Patronage! It is important!

Alright, in 25 words (or 140 “tweetable” characters) or less, what is it that we should do to find those patrons eager to help composers compose, performers perform, and interested in preserving the great music of the past?

• Decide what it is you really want to have happen with you and your specific art. Directing, playing, composing, recruiting, teaching…
• Give yourself a test and ask if you really think it is important for people now and for those yet to come.
• When you decide it really is that important, you may surprise yourself your new found mission.
• With confidence in your mission, doors will begin to open to people who want to be a part of your dream
• If you really believe it’s important, don’t hesitate, tell people about it.
• Your enthusiasm whether quiet or loud will carry the strength to move people into motion.

• One small warning, there will be people, believe it or not, who will want to immediately douse your enthusiasm. Don’t let them do it. If your idea has come this far, don’t waste your time on people who want to drag you down.
• It’s interesting how people that have a great attitude and belief end up being with people that share the same thoughts.
• Think big.  You have the skills and experience to do something great.
• This is not make-believe blather saying “you can do anything you want”.  You can’t. But you can do great things with the skills, experience, talent, and abilities that you already posess. You just need to release them upon the waiting world and “ask and you shall receive”.
• Don’t wait to get started. What idea do you have to further the arts in your community?
  * A scholarship program for organ/piano students
  *A school for vocal training with results that will manifest themselves in 6 years.
  *A new addition to or refurbishment of the church organ

  

  *A new set of bells for your music program
  *A new grand piano for the sanctuary
  *A performing arts series for your entire community

• 

  *An intergenerational choir that builds itself
  *An AGO chapter with 80 strong contributing members

Take that little seed, that idea has been smoldering for years, that plan that would provide so much worth for your community, and let it explode.  Then ask a patron or four to help you get there, to realize that dream, to keep music alive in our churches, schools, and concert halls today and in the future.

The members of the Music Ministry of our small mission church, St. Bede Episcopal in Forest Grove, Oregon have a vision and goal of not only providing excellence in our worship music today but building on and creating an outstanding music ministry for the future.

With that in mind, we’d like to ask for your patronage – a gift large or small to our upcoming Hymn-a-thon Music Ministry fundraising event on June 7th.  To be a patron of the worship arts at St. Bede Episcopal Church, and help us reach our goal of $4,000, please click here to visit our gofundme site. All contributions will be matched by an anonymous patron.

We thank you for your support, encouragement, and generosity.

Dr. Jeannine Jordan enjoys a career as a church musician and concert organist.  She and her husband, David Jordan, media artist, created and perform two inspiring organ and multi-media concert experiences, Bach and Sons and From Sea to Shining Sea throughout the US and in Europe.

ASK for Patronage

I believe that there are many people who might not know they are patrons yet, but who would gladly and generously support your music ministry, concert series, studio, or music program.  However, I do believe patrons have one thing in common. They need to be asked for their help.

Before beginning that search and learning how to ask for patronage, though, we have to decide that what we are doing is important enough for someone to support our efforts.  We can get caught thinking “if we only had the money we could get something done here.” Okay, ask yourself, what exactly do you want to get done and how will it benefit others.  If you can carefully and creatively formulate your idea (and put a price tag on it), you might be amazed at what can happen.

Traveling throughout the country to present our organ and multi-media concerts, we have learned so much from our hosts.  The incredible stories they share with us of patronage, of people “making things happen” in their communities in the music and art world, is astounding.

Time after time it is a single person (or a very small group) who has an idea – something they know will benefit the community – who then persuades others to join them as patrons – people working together to create a powerful forward momentum to keep the arts alive.

It would be my great desire that all of us decide that what we are contributing to the arts world is important enough that we can’t let it die (because it certainly could) and we need to pay it forward into the future, for generations that don’t even know they need your art. Today’s patrons, just like Sara Levy and the Esterhazy family of the past, ensure that some of the greatest music and sounds will be available and played for people now and in the future.

With that in mind, we’d like to ask for your patronage – a gift large or small to our upcoming Hymn-a-thon Music Ministry fundraising event on June 7th.  To be a patron of the worship arts at St. Bede Episcopal Church, and help us reach our goal of $4,000, please click here to visit our gofundme site. All contributions will be matched by an anonymous patron. We thank you for your support, encouragement, and generosity.

