Ottawa New Horizons Band Steering Committee
Report to members October 2015
As most of you will know, it has been agreed by the ONHB Steering Committee that matters discussed or decided at the Committee’s meetings, insofar as they may be of general interest to band members, should be reported in summarized form following the Committee’s meetings. The ONHB Steering Committee meets three times a year – in January, May and August/September. At the meeting held on September 9, 2015 the following matters were dealt with:
1. Online facility for payment of registration fees through PayPal is in place for the January/April 2016 session.
2. The policy/procedure guidelines to support band directors and to assist new band directors are being finalized and will be available for the next Steering Committee meeting in January 2016. In addition, information binders to assist guest conductors are being prepared by the individual band directors.
3. Criteria for awarding honorary lifetime memberships through a Distinguished Member Award have been approved. Recipients of this award will be chosen by the Steering Committee. The award will recognize exceptional and sustaining contributions to the ONHB exceeding what is normally expected of any member, and will not necessarily be made on a regular basis. Any ONHB member may nominate a candidate, but the nomination must be brought to the Steering Committee by a committee member. The names of recipients will be made public to the entire ONHB membership.
4. A xylophone and a baritone saxophone have been acquired for use by ONHB bands from funds brought forward from prior sessions.
5. The spring extension sessions in May and June this year were well supported, as indeed they have been in past years. It has been agreed that these extension sessions should be part of the regular ONHB program in future, but still managed by volunteer band members. Details of how this should work are to be prepared for discussion by the Steering Committee at its January 2016 meeting.
6. Our December concert will take place on Tuesday, December 1st at 7:00 p.m. so mark your calendars!
