Letter from the President

To Our Friends:
It is with great pleasure to report that our 2009 season was an artistic and financial success as we overcame a difficult economic environment. Total revenues from all sources came to $283,000, while operating expenses of $276,000 were down significantly from the year-earlier level, reflecting ongoing efforts to streamline our cost structure and our commitment to serve as a responsible steward of your money. As a result, we ended our fiscal year with an operating surplus of $7,000. At year-end, we also had unobligated cash reserves of approximately $105,000 from prior year’s operating surpluses, meaning your Festival is on a sound financial footing going forward.

Our fundraising efforts generated 68% of the Festival’s 2009 revenues, demonstrating the critically important need for strong donor support. Reflecting our high level of community support, individuals and businesses contributed nearly $173,000. Augmenting this total was $25,000 in government and foundation grants from the State of Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs and the Rayonier Foundation. Sales of Festival tickets totaled nearly $76,000, accounting for 27% of our total revenue, which is consistent with our historic norm. Considering the impact of the recession on many families, we believe ticket sales at this level is extraordinary and fully indicative of what this Festival means to our community.

Recent Important Developments
On behalf of the entire Board, I want to express our appreciation to four Board members whose  terms expired in August 2009: Anne Coonrod, Susan Casillas, Jim Shaw and Tom Pippin. We also thank Mike Spino for his hard work and dedication as the Festival’s general manager over the past two years. Mike stepped down from this post following the conclusion of the Festival, and after a comprehensive search for a new general manager, we hired Bretta Vigue, CMP, whose experience in the event planning industry will serve the Festival well going forward.

At our August and September Board meetings, we unanimously elected three new directors to three-year terms: Bet Koeninger, Christine Meehan and Mike Spino. We expect to elect several additional Board members in coming meetings. Reflecting our focus on establishing a strong working committee structure, we appointed five Board members as chairs of our key operating committees. These chairs, who also were elected vice presidents, include: Deb Billings-Morrison, Artist Services; Dick Cinquina, Marketing and Publicity; Trish Dooley, Volunteers; Jim Holz, Development; Stan Kavan, Operations; and Mike Spino, Finance. The work of these committees will be key to our continued success, and we urge you to contact us if you are interested in serving on one of our committees.

Looking Ahead
Your board of directors has established a preliminary budget of approximately $290,000 for the 2010 season, up modestly from last year’s budget. Raising this amount of money will again be challenging in view of the weak and uncertain economy, but we are fully committed to meeting and even exceeding our goal. As always, we will be depending upon your generous financial support to keep the music playing and make our ninth season the best yet.

We extend our sincere thanks to you for making the 2009 Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival a great success. We also want you to know that your board of directors is focused on building upon our past achievements with the goal of further strengthening our position as a preeminent American music festival.

Sincerely,
Neal Coleman
President