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, Minister of Music and Organist, at St. Bede Episcopal Church also enjoys sharing her organ and multi-media concert experiences, Bach and Sons and From Sea to Shining Sea with audiences throughout the USA and in Europe.

Patrons All Around Us

What do a Sara Levy, Prince Esterházy, an internationally-known sports broadcaster, an organ student, a church member, and my parents all have in common?  They support, protect, or champion someone or something, such as an institution, event, or cause.  They were/are patrons of the arts.

Our Bach and Sons concert begins with an introduction by a woman named Sara Levy. I hadn’t heard of her until we did the research for Bach and Sons program, but I discovered that it is she who was greatly responsible for collecting and preserving much of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, saving it from being used as wrapping paper or worse. Thanks to her wisdom and her patronage, we can hear today the magnificent music of JS Bach in concert halls and churches.

In the mid-1750s, The Esterházys were one of the wealthiest and most influential families of the Austrian empire and boasted a distinguished record of supporting music. In 1761 Franz Joseph Haydn began his musical service at the Esterházy court.  The patronage by the Esterházy family proved decisive for Haydn’s career, and he remained in their service until his death.  Thanks to the patronage of the Esterházys, Haydn was able to compose in a stable, supportive environment providing for us today a wealth of much-loved concert and church repertoire.

The point of these historical examples is to say that we need and truly appreciate the important work and contribution by patrons to keep our art alive and ensure that it will go on into the future.  It’s what patrons of the arts do: they make sure composers can compose, performers perform, and that the great music of the past never dies.

In today’s world, most of us don’t have a courtly patron, however, patrons are all around us.  They are people from every walk of life who are willing and interested in supporting our music and art.

• Would you have thought that a professional sports broadcaster would be the sponsor of a fine arts program?
• Could you imagine a gift to your music ministry from a person who had never set foot in your church?
• Would you think of finding a patron among your students?  A person who might provide a scholarship for another student.
• Would you be surprised by a “matching gift” for a church music fund raiser?  A gift from that person who wants to remain anonymous that would double the amount raised.
• And what about that $110,000.00 piano for the sanctuary.  Would a single gift by one generous patron cover the cost?  Yes!
• Join millions of other patrons and become a patron today.  The members of the Music Ministry of our small mission church, St. Bede Episcopal in Forest Grove, Oregon have a vision and goal of not only providing excellence in our worship music today but building on and creating an outstanding music ministry for the future.

  With that in mind, we’d like to ask for your patronage – a gift large or small to our upcoming Hymn-a-thon Music Ministry fundraising event on June 7th.  To be a patron of the worship arts at St. Bede Episcopal Church, and help us reach our goal of $4,000, please click here to visit our gofundme site. All contributions will be matched by an anonymous patron.

• We thank you for your support, encouragement, and generosity.

  Dr. Jeannine Jordan is the Minister of Music and Organist at St. Bede Episcopal Church.  She is also a concert organist presenting the organ and multi-media concerts, Bach and Sons and From Sea to Shining Sea throughout the USA and in Europe.

Music on the Brain and Patronage? A Great Pairing!

Music on the brain and patronage?  Do those two things have anything in common?  Indeed they do!  We now know that our brain “on” music is more fully engaged than when doing other activities.  You’ll want to watch the amazing and informative video mentioned in David’s Sidebar to learn more.

Thanks to the patrons of the past who supported many a now-famous composer, Haydn among them, and collected and preserved scores of great composers the likes of JS Bach, we have a plethora of instrumental and choral works to engage our brains as listeners and performers.

Thanks to the patrons of today, we have grand instruments on which to play our music, gorgeous halls in which to perform, newly composed music to inspire us, and sundry concerts of music old and new to attend.  You’ll want to read more in the article below to discover the role of and opportunities to become a patron yourself.

As music-lovers, music-creators, and music-performers, we are thankful to patrons who provide the means for us to create “fireworks” in our brains, to have a “full body brain workout” and more fully engage the “amazing orchestra” called the brain.

Dr. Jeannine Jordan, concert organist, is the co-creator and performer of the organ and multi-media concert experiences, Bach and Sons and From Sea to Shining Sea.