Bridges, Opera, and Board Meetings

When one thinks of San Francisco, one automatically imagines the Golden Gate Bridge stretching out across the emerald waters of San Francisco Bay, triumphantly peeking out of a cloud of mist. But when I got to walk the Golden Gate Bridge this past weekend, to my surprise there were no clouds to shroud the bridge! Instead, the skies were completely blue, providing a serene, unimpaired view of the San Francisco skyline. Therefore, I can comfortably say that the walk across the bridge was well-worth the bumpy bus ride across the city.

Aside from visiting the Golden Gate, I had the opportunity to attend the Merola Opera Program’s production of Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire. Having read the play in high school, it was intriguing to see the suspenseful, tragic story transformed into an opera. Seeing this performance was another great way for me to become more acquainted with the musical scene here in the Bay Area.

If you’ve been following my blog, you would know that last month I had the pleasure of attending Music at Kohl Mansion’s Board of Director’s meeting. This month, once again, I was invited to attend the meeting, but this time they invited me to sing for them! Considering that MAKM is a chamber music series, I thought that German lieder would be most appropriate for the venue. I have provided video links of the two pieces I sang: Das Fischermädchen and Nacht und Träume by Franz Schubert. Check them out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxhKtvORIM8&feature=youtu.be and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otMFL4KwJKo

Following my musical prelude, the meeting was quickly underway with several important topics to be discussed, including the upcoming Board of Directors retreat. The retreat was proposed as an exercise to facilitate team-building within the board and to encourage the brain-storming of ideas for MAKM’s future programs and vision. Not only will the retreat help the board explore significant topics like MAKM’s financial future and fundraising, but it will help form deeper personal connections between board members. During my time at MAKM, I’ve learned that what makes a small arts non-profit so unique is the personal connections that are created not just between board members, but between patrons and family-members and neighbors. In a sense, since Music at Kohl is so intimate and small, it fosters its own community, which is one of the most important goals of a non-profit organization. 

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