Notes from Nola … The Moravian Music Foundation celebrates …

Continuing my series on the Moravian Music Foundation’s mission statement, what do we mean by “celebrating”?

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

What do we celebrate in our world? Anniversaries … birthdays … all sorts of special occasions … maybe a new job, or a promotion, or a retirement … all sorts of transitions. Accomplishments of many kinds merit acknowledgment and celebration. And a lot of these include music – from a family singing “happy birthday” to bringing in a dance band.

Celebrating is certainly part of Moravian history and culture. Think of the annual remembrances that are common to all Christian churches – the birth of Christ; the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ; ascension; congregational anniversaries. All of these are in our Moravian world, as well as several others. Think of the special Moravian commemorations – the martyrdom of John Hus (July 6); the renewal of the Moravian Church (August 13); the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as the Chief Elder of the Moravian Church (November 13). Special services have been held for these Moravian festivals for many generations, and there is a wealth of hymns and anthems written especially for these days. And many Moravian congregations have special celebrations for groups within the church. Some have a “workers’ lovefeast”, acknowledging the many contributions of members to the life and work of the church throughout the year. The Southern Province has an annual Children’s Festival in August, and music is certainly a part of that every year. Some still celebrate the “choir festivals” – single brothers, single sisters, married people, and so on.

But what, especially, does the Moravian Music Foundation do to “celebrate Moravian musical culture?” Our “celebration” work covers a lot of activites. Some of these are …

• holding Moravian Music Festivals every four years. (Note: Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the 2021 Festival was held online with a Part II set for July 26, 2022 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). Watch for updates, and plan to come …
• holding Moravian Music Weekends. We’ve now hosted 8 of these at Laurel Ridge Camp, Conference, and Retreat Center in the mountains of North Carolina, and we’d love to hold these at other locations as well. Interested in one in your area? Let’s talk about how to make it happen.
• sponsoring the Unitas Chorale in Pennsylvania and the Moramus Chorale in North Carolina. These two groups of singers rehearse and perform Moravian music and other music complementary to it – perhaps music by composers the Moravians knew and loved, or music written on Moravian tunes or texts. Both groups welcome new singers at any time, and our office can put you in touch with the directors (Gwyn Michel with the Unitas Chorale and Drake Flynt with the Moramus Chorale).
• providing music and programming assistance for other groups wanting to perform music from our collections. Many professional and amateur musical groups (and individual performers) contact our office each year asking about music, and we help by suggesting music to fit their programming wishes, their available musicians, and so on. We make the Lending Libraries available to all who contact us (a future post will say more!), or we sell our own publications. We’re happy to provide background information and program notes.
• helping Moravian congregations celebrate special occasions – providing music and liturgy suggestions for the services of dedication (or re-dedication) of or a building; for a special anniversary; for a vacation Bible school; for a children’s hand chimes group; for almost anything a congregation wants to celebrate with music!
• helping congregations, Moravian and many other denominations, who want to hold a Moravian lovefeast or candle service. We can send music suggestions, practical ideas for how to hold it, information about obtaining candles or lovefeast buns, suggested orders of worship, and so on.

When you think of celebrating, then, you may already think of music. And we hope that as your congregation or organization thinks of future celebrations, you’ll remember that the Moravian Music Foundation is here to help with music suggestions for almost any occasion!

Next time? The Music Lending Libraries managed by the Moravian Music Foundation – What’s in them, who uses them, and how can you use them?

Musically yours,

– Nola

Notes from Nola … The Moravian Music Foundation shares …

Continuing my series on the Moravian Music Foundation’s mission statement, what do we mean by “sharing”?

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

Possession is, I think, a human instinct. When there’s something we like, we want to keep it, to own it, to know we can have access to it at any time. Possessing can be a good thing – I for one am very glad to possess a very fine flute – but it can also be mismanaged – think of a hoarding situation.

Do you remember learning to share as a child? or trying to teach your children to share? It’s not always easy! But with maturity, at our best, when we have something we like a lot, something we’re very proud of, we don’t want to keep it all to ourselves. We want others to enjoy that really cool thing. (I’ve enjoyed seeing talented students play my flute and enjoy its beauty.)

