We are sad to announce that our amazing Vice President, Rachel Rae, has decided to step down from the board of directors. Even though she relocated to North Carolina a few years ago, she has continued to serve on the board as we were able to move our board meetings to virtual. However the past few months, her career and life in Wilmington has filled her calendar, she decided that it was time to focus on that. It has been a pleasure serving on the board with Rachel and will miss her so dearly. We would like to say Thank you for making WE such a big part of your life and all your hard work to make WE the success it is today!
We asked her a few questions about her time singing in WE and serving on the board.
1. What year did you join WE? 2014
2. What were some of your favorite memories of WE? No matter if I was having a good or bad day, I always left rehearsal happy! Some of my favorite memories were going to 74th Ale house after rehearsal at Phinney Ridge and having low-key "board discussions", tossing around ideas with other WE members, and any time we would randomly break into song!
3. Any favorite songs you have sang? Oh my, there are SO many! A couple of my all-time favorites were songs composed by a couple of our own WE members! Daniel Schreiner's The Apple Tree and Nelson Green's Take me to The Pine Grove. When we went virtual I had a blast performing our jazz song, Third Wind. I was so moved by Lully Lulla Lullay during one of our winter concerts and loved floating those Soprano high notes. Lastly, Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine and performing in the Museum of Flight was so cool!
4. List some things that you are really proud of doing while serving on the board. Again, SO many things! For one, the inception of Wellspring! I remember that first meeting in one of our member's home and all bouncing off ideas of really making this happen and was honored to have been invited and voted onto our founding board! The amount of work, dedication and countless meetings to get where we are today are truly remarkable to me! Two things I am extremely proud of are enhancing our mission with all of the invitationals we have had the opportunity to join and host. Immersing ourselves and being a part of our community is at WE's core values! We also are so passionate about the arts and making sure our youth has access and is able to join us in concert. I remember when I was in high school, being invited to sing with college and professional groups was SO exciting and I really believe it lead me to where I am today with keeping music in my life! We have been able to perform with multiple high school groups and it really makes my heart sing! The other may seem small, but I am so happy that we finally launched our WE merch! Now our members and supporters can rock their own WE gear while giving back to our nonprofit!
5. Any final thoughts about your time serving and maybe something that might help inspire a new member to join the board. Now living on the east coast and in the south, I have missed my WE family incredibly! I am in awe of the talent in this group and our fearless Artistic Director, Evan Norberg and Assistant Artistic Director, Daniel Schreiner. I have been honored to serve on our board of directors since its inception and quickly moved from Board Member to VP because I loved WE so much, cared about the mission and it was worth every minute! Not to mention, our board members are some of the best humans on the planet! We get down to business, have thought provoking discussions and also, a lot of fun! I am so proud of us and am excited to see the future of Wellspring! We have just scratched the surface of what we can do, and lives we want to impact!
6. Any additional things that you'd like to share! When I joined Wellspring, I only knew a couple of people and now I have made SO many friends and strong connections. WE has always felt like family to me and there is an indescribable and lasting feeling when you create such beautiful music with others! Performing at a WE concert is one of THE best days! One thing I love about this group is our circle before a concert. We all gather after rehearsing and Evan guides us through some mantras/meditations and we all have the opportunity to share anything we may want, highlights, thanking another member and just showing the love! Performing for loved ones and strangers is a moving experience and I love seeing the emotion on their faces when we make music, but it is even more so when you are so connected to your fellow ensemble mates and director! It's magnanimous yet intimate at the same time. Those are feelings I will never forget! Thank you WE! I love you all!
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