byu singers endowment uses and purpose

7/28/2019 BYU Singers Endowment Uses and Purpose

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Endowment

Faith moves mountains one shovel ata time. And even though it takes time toremove some o the “mountains” blocking ourpaths, the process still represents a miracle.

When we announced the BYU SingersEndowment quite a ew years ago now, weknew it would be one o those one-shovel-at-a-time miracles. Consider the miracles we witnessed your year(s) in Singers as werehearsed and then perormed some o themost dicult pieces in the choral repertoire.But even more importantly, consider themiracle o 40+ people coming together each year, rom all sorts o places and experiences,to produce a unied expression o beauty and aith that has touched people all over the world.

More and more, the world needs the sorto git we continue to oer: a compelling,unied voice o peace, hope, aith, and beauty.I am determined to help Singers exert this

infuence as strongly as we can in order tocombat the shrill hate, despair, and vulgarity o the world.

Such a vision requires strong nancialbacking, which is the miracle o the BYUSingers Endowment. As the time o my retirement approaches, I eel increased desireto see the Endowment ully unded beore Iam no longer a current Singer. In recent weeksI have doubled my monthly contribution tothe Endowment. Will you careully considerhow you might nancially support this greatmountain-moving eort? Your greatestsupport certainly is your continuing aith andprayers in behal o each new edition o BYUSingers. But every single dollar contributed

represents another shovel o the mountain to be removed.

Much love,

D. S.

Da Friends :



David & Pam Winters

Back in the late 1980s on one o thosetour bus rides, Dr. Staheli and I talked wellinto the night about the mission o BYU

Singers. It was a thrilling conversation andone that I will always cherish as we dreamedo the all the good that BYU Singers couldand would do in the world. Tat evening Iremember making a commitment to do my part in supporting the divine purpose o BYUSingers.

One o those commitments was simply to make a donation to the BYU SingersEndowment Fund each and every year. Tat was something that Pam and I discussed early

in our marriage, and it was important or botho us. We knew that there would most likely be some years where the contribution wouldbe airly lean. Now as we look back overthe last many years, we realize the amount wasn’t really that important, but keepingour commitment was. By making thatcontribution each and every year, we’ve had“skin in the game” so to speak. Even thoughtwenty three years have now passed since

we’ve been a part o the choir, our interest andcommitment in the divine mission o BYUSingers still shines brightly in our hearts.

Way back in those early days, Dr. Staheliset a goal o raising $1,000,000. Troughgenerous contributions o ellow Singersalumni, the endowment has grown in excesso $625K. We have many, many morealumni now, so reaching that remaining$375K should be much, much easier thanthe rst $375,000. I you haven’t committed

to making a donation each year to BYUSingers, I hope that you will consider doingso now. I promise that or Pam and me, it hasmade all the dierence in eeling connectedand invested in BYU Singers and its divinemission two decades ater having sung in thechoir.

Much love to all o you ellow Singers andbuilders o Zion.

Chris & Vanesa Read

Landscaping our yard can wait… It willget done when the time is right. Yards willpass away, but the things that we learned in

Singers won’t. o this day, the time that we spent inSingers has been a lie changing time in ourlives. It’s part o our core. Not only did welearn what excellence in music was and how to attain it, but we had excellent spiritualmentoring. And our daughter is now gettingit, which is even more wonderul! Because it’shard to describe what being in Singers meansuntil you’ve actually experienced it.

Tank you, Dr. Staheli, or all that you

have done and continue to do to urther the work o our Heavenly Father. And or all thetime that you have taken to show your loveand concern or your students. We wish that we could give even more, but are happy that we can contribute something. And every littlebit counts, I guess.

Some Alumni Thoughts about

the BYU Singers Endowment



the enormous dierence made by a venue’sacoustical properties. It is important toremember that BYU Singers do not rely on electronic means to communicate theirsound. Te choir’s singing is designed tocommunicate directly rom soul to soul andheart to heart without the impediment o amicrophone or electronic amplication.

2. o help with the nancial backing required so that BYU Singers may accept the prestigious

perormance invitations which continue to be extended in ever-increasing numbers.

Good examples o these sorts o opportunities are demonstrated by BYUSingers’ participation at national andregional conventions o the AmericanChoral Directors Association, the bi-annualconerence o the National Collegiate ChoralOrganization, and the upcoming conerenceo the National Bible Association. Sometimesthese perormance opportunities can becombined into our set touring schedule, as was the case with the invitation to represent

the U.S. at the International Symposium onChoral Music in Sydney, Australia. But mostoten, such invitations are in addition to ourtouring schedule.

1. o help local presenters secure appropriate concert venues when BYU Singers tour that will better allow the choir to accomplish their greater mission.

Experience has taught us that the choiceo venue greatly determines the success o any BYU Singers concert, whether in the U.S.or abroad. Venue has everything to do withmake-up and size o the audience. For budgetreasons, we have most oten sung in LDSchurch buildings while on tour. Yet whenbooked into venues associated with excellentconcert oerings, we have drawn larger, morebroadly based audiences in terms o religiousbackground and cultural experience. We

seldom see non-LDS choral musicians at aconcert in an LDS venue, while we requently see proessional choral musicians, oten o distinguished reputation, at a concert in a venue oering prestigious classical concerts.