So along with the Moravian Music Foundation’s responsibility to preserve Moravian musical culture comes our delight and our obligation to share that wonderful heritage. We don’t want to keep it to ourselves; it’s much more fun to see other people light up with joy as they experience the breadth and depth and richness of Moravian music.

“Sharing”, then, is whatever we do that helps other people know and enjoy what we enjoy. To “share” a musical culture means to make its fruits available to others. That can happen through …

• Producing recordings (we’ve recently released Harmonious to Dwell, our fourth compact disc recording of the Moravian Lower Brass!)
• Writing and releasing publications: the Moravian Star Anthem Series, the new Moravian songbook Sing to the Lord a New Song, Moravian music for organ or for piano, a forthcoming set of three Moravian handbell pieces; publications of books and booklets on many topics relating to our music life
• Offering workshops and events: maybe you want to try your hand at writing a hymn. Maybe you want to have a chance to read through a whole set of Moravian anthems just to pick new ones for your choir to enjoy.
• Publishing the free Newsletter of the Moravian Music Foundation, and our monthly email newsletter, to help you know what’s going on
• Providing videos of concerts and lectures on our website, so you can enjoy these events from wherever you live
• Telling our story online through social media and our active website (www.MoravianMusic.org)
• Providing detailed program notes for concerts (whether or not we are the sponsor of the concert!) and “liner notes” for our recordings, so you can learn more about the composers and their music

So there’s a lot to this “sharing” verb. As we’ve noted, it’s no good having something great if you’re the only one who knows about it! And “sharing” is something you can do, too – tell your Moravian music story to others! Share the link to these blog posts with them. Call us up and invite us to come to your location with a workshop or reading session or other event.

It’s more fun if we do it together.

Next time? The Moravian Music Foundation celebrates …

Musically yours,

– Nola

Notes from Nola … The Moravian Music Foundation preserves …

If you’ve been “hanging around” with the Moravian Music Foundation for a little while, surely you’ve heard our mission statement – The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture. It’s a pretty catchy sentence – with a clear subject, three active verbs, and a pretty broad object of those verbs. Let’s start to explore what we mean.

The Moravian Music Foundation…

First, what is the Moravian Music Foundation (abbreviation: MMF)? It’s a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation. Yes, it’s affiliated with the Moravian Church in North America, both Northern and Southern Provinces; but it’s a separately incorporated entity which receives less than 5% of its annual income from the churches directly. (Keep that in mind; sources of MMF’s support will be the topic of a future post!) It’s governed by a Board of Trustees, made up of the following: 3 appointed by the Provincial Elders’ Conference, Moravian Church Northern Province; 3 appointed by the Provincial Elders’ Conference, Moravian Church Southern Province; 3 appointed by Bethlehem Area Moravians, the collegial body of 6 Moravian congregations in Bethlehem; 3 appointed by the Salem Congregation, the collegial body of 12 Moravian congregations in Winston-Salem; and from 9 to 16 at-large members elected by the board itself. Board members serve a four-year term and are eligible for appointment or election to a second four-year term, after which they rotate off the board for at least a year. (Future posts will tell you more about who our board members are!)

MMF’s main office is in Winston-Salem, NC, sharing the Archie K. Davis Center with the Moravian Archives, Southern Province. Staff members there are yours truly, Director; Erik Salzwedel, Business Manager; Dave Blum, Research Librarian; and Sarah Durham, Office Manager, along with part-time cataloging project people. MMF also has an office in Bethlehem, PA, in the Moravian Archives, Northern Province, staffed by Gwyneth Michel, Assistant Director. (Another future post will tell you more about our staff members!)

