Winston-Salem Symphony Association
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Classics Series
6 classical masterworks concert cycles, each cyle including two performances (Sunday afternoons/Tuesday evenings) at the Stevens Center of UNC School of the Arts.
Plugged-In Pops Series
A four-concert series of popular music experiences featuring great popular music from the 50s to today presented at historic Reynolds Auditorium. This series includes a popular annual New Year's Eve event and has featured artists including Chris Botti, Amy Grant, Manhattan Transfer, Patti Austin, Jake Shimabukuro, Cirque de la Symphonie, tribute shows to artists ranging from Elvis to the Eagles, and more.
Discovery Series Concerts for Kids
This 3-concert series serves families with children age 4-12. Each one-hour concert is preceded by an hour of fun, hands-on, kid-friendly lobby activities. Concerts are multidisciplinary arts experiences, including actors, dancers, singers, instrumental guest artists, magicians, and more. Projections and other visual elements are used liberally to help children connect to the experience. Concerts take place at historic Reynolds Auditorium.
Other Offerings
Each season the Winston-Salem Symphony also presents 2 free community concerts (Holiday Concert & Concert for Community), 2 performances of Handel's Messiah, in-school music education programs that produce over 21,000 student encounters annually, and more.
Gala Concerts
The Winston-Salem Symphony presents superstar artists in concert. Since 2006 we have had the honor of sharing the following exceptional classical artists with the communities we serve: Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Itzhak Perlman, Van Cliburn, Sir James Galway, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Robert McDuffie, and Midori.
Where we work
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Winston-Salem Symphony continues to focus on implementing a strategic plan focused on "three pillars" including:
Community Engagement: Create an inspired community by providing compelling entertainment and volunteer experiences for our community. This pillar can be summarized by three over-arching goals:
1. Widen the reach and quality of our organization throughout the community by:
• Collaborating with educational, community and social services organizations to leverage the impact of our programs;
• Using technology to create opportunities for more of the community to interact with musicians, conductors and music; and
• Increasing focus on family programming as a key component to growing audiences and widening our impact.
2. Build our audience and its loyalty and improve the patron experience by:
• Offering programs that satisfy the interests of current audiences and attract new audiences;
• Exceeding patron's expectations for customer service and regularly assessing customer satisfaction; and
• Using technology and social media to more effectively communicate with customers, build customer loyalty and provide enhanced audience experiences.
3. Make the Symphony Board and Encore Society the volunteer opportunities of choice in our community by:
• Encouraging effective communications with and engagement by the Board in the most critical strategic issues facing the Symphony; and
• Creating meaningful and rewarding engagement opportunities for all volunteers.
Artistic Strength & Vision
Create an inspired community by being the most highly valued orchestra, youth orchestras and symphony chorale in the southeast.
Artistic strength and vision: Make the WSS the orchestra of choice for area professional and student musicians and choral singers by:
• Providing market competitive compensation for orchestra musicians;
• Providing more opportunities for WSS professional musicians to perform as an ensemble; and
• Providing programs that foster artistic excellence of young musicians and chorale singers.
Education: Create an inspired community by providing and serving as a catalyst for exemplary music education in the region.
Institutional Infrastructure & the Comprehensive Campaign: In order to implement these commitments to our community, significant additional financial, volunteer and staff resources will be required.
These new initiatives will require a major fundraising effort both in project support (to act as seed money to get programs started) as well as endowment (to sustain the programs over the long-term). This Comprehensive Campaign (having project support, endowment and multi-year annual fund components) will itself require additional infrastructure. In order to fund these wide-ranging activities, it will be necessary for the Winston-Salem Symphony to raise $7 million in special gifts and endowment funds over the next 10 years.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Winston-Salem Symphony Association
Board of directorsas of 08/02/2023
Ms. Carol Reeve
Sue Henderson
SVP/Regional Managing Director, Wells Fargo Private Bank
Joia Johnson
Chief Administrative Officer, Hanesbrands, Inc.
Michael Lischke
Director, Northwest AHEC & Asst. Professor of Family & Community Medicine; Executive Director, Office of Continuing Medical Education; Wake Forest School of Medicine
Gerry Gunzenhauser
Retired CFO, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
David Levy
Wake Forest University Department of Music
Jim Dossinger
Retired Exxon Executive
William F. Clingman
Retired R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Executive
Gregory Holthusen
President, Orthopaedic Specialists of the Carolinas, P.A.
Malcolm Brown
Retired physician
Pam Cash
Manager of Financial Reporting, Inmar, Inc.
Brad Friesen
Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A.
Steve Karr
Retired R.J. Reynolds Tobacoo Company Employment Attorney
Debbie Wesley-Farrington
Cardiology Nurse Manager, Director Intervention Research at Wake Forest Baptist Health
Cindy Rothschild
Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP
Mary Tucker
Retired
E. Merritt Vale
President & CEO
Matt York
Partner, Wall Esleeck Babcock, LLP
Joe Mount
Retired, UNCSA Director of Outreach
David Olson
Director, MFA Program in Performing Arts Management School of Design and Production at UNCSA
Mark Holton
EVP & General Counsel, Reynolds American, Inc.
Barbara Lentz
Associate Professor, Wake Forest Univ. School of Law
Jeff Lindsay
EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Novant Health
Claire Tuttle
Steve Koelsch
Wells Fargo
D'Walla Simmons-Burke
Winston-Salem State University
Frank James
Wake Forest Baptist Health
Eileen Major
Jim Apple
Thomas Bornemann
Retired Industrial Engineering Consultant
William E. Hollan
Principal/Investment Adviser, Arbor Investment Advisers
Ann Fritchman Merkel
Chief Customer Office - Intimates, Hanesbrands Inc.
Matt Triplett
Associate Attorney, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP
Yvette Willard
Retired VP, Human Resources Organizational Effectiveness, Reynolds American, Inc.
Carol Reeve
President, Chief Marketing Strategist, Creative Director, Girl on the Roof Marketing, Inc.
Charlie Williams
Senior Vice-President, Wealth Management, BB&T
Lew Saphar, Jr.
John Pueschel
Partner, Womble Bond Dickinson US LLP
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes