During this year’s Annual General Meeting for active members of the Dunedin Music Society, some of the highlights presented by former General Director, Stephen P Brown included further increases in the number of events hosted by the DMS, increases in income from both audience donations and State grants, and an increase in the number of people who participate in and benefit from DMS services. He also expressed joy at the menu of current DMS activities, including:

• Dunedin Concert Band
• DMS Winter Strings
• Florida Symphonic Winds
• Pinellas Community Clarinet Choir
• Pinellas Community Players (to be called Pinellas Community Band in 2023)
• Pinellas Festival of Community Bands
• Rhythm Kings Jazz Orchestra

Final 2022 events, participation and financial numbers are expected in the next month or so.

A realistic operating budget was approved by members, alongside the hope that a renewed fundraising campaign will finally warrant the hiring of an Executive Director in accordance with our Constitution and Bylaws. At the time of the Annual General Meeting, a possible new Director for the Board was being interviewed, and even if appointed, there is still one available seat for a Director.

If interested, please see details here.

There was also a “Special Announcement”

Stephen P Brown shared that in early November he gave notice to the Board of Directors that he would be stepping down as General Director at the end of this year, and as Conductor of the Dunedin Concert Band after its Spring concert in April 2023. DMS Chair/ President Michele Tyrpak expressed gratitude for Stephen’s years of service and leadership and wished him well.

Members of the Executive Committee were informed at their meeting over Thanksgiving weekend. Rhythm Kings Jazz Orchestra Program Manager Greg Howard expressed gratitude and wished Stephen well.

Now public knowledge, both the Board and Executive Committee reacted similarly to most others: some were surprised, and some were not!

Brown gave two primary reasons for his decision:

1. Founding Personality Syndrome. The Dunedin Concert Band was founded in 1981 by Ray Hutchinson, and Stephen Brown was appointed its conductor by the City of Dunedin in 2014 with the condition that he set up a not-for-profit organization for financial accountability. Instead of taking ownership himself by filling in the State’s fill-in-the-blank form, Stephen created a steering committee with members of the community, the band, the audience and the City, which spent 18 months developing what became the Dunedin Music Society’s Constitution and Bylaws. “It was always about forming a community organization, not a passion project to serve a single individual’s desires,” said Brown. However, over the years, as volunteers and performers came and went, more and more leadership issues became reliant on Stephen and a core group of loyal and dedicated DMS fans. It’s a danger many for-profit as well as not-for-profit organizations face: the reliance on one “personality” for an extended period of time. What happens if something happens to them? As has been seen in both Starbucks and Apple, personality-driven organizations can barely exist without them, and in both cases, their personality-based leaders returned more than once. Even Disney is now struggling to maintain its original purpose and expectations, and it is impressive that it has lasted so long riding on Walt’s name and founding leadership. Stephen does not want that to happen to the DMS, so freeing the organization to take charge of its own reigns is vital for the DMS’s long term survival, growth, and impact in the world, especially as it experiences the bumps it faces during this transition.
2. Personal priorities. As many folks involved in the DMS are aware, Stephen’s work with the DMS was not a hobby – it was part of his music career. However, when people across the world were forced to isolate from each other, his business could no longer operate (events could not be hosted, nor was anyone interested in learning how to host them!). He and his wife made several bold attempts to revive his business, but it became clear it will never return to providing them with a living like it did for so long. Alongside unexpected long-term hospitalizations among his relatives both near and far, he must now focus on providing for and caring for his blood family beyond his music profession, which means difficult decisions had to be made about part of his chosen family, the DMS.

FYI: According to the UK’s “Encore Musicians”, over 64% of musicians have left the profession, with most experiencing an 87% decrease in performing opportunities since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Maestro Stephen P Brown now contributes to those statistics.

Most members, performers and volunteers in the various ensembles and programs that the DMS operates were very sad to see Brown step down, yet many are also excited about the future of community music, the DMS in particular. The Board of Directors has already begun preparing for the transition, and will be considering potential Conductors and a Program Manager for the DCB later next year.

Originally, Stephen’s last performance with the Dunedin Concert Band was scheduled to be this Christmas, but with a recent influx of highly qualified, community-focused, advanced performers, we couldn’t resist him leading two more concerts with some of his own favorite – and somewhat challenging – concert band music. Make sure you register your seats for the DCB’s concerts in February and April when they become available!

Always encouraging others

“I would be tremendously saddened if people left the Dunedin Music Society or the Dunedin Concert Band because I’m not on the podium or at the helm anymore,” said Stephen P Brown.