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves

the many amazing and unique items in our care, including …

• one of 10 known copies of the first printing of The Star-Spangled Banner, found in one of the bound volumes of 19^th-century printed sheet music belonging to individuals and now cared for in our climate-controlled secure facilities.
• the only-known manuscript copy of the Sinfonia in D Minor by J. C. F. Bach, one of the younger sons of J. S. Bach, copied by Johann Friedrich Peter in 1768, during his seminary training in Germany, and brought to America to be played by the Moravian settlers here. This is now part of the Salem Collegium Musicum collection, the music enjoyed by the musicians of the community in the 18^th and 19^th century.
• the Irving Lowens Collection of American tunebooks, made up of several thousand published books from the 18^th and 19^th centuries. These books contain sacred songs and hymns, many also including the rudiments of music. Many are in shape-note notation; some are quite rare.
• several hundred hymnals primarily from the 18^th and 19^th centuries, mostly Moravian but many of other denominations; these include hymnals in many different languages. Most are text-only. Among the specific treasures are early Moravian hymnals from 1544 (in German and printed with tunes; 1615 (in Czech, also printed with tunes; this large book also includes scripture references and a chart of hymns recommended for specific Sundays in the church year); a 1618 smaller reprint of the 1615, with the tunes, but without the scripture references; and Moravian composer Johannes Herbst’s personal copy of the German hymnal of 1778, with notations in his hand indicating the authors of many of the hymns and also noting translations into English.

Preserving, then, is about keeping things, and keeping them safe. It’s about climate-controlled facilities, so that these precious treasures are kept safe from the ravages of temperature and humidity swings; safe from pests of various kinds; secure from damage or even theft. It’s about securing the “intellectual content” of those things – hence the major project, 20 years ago, to microfilm all the archival music, that housed in Bethlehem and that housed in Winston-Salem, so that in case of a major losses or damage to the original manuscripts, the music itself wouldn’t be lost. (Use copies of the microfilm are in Bethlehem, Winston-Salem, and Herrnhut in Germany.)

But preserving is about more than just keeping things. We also seek to preserve the understanding, the context, in which these materials were created and used. Preservation, thus, might be seen to include interpretation – so many 18^th-century Moravian hymns have a great many verses! It’s important to understand that they didn’t sing all the verses of all the hymns; thus talking about the tradition of the Singstunde is part of “preserving”. Learning and explaining how the anthems were used in worship is part of “preserving”.

And making these materials known is also part of preserving. It’s not enough to keep things. Having things means little if their existence is not “discoverable.” You have to know where things are, and people from outside the organization need to know they exist. So “preserving” includes cataloging. Hence – GemeinKat, the multi-year project to convert our paper catalog to online records. Set aside some time, have your favorite beverage to hand, and check out https://moravianmusic.org/gemeinkat-catalog/ . Happy exploring!

Next time? The Moravian Music Foundation shares …

Musically yours,

– Nola

Recital of Moravian Organ Music
4:00pm
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Free

Home Moravian Church
529 S. Church St., Winston-Salem, NC, 336-722-6171

Mary Lou Kapp Peeples, organist

Reception and Release Party!

Reception and CD-Signing of this new MMF-produced CD to follow the recital. 

Sing Hallelujah!
Moravian Music for Organ

A must-have recording by Mary Lou Kapp Peeples

The Essence of Moravian Music

With today’s musings I begin a new venture here at the Moravian Music Foundation – a direct communication, via a blog, to the many friends of Moravian music, wherever you are. I’ll sometimes write about interesting things in our collection; I may tell a story about a research project, or highlight something from a composer’s life and works. It’s a chance for me to share some of what I’ve learned in my more than 26 years at the Moravian Music Foundation – and a chance for you to dip your toe into the waters of the Moravian musical world. I hope these words, over time, make you want to join us – Come on in! The water’s fine!

I begin with two stories that, to me, illuminate the essence of Moravian music. Around 1780, the Marquis de Chastellux wrote of his visit to Bethlehem that he “was astonished with the delicious sounds of an Italian Concerto, but my surprise was still greater on entering a room where the performers turned out to be common workmen of different trades, playing for their amusement….”[1] Two aspects of this experience are notable: the fine quality of the music, and the identity and purpose of the performers. Some two and a quarter centuries later, in July of 2004, during a presentation at the International Trombone and Brass Festival celebrating the two-hundred-fiftieth anniversary of the Bethlehem Trombone Choir, the members of the choir introduced themselves. While some of their members were absent, those present that day included a computer consultant who is also an official scorer for Major League Baseball, a retired pastor, a church sexton, a chemical technician, a small business owner, a software developer, and a retired accountant—none with music as his/her primary occupation. This venerable Moravian musical institution depends on amateurs, not hired professionals, for its continuation.

