career as a concert presenter in Northern Michigan. Her organization, Chamber Music North, continues to host multiple fine performances in the Traverse City region.
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH DCWS presents a number of education and outreach programs each year. Many of these activities occur in area schools. In 12-13, these programs stretched from early childhood through graduate school. Over the past several years, the organization has developed outstanding programs focused toward early elementary school students. One of these programs, “Science and Sound,” is a multi-visit, sequential activity to show students how sounds are produced. In 12-13, Science and Sound presentations occurred in several districts, including Pontiac and Dearborn. To reach older students, DCWS players provided open rehearsal and coaching sessions in the Birmingham Schools, and coaching services at Detroit Country Day School. DCWS also sponsored its Second Annual Chamber Music Competition for high school ensembles, selecting the Slatkin String Quartet from the DSO Civic Orchestra as the winners for 2013. The 2012-13 season marked the second year of a highly successful partnership between DCWS, the University of Michigan School of Music, and the Oberlin College Conservatory. U of M selected a young ensemble-in-residence for DCWS, a role filled expertly by the Akropolis Reed Quintet. Oberlin selected young composers Peter Swendsen and Tom Lopez, who worked with both DCWS and the Akropolis Quintet over the course of the season. In addition to its multiple local series performances, DCWS performed in a number of venues throughout the state during the year. Locations included the Temple Theatre in Saginaw, the Marine City Festival, at Detroit’s Campus Martius, and at the Detroit Institute of Arts. DCWS traveled to Dayton, Ohio in late 2012, performing a concert at Wright State University. As often happens with such appearances, individual DCWS musicians coached Wright State students, and H. Robert Reynolds guest conducted the School’s Wind Ensemble.
The Arts Management Services has grown to be an important part of the institutional fabric of DCWS, and a number of new partnerships are being planned. The DCWS Board, along with representatives of its sister organizations, is in the process of developing a plan that will enhance the impact of this portion of DCWS on the broader arts community.
AWARDS A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts totaled $12,500 for educational and outreach programs in the Pontiac, Troy, and Dearborn Schools. DCWS continued its work in Pontiac through multi-year NEA funding. Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs was a key player in supporting a variety of DCWS programming. In addition to operating funds, DCWS received awards from the State’s Professional or Organizational Development minigrant program to work with consultant David Bury; and full funding from the New Leaders Arts Council of Michigan for DCWS’ 2013 Arts Intern Summit. The organization also partnered with several schools in the region through the State’s minigrant Arts Project program. The Kresge Foundation continued to provide operational support with a two-year grant totaling $40,000. Other awards came from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Lula C. Wilson Trust, and the Target Corporation.
Finance Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings’ operating revenue for 2012-13 was approximately $750,000, an increase of around $70,000 from the prior year. Much of the organization’s financial growth has been driven by its management services business, where DCWS shares staff with multiple other arts organizations. Net assets at year end totaled $365,000, which includes an operating reserve of approximately $111,000, a $45,000 collaboration fund, and endowed funds of $150,000. In addition, DCWS has an endowed fund at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan that was valued at $234,500 at the close of the fiscal year.
Development & Marketing 7%
Performance & Artistic 24%
Development 39%
Office & Operations 20%
AMO 35%
Investments 3%
For 2012-2013, DCWS incurred a small loss ($5,000) in unrestricted net assets.
Revenue
Artistic Programs 34%
Staff 39%
Expenses
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS
2013-2014 STAFF LISTING
Douglas Cale, Board Chair Sally Baker Betty Blair Mary Brevard Jane & Gerald Conway William Duffy Helen Ectors David Falvay Kevin Good Karen Hahn Thomas Hitchman Mary Jarman Victoria King Matthew Morin Lynn Myers Maury Okun Ralph Safford Edward Sharples Charles Stavoe Cynthia von Oeyen Noel Villajuan Beverly & Barry Williams
Cecilia Benner Art & Betty Blair Fund Betty Blair Kathleen Block Gwen & Dick Bowlby Lucinda & Robert Clement Jane & Jerry Conway Lillian & Walter Dean David Falvay Family of Burton D. Jones Florence LoPatin Lynn Myers Kate & Randy Safford Fred Steiner Ann Throop Beverly & Barry Williams Carroll V. Williams Fund The Family of Joseph Wright
Maury Okun, Executive Director Natalie Bruno, Chief Operating Office & Vice President for Development Margo Strebig, Director of Communications Jill Overacker, Public Relations & Marketing Manager Anne Ruffley, Development Associate Caitlin Taylor, Operations & Marketing Assistant Triet Huynh, Accounting Assistant Brooke Hoplamazian, Administrative Assistant
BUSINESS SPONSORS Butzel Long Center for Financial Planning Charity Motors Fran Twiddy, CFP & Jeff Brayton, MBA of Raymond James Financial Hagopian World of Rugs Luck’s Music Library Macro Connect Max 360 Group Plunkett Cooney Varnum LLP
GOVERNMENT Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs (MCACA) National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Oakland County Office of Arts, Culture & Film
FOUNDATION Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan John S. & James L. Knight Foundation Kresge Foundation Newman’s Own Foundation Target Lula C. Wilson Trust
2013-2014 ADVISORY BOARD Mary Ann Beaupre Daniel Boyce Michael Collins Henry Cooney David DiChiera Marilyn Gunther Justin Klimko William Lanava David Lebenbom Florence LoPatin Frederick Morsches Ann Parsons James Spica Frances Twiddy Gwen Weiner Kay White
Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings
2012-2013 Annual Report EXECUTIVE LETTER Our 2012-13 season saw the most varied performance schedule in Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings’ 31 year history. With the addition of two Structurally Sound concerts to our normal Spotlight and Nightnotes schedule, we were able to present a total of fourteen concerts throughout the metro Detroit area. Structurally Sound concerts, which take place within the limits of the City of Detroit, help to fulfill our mission of expanding the chamber music genre and reaching a wider audience. In addition to a more robust concert schedule, the 2012-13 season saw a number of world premieres. At the opening Spotlight concert, On the Horizon, American composer Eric Ewazen premiered “Fantasie Okunesque” a piece inspired by executive director Maury Okun and written in his honor. At the same performance, our young ensemble-in-residence, the Akropolis Reed Quintet, premiered two movements of David Heetderks’ “Pitchblende.” Our seasonal concert, Holiday Brass, enjoyed a premiere by Stoney Creek Choir Director Brandon Ulrich written for brass and choir titled “Christmas Cantata.” The organization’s operating revenue for the year was approximately $750,000, an increase of around $70,000 from the prior year while net assets at year end totaled $365,000. Overall, DCWS enjoyed a very successful season and we look forward to bringing this positive momentum into our future. Sincerely, Douglas Cale, Board Chair