|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last summer’s Retreat was remarkably exciting and rewarding with wonderful participants, resident musicians, and faculty. The second summer of the William Grant Still Initiative was tremendously impactful and it strengthened our tenacious commitment to our mission.
|
Now, after 26 years, the Conductors Retreat at Medomak is confronted with a new reality that requires us to take a clear-eyed look at the present situation and whether we have the capacity to move forward into the future.
|
The owners of Medomak (Family) Camp, Holly and George Stone, are passing the baton of ownership and managing the business to their children and the Medomak manager. Medomak Camp will continue to function as it does now, with one crucial difference:
|
The fee we are charged for rent, food, and lodging is increasing by 44%!
|
Holly and George believe in our work and have been dedicated supporters over the years. One of the many ways they have shown their support has been to charge us less than other groups who rent the property.
|
The new owners are understandably focused on solidifying the financial footing of their business. This, combined with the high inflation that confronts us all, is the impetus for the huge increase in fees.
|
How does this translate into actual numbers?
|
The pie chart below shows the budget for a 2023 Retreat. The cost of lodging and meals at Medomak will increase by $45,000 from last year, for a total of $124,000 of the $248,000 budget.
|
|
Participant tuition and donations from donors are the two key sources of funding for the Conductors Retreat. Tuition covers only 48% of what it costs to run the retreat. If we were to depend on tuition alone, 2023 tuition would need to be $9,500 per person based on 26 participants, which is simply not feasible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the past few years, we have raised roughly $50,000 per year from a group of dedicated and loyal donors, including one who donated $45,000 over two years, and another who donated $30,000 one year. Every donor and every single dollar has been crucial for us to operate.
|
The Conductors Retreat at Medomak is at a crossroads, an inflection point as it were.
|
For us to continue the Conductors Retreat, and for it to be in the place that has been the source of so much good for our participants and concert attendees, we need to increase our fundraising more than twofold from last year to this year.
|
We need to raise $115,000 to cover our expenses for this coming summer.
|
|
reader, as we navigate this crucial transition, I am writing to you on behalf of our board members, myself, and those who may want to participate in future years. I am asking each and every past participant to take a moment to make a thoughtful decision about supporting Medomak. I ask that you please consider making as meaningful a gift to the Retreat this year as you can to ensure our moving forward. You can make your donation online at our website:
|
|
|
|
|
Medomak Camp has given us a hard deadline of October 30, so we have until then to assess the viability of going forward. Please consider your gift before the deadline.
|
I am profoundly grateful for the support that has allowed the Conductors Retreat to make a difference for the past 26 years. Thank you for the important part of the Medomak story, which you have helped to write. You have played a role in the lives of so many participants and, through them, the hundreds of groups of professional and amateur musicians they lead, thousands of the students they teach, and all of the communities they have been serving.
|
Thanks so much for your support and for being a member of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak.
|
With my warm and very best wishes,
Ken Kiesler
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