This, then, is the core of the Moravian musical heritage throughout its more than 560 years. As a gift of God, music is the language of the heart and the mind in worship. As the people’s expression of faith, music is worthy of great care and effort, including proper education, training, preparation, and leadership. However, music is the purview not of a few specially gifted professionals who are hired to perform, but rather of the entire community of faith. Educated musicians are welcomed – and needed! – but all are invited – and expected – to participate, and the focus is on the music of the people at worship, not on the musical accomplishments of the few. I would submit that if the Moravian musical heritage ever depends upon hired professionals for its continuation, then it is already dead; and, given the centrality of music to the expression of the faith of the community, the Moravian Church itself may not be far behind.

Dr. Bill Leonard, Dean of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University, has written convincingly of the history of the Baptist church around the world as a struggle for identity.[2] Dr. Leonard recognizes that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, churches are facing major “transitions in culture, economics, globalism, pluralism, and other aspects of national and international life.”[3] In the face of the upheavals of contemporary life, he believes that one of the greatest challenges for the church in the twenty-first century is the creation of “intentional identity with integrity.”[4] This is indeed the challenge facing the Moravian Church, and if its past is any indication, music will remain one of the most effective means of addressing this need.

“Intentional identity with integrity.” This requires us to remember who we are, and, as Christians, whose we are. We must remember why we make music, for whom we make music, and this is the purpose of the Moravian Music Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to preserve, share, and celebrate Moravian musical culture – and that includes this heritage of music-making by everyone. As we look to another fall of the year, the time when so many new ventures begin, may I invite you to think about your own music-making? Where are you making music now, and where would you like to be? Have you always wanted to join a choir, but never felt “good enough”? Have you secretly wished to play a musical instrument, but thought, “It’s too late, and I’m not talented”? Do you wish you could read music? I assure you, friends, that it is never too late to start. I’ve personally taught beginning flute players in their 80s. I’ve helped many retired folks learn to read music. I’ve seen people pick up a band instrument at age 45, and continue playing for the rest of their lives – people who had never even thought about reading music or playing an instrument.

So as the summer winds down, think about your own musical life. And – Come on in! The water’s fine!

Musically yours,

– Nola

[1] Cited in Donald M. McCorkle, The Moravian Contribution to American Music, reprinted from Notes of the Music Library Association (September 1956; reprinted, Winston-Salem, The Moravian Music Foundation, 1956), 4.

[2] For instance, see Bill Leonard, Baptist Ways: A History (Valley Forge, Judson Press, 2003); God’s Last and Only Hope : the Fragmentation of the Southern Baptist Convention (Grand Rapids, W.B. Eerdmans, ca. 1990); “Perspectives on Baptist Denominationalism: Anticipating the Future,” in Randall C. Lolley, ed., Findings: a report of the special study commission to study the question: “should the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship become a separate convention?” (Atlanta, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, 1996), 102-11.

[3] Leonard, Baptist Ways, 423.

[4] I am grateful to the Rev. Dr. Gerald R. Harris, who first brought this concept to my attention in a sermon at Home Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on August 19, 2001, having himself heard Dr. Leonard discuss it in a presentation to clergy.

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

Imagine this. You’re on an elevator with 4 or 5 other people, and you’ve got 5 or 6 floors to traverse – in a hotel, or in an office building. And someone says, out of the clear blue, “What is all this about Moravian music?” You’ve probably got 30-45 seconds to answer that question.

However much we love our Moravian history, now is not the time to begin, “The Moravians count our beginning with John Hus, a Catholic priest and reformer who was burned at the stake in 1415 …” or even “Count Zinzendorf let a group of refugees settle on his estate in 1722 …”. The question wasn’t “What was this about Moravian music?”, but “What is all this about Moravian music?” Remember, you’ve got 30 seconds.

Panicked yet? Maybe! I had a similar experience a few weeks ago, but I had time to think about it. I was working on a letter to invite current and former members of the Moravian Music Foundation’s Board of Trustees to consider the Moravian Music Foundation in their estate plans. And I needed to tell them why. This is what I wrote:

Paul and I have included the Moravian Music Foundation as a beneficiary in our will. We did this, several years ago, because we are fully committed to the mission of the Moravian Music Foundation, recognizing that music has helped shape our faith in ways that words alone cannot; that through music we express our faith beyond the power of the spoken word; and that the Moravian musical culture we both grew up with carries meaning and depth that the world so badly needs.

