ARS Board Holds its Spring Virtual Meeting

The ARS Board of Directors met virtually March 31-April 2 for its Spring meeting. Work began with a brainstorming session on Friday evening, where the group, including AR magazine Editor Gail Nickless and Administrative Director Susan Burns, considered the question: “What is our next big thing?” During the COVID pandemic, ARS explored the power of the internet to keep recorder players active and engaged. With the pandemic mostly behind us now, ARS will continue providing new and expanded benefits to current members as it seeks to attract a diverse mix of new members.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Directors discussed what they’ve learned in the past six months, then tackled the regular business of reviewing the ARS finances and committee reports.

Highlights include:

• The first Diversity and Inclusion grant was awarded to Melika Fitzhugh to pay production costs for a new composition.
• Play-the-Recorder Day was celebrated on Zoom with a gathering of 100+ participants. The meeting featured an interview with composer Victor Eijkhout and a video of Emily O’Brien conducting and performing his composition, “Quo Vadis?”
•  Many new compositions were added to the ARS Music Libraries, and more are to come. The libraries now contain over 540 pieces of music!
• ARS membership categories are being simplified, and its Policy Book was updated extensively to bring it up to date.

Finally, the ARS strategic plan was reviewed and updated to focus Board efforts for the coming six months. Expect to hear more about scholarships targeted to specific types of players, a learning program for emerging players (the level above ‘beginner’), and more extensive use of the ARS YouTube channel for instructional and performance videos.