An easily understood issue associated with venue is that o acoustics, which haseverything to do with the overall sound o

the choir in concert. We hope to sing well,even in the challenging circumstances o ahall with little or no reverberation, reerredto by musicians as “ungrateul.” Our concertsare about sound – beauty o sound, and themanner in which that sound aects thehearts and minds o all participating inthe concert – audience and choir membersalike. We are convinced that even the leastexperienced concert-goer can easily discern

Uses of the BYU Singers Endowment



3. Provide voice lesson scholarships or worthymembers o the choir who all below the desired level o vocal technique that is expected o members o BYU Singers.

o be clear, Dr. Staheli never wants toentice a person into participating in BYUSingers by oering a nancial bribe. Sucha situation has every chance o resulting in

attitude and commitment problems.More and more we ace the situation

where, in order to organize a balanced choir, we must include promising students onthe roster whose singing does not yet meetthe desired level. As the number o highquality choral programs in secondary schoolscontinues to slide, with more and moreprograms totally disappearing in schools,the level o choral experience and overall vocal ability o students auditioning or BYU

Singers continues to decline rather noticeably. Tis means we have students who desire theBYU Singers experience arriving at auditions without the expected vocal technique andexperience.

Tese are oten the best studentsauditioning, especially in the bass and

tenor sections! So whenstudents exhibit strongmusical sensibilities and

the promise o good vocalability, along with thestrong personal qualities welook or in individual BYUSingers, we sometimesaccept them into the choirin order to balance thesections, hoping we canteach and coach thesestudents into the vocal

technique and quality required. We have seen satisying results o this

process in recent years, especially when thesestudents are able to seek individual vocalinstruction rom a trustworthy teacher whocan teach and coach the student in thoseinitial weeks and months in Singers. oo

oten, however, we discover that a student,showing good potential, is not in a nancialposition to pay or such instruction. Imaginethe dierence a scholarship or voice lessons would make not just or the individualstudent, but or the entire choir, especially in terms o our perormance ability and thespeed at which we need to arrive at a highlevel o perormance.

4. o assist needy members o BYU Singers with

their tour payment. Such assistance would be give to memberso the choir who make a strong contribution to its success, but who do not possessthe means to pay part or even all o the tour

payment assess by the university.

While the cost o major tours is strongly subsidized by the university, each student iscurrently assessed $1000 or the tour. Studentsare also responsible or purchasing whatevermatching tour clothes are required or the

trip. Perhaps it is o interest to know thatDr. Staheli himsel, while an undergraduateat BYU, could not participate in the touringchoir even though he was ully qualied todo so. Beyond his academic scholarship, hehad to support himsel through his collegeeducation and simply did not have the meansto pay the student’s tour assessment.



5. o help with the increasing costs o printed programs that refect the quality o the BYU Singers perormance and tell the BYU Singersstory–its history and mission.

Our tour program to England in 2012serves as an initial valiant eort to accomplishthis goal. Te program was in color, eaturingperormance photos o the choir, photos o BYU and the Harris Fine Arts Center, andphotos and brie bios o individual choirmembers.

6. o help und special projects to urther Singers’ mission. Tis includes recordings and videosreleased as a gesture o good will, hoping they

will serve as a positive, beautiul response to the ugliness, vulgarity, corruption, and violence inthe world.

Such eorts can also be enormously helpul in promoting concerts at home andabroad, in educating audiences to the beautiesand ennobling value o the music we sing, andin urthering awareness o BYU Singers– andthe good they do and can yet do – in the world.

Since the production o major video projects hasbeen suspended by theuniversity, at least or theoreseeable uture, our meanso getting our message outto the world is through ree

audio downloads and well-produced videos on our Youube channel.

Our eorts here are severely limited because we lack theunding.

7. o help with special perormance needs, which greatly add to the success o a BYU Singersconcert.

Tis includes special perormance attire,stools, special instruments, etc.

FAQs

When was the endowment established, and whoare its donors?

Our endowment was established in 1991,and it has been growing steadily in the yearssince. We have had several major donations

rom Singers alumni and riends o the choir,and a steady donation stream rom many alumni who have committed to donating asmaller amount every month. ogether withcompound interest on the principal, we areover 60% o our way to our goal o 1 milliondollars.

Where is the endowment und account held, and who oversees it?

BYU Singers Endowment Fund is in aBYU account, and is invested and overseen by LDS Philanthropies.

Is there any precedent or this und?

Te Jewkes Fund was established inthe early 1980s or the use o the BYU ACappella Choir, BYU Singers’ predecessor. While it generates a much smaller amount,monies rom that und have been used to



help BYU Singers endeavors, allowing theirendowment und to grow.

Has the Endowment Fund been used yet?

No. All interest to this point has beenreinvested into the und, thus allowing it tocontinue to grow.

Will the BYU Singers Endowment Fund be used while Dr. Staheli is still conducting BYU Singers?

Yes, there are plans to use the interest,available once annually, to acilitate the choir’sappearance at the 2014 Western Division ACDA Conerence. Te und will also help inmany o the ways outlined above as the choirprepares to tour China in the spring o 2015.

What will happen to the und once Dr. Staheli retires?

Te und was established to help BYUSingers or the current touring choir. Just asthe uses o the interest have been determinedby Dr. Staheli thus ar, the next director o the touring choir will have control over theinterest generated. Te principal will remainintact to urnish the interest used.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/singers-alumni-hymn-project

All photos in this special Endowment document are of alumni (some younger than others) singing

in the Wednesday night rehearsal/recording sessions. Photos by Devin Anderton & Craig Butler.

byu singers endowment uses and purpose

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