Not too bad. But it took me a half hour to write that, and I hope you don’t get stuck on an elevator for that length of time – if you do, it’s not likely you’ll be trying to clarify your thinking about Moravian music!

So what about this?

“Moravian music might have begun within the Moravian Church, for worship, but it speaks to the hearts and souls of people of every denomination. It’s well-crafted and beautiful and expressive of our faith in Jesus Christ.”

Or this:

“The Moravian musical tradition dates back hundreds of years, but many Moravian musicians are still writing music that expresses their faith in today’s musical traditions.”

Or even this:

“I play [or sing] in my church’s band [trombone choir/brass ensemble/choir/handbells], and it gives me pride in the music we make together and helps me feel closer to the people I’m playing [singing] with because we’re worshiping as we make music.”

Or this:

“For Moravians music is always a part of life, both “secular” and “sacred”, because the Moravians know that all life is really sacred. I can’t imagine being in a gathering of Moravians without music.”

And follow up with,

“You should take a look at the Moravian Music Foundation’s website. Do you have a few minutes to come to my office and look at it with me, or look on your phone? It’s really easy to find – just think MoravianMusic.org.”

Yes, friends, I’ve been at the Moravian Music Foundation for 26 years, but these weren’t all that easy to write. Don’t wait ‘til you’re in that elevator – if you’re reading this, you have an interest in Moravian music and the work of the Foundation, so be ready to speak about it!

What’s your Moravian music elevator speech?

Next time … Moravian composer Jacob Van Vleck (March 24, 1751-1827)

You’ve seen our pictures and skimmed our biographies; you’ve perhaps met us at a Festival or concert or event; but what do you REALLY know about the Moravian Music Foundation staff? I thought it might be fun to let you know some of the really important things … so here goes!

Sarah’s desk isn’t always THAT clean … but almost!

About Dave Blum, Research Librarian

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? When it comes to cookies and ice cream, I paraphrase Will Rogers: “I never met a flavor I didn’t like.” That said, mint chocolate chip has been a favorite since I was a kid.

Your favorite movie of all time? Similarly difficult, but those with oft-quoted lines: Princess Bride, various Mel Brooks movies, Pink Panther movies

A hobby or pastime in your “off hours” (yeah, WHAT off hours?)? Watching TV (I’m a news junkie), reading, music editing (back to that “what off hours” thing)

Your favorite season of the year? Fall (unfortunately, it doesn’t last very long in North Carolina)

And finally a different profession or line of work you could almost have seen yourself doing instead of what you are now doing? Architecture

About Gwyn Michel, Assistant Director:

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? I can’t eat ice cream, but if/when I could chocolate mint chip was always my favorite

 Your favorite movie of all time? THE WIZARD OF OZ!

 A hobby or pastime you enjoy in your “off hours” (yeah, WHAT off hours?)?  TRAVEL!!!

 Your favorite season of the year? No idea…Winter (i.e., Christmas), I suppose…

 A different profession or line of work you could almost have seen yourself doing instead of what you are doing? Despite the fact that I’ve always viewed myself as a church musician, there was a time when I wanted to be an architect (seriously!); wouldn’t have wound up there though, I’m sure.

About Sarah Durham, Office Manager:

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? I’m lactose intolerant so no ice cream for me! But I do like orange sherbet on a waffle cone!

Your favorite movie of all time? Elf

 A hobby or pastime you enjoy in your “off hours” (yeah, WHAT off hours?)?  Anything active (going to the gym, kayaking, hiking, yoga, running)

 Your favorite season of the year? FALL

 A different profession or line of work you could almost have seen yourself doing instead of what you are doing? A world traveling music therapist. Or as a little Sarah would have said a ballerina!

About Erik Salzwedel, Business Manager:

Your favorite flavor of ice cream? Graeter’s black cherry chocolate chip

 Your favorite movie of all time? A Little Romance, all the James Bond films; TV Shows: Seinfeld, Andy Griffith Show.

Favorite comedian, Steven Wright, quotes: You can’t have everything. Where would you put it? I’m having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time!  I went to a restaurant that serves “breakfast at any time,” so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance!

