JACKSON SYMPHONY GUILD
The Jackson Symphony Guild functions exclusively for the benefit of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra. This dynamic group of volunteer works together to raise funds to support the JSO. In past years our contributions totaled to 9% of the JSO operating budget.
The Guild is managed by a 25-member volunteer Board of Directors who meet monthly in support of the JSO.
Funds are raised through membership dues and most significantly, through the Annual Holiday Ball. In addition to supporting the JSO, we provide scholarships to community youth and young musicians to take lessons at the JSO Community Music School.
Guild members are also active volunteers. The Holiday Ball provides the greatest opportunity to volunteer whether you like to decorate or can help run the silent auction. There are many short- and long-term opportunities to get involved. Volunteers also host concert receptions and plan the Annual Meeting, a fun celebration of our accomplishments.
The Guild isn’t all work. Guild members enjoy each other’s company while volunteering together and attending JSO concerts.
JACKSON SYMPHONY GUILD’S HOLIDAY BALL
DECEMBER 2, 2023
COUNTRY CLUB OF JACKSON
Experience the glitz and glamour of vintage Vegas at the Jackson Symphony Guild’s Holiday Ball – Casino Royale! The highly anticipated annual event will transport you back to the enchanting era of the Rat Pack. Try your luck in the Casino Room, hit the dance floor, sip on classic cocktails, bid on exclusive items at the auctions, and have a ball! It’s a night of elegance, excitement, and entertainment, all in support of the arts in our community. Don your best vintage Vegas attire and join us for a memorable and fun-filled night for a great cause!
MORE ABOUT THE GUILD
Since its inception, the Guild has grown in stature and strength. It is recognized throughout the state as one of the most effective musical arts support groups in Michigan and is the envy of many orchestras. Every year, peer-review panels from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs comment on the impressive role the Guild plays in supporting the JSO and its programs. The Guild is an organization of which we must all be truly proud!
Thank you to all who have worked to make the Jackson Symphony Guild a vital partner of the JSO and a promoter of the music arts in Jackson!
Nineteen hundred and forty-nine not only gave birth to the Jackson Symphony Orchestra but the Women’s Division as well. The Jackson Symphony Guild History starts with its early members, under the leadership of Mrs. Earl Spiesberger, founding president, the Guild enthusiastically supported our Jackson Symphony Orchestra with the pledge to increase ticket sales and assist in promotion. Since that time with twelve in attendance at the first meeting, the Guild has grown to encompass over two hundred in membership.
Through the years the Guild has pioneered “after-glows” in Jackson and exemplified hospitality to traveling musicians with state-wide acclaim. Promotion and fundraising includes Holiday Balls, fashion show luncheons, book sales, Pop concerts, Shopping Days, cookbook sales, flea markets and Jazz Nights, to name a few of the more successful Guild projects. With spirited support, the Guild continues to fulfill its mission: To promote the enjoyment of music through increased support of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra.
The inspiring words of our first president remind us today of the important role we play in our support:
“Munching on the memories of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra makes me realize how fortunate so many of us were to have shared its birth pangs and pride in its maturity. There was no fear, no temerity in trying new things to keep it safe and enhance the public’s interest in what we felt was a giant step in the cultural growth of Jackson. Many men and women worked tirelessly to bring it all about. We now have one of the finer Symphony Orchestras in the state. Let us carry on to keep it safe and beautiful.” -Jenny Spiesberger
OFFICERS
Jackie Livesay
President
Melissa Callison
Vice President
Jim Francis
Treasurer / 2023 Ball Co-Chair
Shelby Foster
Secretary
Marian Bliznik
Corresponding Secretary
Jen Kinstle
2023 Ball Co-Chair
Joan Cummings
2023 Ball Treasurer
Belle Coty
JSO Liason
Matthew Aubin
JSO Music Director
Angela Machnik
Immediate Past President
BOARD MEMBERS
Briston Bamm
Julie Craft
Jane Flores
Joanne Holman
Nicole Johnson
Jessica Malcheff
Heather Matteson
Cassondra McGinn
Stefanie Riggs
Susan Riley
Andrea Stickney
Dea Talmage
Jennifer Timm
Lisa Walton
Linda Wray
DIRECTORS EMERITUS
Pat Beffel Jr.*
Laurie Cunningham
Julie Duesing*
Laura Davenport
Barbara Duke*
Elayne Eberhart*
Christy Ellis
Debra Fairbanks
Joan French*
Maryanne Fuchs*
Helen Greene*
Nancy Kyro*
Donna Lake*
Karen Maas*
Erin Mazur*
Vickie McFerran*
Karen Moilanen*
Joyce Phelps*
Sue Rochester*
Heather Strecker
Pat Willis*
Deceased: Ken Baxter*, Mary McVicker*, and Patrice Vermeulen
*Denotes Lifetime Emeritus Status
ANNUAL MEETING COMMITTEE
Committee organizes JSG May annual meeting.
