On behalf of the F. Melius Christiansen (FMC) Endowment Fund Committee, I want to thank you for all you have given to ACDA-MN and the FMC Endowment Fund, to our scholarship recipients, and to this remarkable community of choral musicians in 2016.

You make us ever more hopeful as we step into 2017 together.

Scholarships

Thanks to your generosity, we provided 28 people with more than $20,000 in scholarships from the FMC Endowment Fund last year. We were also able to launch two new scholarship funds—one that honors the memory of a remarkable choral director and helps support women in this field, the Alice T. Larsen Memorial Scholarship, and a need-based scholarship fund for students of ACDA-MN members to participate in honor choirs.

We awarded 28 scholarships in 2016:

  • Six (6)—Graduate Study Scholarships
  • Five (5) —ACDA Conference Scholarships to the Sioux Falls Division Conference
  • Eight (8) —Summer Dialogue Scholarships
  • Nine (9) —Summer Dialogue Student Conductor Workshop Scholarships

Congratulations to our 2016 scholarship recipients!  Names can be found at:  http://www.acda-mn.org/past-scholarship-recipients

Giving

2016 was another excellent year for ACDA-MN’s endowment fund as $29,060 was donated to support Minnesota choral music.  We are most grateful that 150 ACDA-MN members contributed $21,185 to the FMC Endowment Fund this past year. For the first time, more than 50% of Summer Dialogue participants donated to the Fund – dollars that were matched by current and Emeritus FMC Committee members!!

In addition, 74 non-ACDA members donated $5,605, and 12 corporations and foundations contributed $7,850 to our endowment fund. A generous matching gift from an anonymous donor double donations for Give to the Max Day through the end of the year. Together that is an incredible 236 supporters of choral music this year!

Make a Lasting Difference — Join our Legacy Circle

In 2016, we also had five (5) individuals or couples become founding members of our brand-new Legacy Circle by designating the FMC Endowment Fund as a beneficiary in their will or estate plans.

Will you consider making a planned gift to establish your legacy and ensure the future of Minnesota choral music?

If you have already included the FMC Endowment Fund in your estate plans, or if you are interested in learning more about planned giving, including opportunities for endowment, please contact us – by phone:  952-270-7489 or by email: execdirector@acda-mn.org.

Thank you again for your extraordinary support of ACDA-MN’s FMC Endowment Fund. Your support spreads the gift of choral music. You help to uplift the music’s listeners, remove financial barriers for kids and choral directors who love it, celebrate its luminaries, ensure its legacy, and strengthen its community. We are most grateful.

May you enjoy health, happiness, and wonderful music throughout 2017!