 A hobby or pastime you enjoy in your “off hours” (yeah, WHAT off hours?)?

Music composition; Planting/pruning trees and shrubs; roller blade/skating

Your favorite season of the year? Autumn, but…    

Greatest Concern: Catastrophic Climate Change

 A different profession or line of work you could almost have seen yourself doing instead of what you are doing? Professional Cyclist, notwithstanding the talent, strength and stamina requirements. Park/Forest Ranger.

About Nola Knouse, Director:

Your favorite flavor of ice cream? Orange sherbet/vanilla combination

Your favorite movie of all time? Probably “Hunt for Red October”

A hobby or pastime you enjoy in your “off hours” (yeah, WHAT off hours?)? Working in the yard

Your favorite season of the year? Spring, outside at the farm

A different profession or line of work you could almost have seen yourself doing instead of what you are doing? Biomedical engineering

So. Now you know.

Although most of our conversations with so many of you relate almost exclusively to music, we do all indeed “have a life” beyond the Moravian Music Foundation! And that life brings richness to our work here, as our work here deepens the joy in each of our lives.

Next time … About Writing Hymns!

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture…

Notes from Nola – Sources of Support for the Moravian Music Foundation

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

Today we focus on thanksgiving – the deep sense of gratitude we have for all who support the Moravian Music Foundation through their financial gifts. You know who you are, of course; but what is the company you keep? Who are our supporters?

They are individuals. People, like you, who have come to know and appreciate the mission of the Moravian Music Foundation, and who want its work to continue to thrive. They contribute to the Annual Friends Fund each year, supporting 23% of our operating budget in 2017. These gifts help pay the normal operating expenses – salaries and benefits, utilities, postage and telephone, and the like.

They are the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in America. Through provincial askings, the provinces supported about 6% of our operating budget in 2017.

They are those who made purchases, either directly from us or from other publishers holding our music in print. Sales and royalties and other miscellaneous income supported about 3% of our 2017 operating income.

They are those who left bequests or special gifts. Many of these are designated for special projects, including publications in the Moravian Star Anthem Series. Others provide unrestricted income, and in 2017 these funds supported 52% of our operating budget. Every year a few small grants help supplement these gifts.

They are those who have contributed to the Foundation’s Endowment (now known as the Securing the Future Endowment Fund). Through these gifts, which generate income in perpetuity, they have provided a vote of confidence in the Foundation’s long-term future. This income supported 16% of our 2017 operating budget.

So as you have supported the Moravian Music Foundation, you are in good company indeed! And as you make your plans for your year-end giving, or look farther into estate planning, we hope you’ll remember the Moravian Music Foundation as we seek to preserve, share, and celebrate Moravian musical culture.

And – first, second, third, forty-seventh, and forever – THANK YOU!!!

Next time … Who are the Moravian Music Foundation’s “constituents”?

 The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

In a few weeks, if you’re on our mailing list, you’ll receive our annual fall appeal, inviting you to support the Moravian Music Foundation with a gift to our Annual Friends Fund. These gifts help keep the doors open right now – they support staff salaries; rent, utilities, and building expenses; computing costs; printing and postage; and all the day-to-day work of the Foundation. Your generous support makes possible all the news you enjoy reading about! (And – if you’re not on our mailing list, ask yourself, why not? You’re reading this, so you do have an interest in our work! Please contact our office and ask to be added, and then you won’t miss out on reminders of events in your area, and our Newsletter!)

In the fall of 2016 the Board of Trustees approved a very ambitious goal – to double our number of donors and to double the amount in the Moravian Music Foundation’s Securing the Future Endowment Fund. I write to ask your help especially in the second part of this initiative.

Simply put, the importance of an endowment fund for a nonprofit organization is that in a world of change, the fund provides continuity, constancy and permanence.  An endowment fund is a source of lasting support, a bridge from the present to the future of the organization. (Sue Pyke, The Top Four Nonprofit Endowment Fund FAQs, February 12, 2015.http://rsffoundation.org/the-top-4-nonprofit-endowment-fund-faqs/)

 Gifts to the Securing the Future Endowment Fund of the Moravian Music Foundation provide ongoing support. That means that in the inevitable “lean years” of the Annual Friends Fund, the income from invested funds makes it possible for us to continue our services. Will you consider making a special gift – a one-time cash gift, a gift of appreciated stock, a gift from your required-minimum-distribution from your IRA, or a multi-year pledge? Your gift, together with those of other lovers of music and supporters of the Foundation, will help build the bridge from the Foundation’s bright present to an even more fulfilling future, of preserving, sharing, and celebrating Moravian musical culture with generations to come.