CONCERT GREETERS
Friendly greeters from the Guild are needed to warmly welcome Jackson Symphony Orchestra concertgoers as they arrive at Jackson College Potter Center.
FUNDRAISING
Explore Guild fundraising opportunities and assist with Holiday Ball solicitations.
GUEST ARTIST HOSPITALITY
Volunteer hosts and hostesses provide lodging, meals and transportation for guest artists and their families as needed.
HISTORY BOOK
Members maintain an ongoing photo history of the Guild and JSO events. Looking to make this a digital age volunteer position.
HOLIDAY BALL
This gala dinner-dance, held on the first Saturday in December, is the Guild’s largest fundraiser. It requires dozens of volunteers to plan the event, mail invitations, contact potential contributors, prepare publicity, obtain silent auction items, set up auction items, put together a program book and decorate for the event.
HELP WITH DECORATING DAY OF THE HOLIDAY BALL
On the morning of the Holiday Ball, meet at the Country Club to help decorate for the Ball.
MARKETING
Assist in advertising, brochure design and mailings about the Jackson Symphony Guild.
MEMBERSHIP
Volunteers with a variety of skills are needed for this very important committee, including people who enjoy preparing printed materials on a computer, talking with potential members, assembling packets of materials, addressing invitations, and helping with mass mailings.
VOLUNTEER AT LARGE
Just want to be called when a need arises? This is for you!
2023 – Joanne Holman
2022 – Vickie McFerran
2021 – No award given
2020 – No award given
2019 – No award given
2018 – Stefanie Riggs
2016 – Pat Willis
2015 – Ken Baxter
2014 – Joan Cummings
2013 – Donna Lake
2012 – Mary McVicker
2011 – Barbara Duke
2008 – Maryanne Fuchs
2007 – Pat Beffel, Jr.
2006 – Susan Rochester
2005 – Joyce Phelps
2004 – Karen Maas
2003 – Helen Greene
2002 – Linda English
2001 – Viola Main
2000 – Anne Moore
1999 – Mary Spring
1998 – Miriam Walker
1997 – Eva Hamilton
1996 – Harriette Emmet
1995 – Jane Botsford
The Jackson Symphony Guild Board of Directors is proud to offer the Mary Spring into Music Scholarship Award. The scholarship award will be given in the memory of Mary Spring each year. Since Mary’s legacy was one of achieving excellence in all that she did, we will be giving an annual award to the Community Music School’s most outstanding student in the area of excellence in musical achievement. The award winner will be featured as a soloist each year at our JSG Annual Meeting in May. To donate please call the JSO at 517-782-3221 to pick up a donation envelope. Checks should be made payable to the Jackson Symphony Guild with Mary Spring in the memo portion.
Mary Spring
2023 RECIPIENT
ZACHARY MCANINCH
2022 RECIPIENT
CAMERON GIBSON
2021 RECIPIENT
JANET SHASHA
2020 RECIPIENT
EMILY CREWS
2019 RECIPIENT
HALEY GIPSON
2018 RECIPIENT
IAN SHASHA
2017 RECIPIENT
ABIGAIL FOX
2016 RECIPIENT
LAURA COLEMAN
Maestro Stephen Osmond expertly led the Jackson Symphony Orchestra through 40 seasons and helped create an artistic, musical culture specific to Jackson that will continue for many years to come. This level of commitment and dedication to bringing top-level musical performance and outreach to the Jackson area is the basis of the Jackson Symphony Guild’s Stephen Osmond Scholarship. This tuition award shall be granted to a current CMS student who has already demonstrated clear dedication and commitment to our school and community.
Stephen Osmond
2023 RECIPIENT
ETHAN HAYS
2022 RECIPIENT
SERENA FLEMING
2021 RECIPIENT
JANET SHASHA
2019 RECIPIENT
HALEY GIPSON
2018 RECIPIENT
IAN SHASHA
JACKSON SYMPHONY GUILD SUMMER SCHOLARSHIPS
The Jackson Symphony Guild hosts a Holiday Ball every year, and the donations that are solicited through their Fund-a-Need portion of the event are given to their Summer Scholarship.
Students who are continuing their music education through the summer by taking CMS classes, attending festivals, summer camps or other summer music programs are eligible for this scholarship. Those demonstrating a determination to improve and skills with their instrument will be offered funds up to $450.
The Guild is working on raising funds that would help in the purchasing of the devises, headphones and music. For the past two years in August the Jackson Symphony Guild in partnership with the Michigan Theater and Lloyd Ganton Retirement Centers has brought the Jackson community, impactful films that highlight the positive effects music has on those suffering from Alzheimer’s and related dementias. Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory, has led the fight against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it.
For more information, contact the Jackson District Library.