He continued, “We built this organization to connect local communities with live music and to serve each other, not to cater to individual desires and wants. I am extremely pleased with what we have accomplished – and what we chose to stay away from – and I trust everyone involved will continue doing their utmost to make sure the DMS grows beyond all our dreams for future generations to benefit from. Orchestras, bands and choirs continue to be in danger of becoming relics that look weird in the next century’s history documentaries (like rotary phones or milk floats). We can all do our best to make sure people still experience the thrills and goosebumps that in-person, live instrumental and vocal music gives all humans like no other activity can… if we let it.”

As one former DCB Performer remarked when witnessing Stephen’s behind-the-scenes commitment firsthand: “I can’t believe how much you do for others.” It is by example that Stephen encourages everyone to serve each other, thereby making our corner of the world a wonderful place to live… with lots of live, in-person music.

Brown will remain in the area and might be seen around town attending events, perhaps even conducting the occasional music workshop.

There are plenty of local community orchestras for accomplished string players to participate in during the year; but what about those folks who are either returning to their string instrument after years away, or just picking one up for the first time?  This season, the Dunedin Music Society has formed an ensemble specifically for those players. Among the players in the ensemble are a gentleman who is returning to his violin after 50 years, a seasoned cellist recently relocated from New York City, and several adult students. The Winter Strings features strictly violin, viola, cello, and bass (with percussion), and will present a program of classic movie and show music, pop/rock, and arrangements of holiday favorites. 

Among the pieces the string ensemble will perform are “I Dreamed A Dream” from the Broadway musical Les Miserables, and selections from the 1974 movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, which was a movie many children watched during the holiday time. The whimsical movie music includes “Pure Imagination,” the Oompa Loompa marches, and “The Candy Man”.  The group will also play a pop/rock hit from the 1990s, “Bittersweet Symphony,” based on a sample of a 1965 orchestral version of the Rolling Stones’ song “The Last Time” by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra and made famous in 1997 by The Verve.  Finally, the group will present classical and holiday favorites such as Greensleeves and Jingle Bells. 

Family-friendly concerts will take place on December 15 at 8pm at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Clearwater, and December 22 at 8pm at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Clearwater. Come enjoy the concert and bring your family!  Register at this link:  https://mydms.me/event-4980825. There is no charge, but donations are encouraged. 

Each year, one of the most beloved and well-attended events of the Dunedin Music Society’s concert season is the Holiday Concert by the Dunedin Concert Band at the Dunedin Community Center. Local residents as well as winter residents come together to participate in the live music-making experience and share “the most wonderful time of the year”. 

As is the custom with the Dunedin Concert Band, the repertoire of this concert program will allow amateur and professional musicians alike to challenge themselves with some more difficult pieces, while also including traditional holiday favorites many people know and love. 

A few of the classical pieces in this year’s program include the Festive Overture by Shostakovich and the Candlelight Carol by choral composer John Rutter.  According to an article by Maureen Buja featured in Interlude, “Shostakovich’s Festive Overture is a joyous bubble starting with a brilliant fanfare. Written for a concert in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre celebrating the 37th anniversary of the October 1917 Revolution, this 1954 piece seems to contain so much of Shostakovich’s life and humour… Shostakovich said that he’d originally written the work for the 30th anniversary, in 1947. He said that it represented the ‘state of mind of a man who has undergone the ordeals of war, who has defeated the enemies of the homeland, and now seeks to rebuild his country.’” 

The Candlelight Carol is a Christmas carol with music and lyrics by English choral composer and conductor John Rutter, also famous for his Magnificat, Gaelic Blessing and many other works. This carol was written in 1984 and first recorded by the Cambridge Singers, Rutter’s own choral group. The carol focuses on the birth of Jesus and the love of the Virgin Mary for her son, in particular. Some of the lyrics include “How do you capture the wind on the water? How do you count all the stars in the sky? How can you measure the love of a mother? Or how can you write down a baby’s first cry?”

Some of the other pieces in the program are various themes from James Bond films – which were only featured at Christmastime when UK-born Maestro Stephen P. Brown was growing up – as well as The Sound of Music, another nostalgic family story told around the holidays. Finally, audiences will enjoy the well-known Ding Dong Merrily On High, Go Tell It On the Mountain, Jingle Bells, and Sleigh Ride. 

Come and experience the sounds of the season with the Dunedin Concert Band! 

This concert is ideal for ages 7+, and family-friendly. General admission (in advance) is by donation of $15, and DMS members can log in for a 33% discount.