Of course, not only will we accept a one-time gift now for the endowment; we encourage you to consider the Moravian Music Foundation as you make plans for the distribution of your estate. What legacy would you like to leave?

• Music is important to me.
• Music enhances my worship experience.
• I appreciate the Moravian musical heritage of North America.
• I am glad that living composers are being cultivated, heard and published.
• I want to see this history preserved and researched.
• I want to see Moravian music and musicians thrive, well into the future.

Your gift can be in the form of a simple bequest; naming MMF as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement account; real estate; or another vehicle such as a gift annuity or charitable trusts. The Moravian Ministries Foundation of America provides planned giving services at no charge to all Moravians. Contact Christopher W. Spaugh (toll free 888 722 7923; local 336 725 2589) or email – christopher@mmfa.info to discuss your estate planning goals.  You can also write to the Moravian Ministries Foundation at 119 Brookstown Ave., Suite 305, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. (To donate right now, while it’s fresh on your mind, please go to https://moravianmusic.org/support/planned-giving/, and click on the DONATE button.)

Next time … Telling Your Moravian Music Story!

The Moravian Music Foundation preserves, shares, and celebrates Moravian musical culture.

“Set … big … hairy … audacious … goals!”

This was the advice of the Rev. Gary Harke in a long-range planning retreat held by the Moravian Music Foundation in Montreat, North Carolina, in October of 1994.

This was a breathtaking thought for us all. We had been through a difficult time, and were – as seemingly always – struggling with finances, with institutional stability, with aging donors and disinterested publishers, with a tiny staff and no clear sense of where we needed to go and what we wanted to do. So, Gary said, “Set big, hairy, audacious goals!”

And we did. That weekend we worked on a mission statement, and we identified a bunch of huge (and seemingly impossible) goals; and over the next year our Long-Range Planning Committee (chaired by the Rev. David Schattschneider) led us in creating a long-range plan and priorities. Some of those early goals were … microfilm the whole music collection … start a series of top-quality recordings of our music … build a new state-of-the-art building … celebrate the Foundation’s 40^th anniversary … Well, you get the idea.

Now, 24 years later, those goals are met (the recordings one is still in progress, of course!). We’ve also accomplished a number of other significant things … we’ve become our own publisher, with over 80 anthems in the Moravian Star Anthem Series … we’ve nearly completed GemeinKat, converting our paper catalog to online records … and we have a whole new set of goals, adopted by the Board of Trustees in the fall of 2016. So what are they?

• MMF will increase accessibility to its holdings. This includes online, audio, and paper resources; we’re exploring digitizing portions of the collections, making anthems audible on the website, and lots of other ideas.
• MMF will grow the endowment by 100% by 2019 and double its number of donors by 2019. The Endowment and Donors Committee is hard at work, and you’ve already been hearing from us about these efforts – and you’ll hear more!
• The MMF will create an international linking of Moravian music cultures to promote sharing each unique collection around and within the worldwide unity. We’re working to build relationships and learn from each other!
• MMF will develop its relationship with full communion partners and other denominations. We recognize that we have a great deal to learn from one another and to share with one another. We’ve added members from the Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches to the board, and are exploring ways to participate in church-music workshops sponsored by these and other denominations and to welcome ecumenical musicians to our Festivals.
• And the board adopted a guideline for our work …
• MMF will equally allocate staff and financial resources to support and serve the ministries of these three communities: scholarly community, performing community, church community. This recognizes that we need to pay attention to all our friends!

In 2017 the Board reorganized its committee structure towards achieving these goals – board members choose which of them is their deepest passion, and serve on that committee to work on specific strategies and timelines for that goal.

Set … big … hairy … audacious goals, here we come! Watch out, world, here is your Moravian Music Foundation!

Next time … About the Moramus Chorale and its upcoming concert!