Minutes of the Fall Chapter Meeting at the Morgan Library and Museum

December 9, 2006: The Morgan Library and Museum, 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016

Attendees: John Andrus, Gary Cantrell, Mi-Hye Chyun, Chris Crow, Elizabeth Crownfield, Elizabeth Davis, Harold Diamond, Paul Friedman, Ruth Henderson, George Hill, Peter Hirsch, Olga Immel, Steve Immel, Marguerite Iskenderian, Jessica Lang, Leonard Lehman, John Lubrano, Jude Lubrano, Stephen Macaluso, Michael Ochs, Carrie Radna, Kumiko Reichert, Gisele Schierhorst, William Shank, Suki Sommer, Harold Stern, John Stroop, Robert Terrio, Patricia Thomson, Andy Toulas, Rigbie Turner, Kent Underwood, Barbara Walzer, Janet Weaver, Matthew Wise.

The meeting was held at the newly renovated Morgan Library and Museum. The chapter chair, Gisele Schierhorst, opened the meeting at 10:45 am in the new Concert Hall. G. Schierhorst thanked J. Rigbie Turner to host the meeting and R. Turner was introduced.

R. Turner, Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Music Manuscripts and Books, mentioned that currently there are four special exhibits. The main focus of his presentation was Mozart at 250: A Celebration, which R. Turner curated. The exhibit include the manuscripts of Mozart’s earliest surviving compositions—four short keyboard works, the two early Mozart symphonies (K 183 and K 201), "Haffner" Symphony (K. 385), Piano Sonata in A minor ( K. 310), Mozart's only keyboard fugue (K. 426) among others. Mozart’s earliest dated letters to his mother and sister, written when he was thirteen, are also included in the exhibit. R. Turner mentioned that the Bob Dylan's American Journey, 1956–1966 exhibit seemed to be the most popular one at the moment.

R. Turner briefly answered questions regarding the museum’s renovation. The reading Room and the auditorium were newly created and they have been in constant use. The museum was closed for three years during the construction and the cost for construction was one hundred million dollars.

G. Schierhorst announced that the nominating committee should be formed to elect the next chapter officers. She encouraged members to contact her for the nomination.

Peter Hirsch, vice-chair, announced the proposed joint meeting with the New England Chapter of MLA for the Spring of 2007. The meeting will be held in New London, Connecticut on March 23, 2007. Although the details are not worked out, the focus will be on world music. More information will follow.

Mi-Hye Chyun, secretary-treasurer, gave a report on membership and the financial status of the chapter. Currently there are 137 members on the chapter’s listserve. For today’s meeting, a record number of 45 registered and 35 attended.

M. Chyun recognized her unawareness of the chapter by-laws on dues during the chapter meeting in Spring of 2006, when the decision was made to suspend the membership dues for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. At the spring of 2006 meeting, the question was raised to suspend annual dues since the chapter had substantial balance in the account without much expenditure. The voting was done by raising hands and the majority of the attendees voted in favor of the motion. M. Chyun noted that the suspension on the membership dues was not official as it didn’t follow the by-laws. The current by-laws on dues were read:

Article VI. Dues and assessments
Section 1. The payment of dues shall be required of all voting members of this Chapter.
Section 2. The dues may be raised or lowered by a two-thirds majority of voting members. Proposed changes in dues must be submitted to all members by ballot.

M. Chyun announced that annual dues will be collected for the fiscal year 2006-2007, without back dues.

M. Chyun asked the moderator, G. Schierhorst, to call for a motion to discuss the membership dues. There was a motion to suspend the dues. This motion will be followed up by ballot to amend the by-laws for the membership dues. It was noted again that the payment of dues will be required in order to vote to amend the by-laws to suspend the dues.

It was suggested to utilize the chapter funds to cover the expense for the chapter meetings, travel expenses to the national meeting or scholarship. It was agreed that the chapter would pay for transportation for the Spring 2007 chapter meeting in New London, CT if the charter bus was hired.

The business meeting adjourned at 11:50 am.

Secretary/treasurer’s report:

The chapter’s account is with Bank of America.

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