The North End Music & Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC) shared their 2017 annual report at a public meeting last week, highlighting their recent marketing and rebranding overhaul, continued community outreach, and possible new space.
The meeting began with NEMPAC Executive Board elections. Dianne Royle was re-elected as President, Doug Bowen-Flynn was re-elected as Vice President, and Sean O’Connor was elected as Clerk.
President Royle’s report was shared with the group, which emphasized NEMPAC’s pursuit of the Sumner Tunnel Administration Building at 128 North Street and the overwhelming support from the community at a December neighborhood meeting. NEMPAC is confident they will receive some programming space in the building, and are excitedly awaiting the details and amount of space.
This report also listed highlights from 2017, including the Beethoven’s Fidelio Opera at Faneuil Hall, NEMPAC’s third annual performance of Handel’s Messiah at St. Stephen’s Church, and the second annual cornhole tournament to support Marshall Music Scholarship fund founded by State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz.
NEMPAC Executive Director Sherri Snow discussed their goals for 2018, aimed to continue developing partnerships and strengthening community engagement:
- A “Meet the Musicians” series this Spring.
- A concert series partnership between NEMPAC and the North End Library. This series will be geared toward children, and will be free and open to the public thanks to a new major donor.
- Creating community rooms. The NEMPAC community room on the Prado has become an open gathering space for families and makes NEMPAC more accessible to the public.
Sherri also emphasized the organization’s need for new, adequate performance space and more instructional space as their programming continues to expand with more families and adults enrolling in NEMPAC classes and music instruction.
On the education side, NEMPAC continues to partner with the Eliot School and the St. John School, and has expanded to the Warren Prescott School in Charlestown. This year NEMPAC will run their music theater troupe program for its seventh year, performing The Sound of Music in the Spring.
On the performance side of NEMPAC, programs are going strong and they have begun to sell season pass tickets, which allow for a strong base at each performance. A special thanks to Board Member Ramin Khoshatefeh who has generously allowed NEMPAC to use the Bijou de la Vida Art Gallery for their concerts.
“Using the Gallery as a performance space has allowed NEMPAC to bridge the gap between artist and audience, creating a more meaningful experience for everyone. We look forward to continuing to inspire our audience through these concerts at the Gallery.” – Sherri Snow
Rose-Marie Gomez recently joined the administrative team of NEMPAC as the Branding & Marketing Manager. She presented on the organization’s recent marketing changes, including a complete website overhaul and updated logo. NEMPAC is working to clearly identify their two divisions: Educational Programming – providing quality lessons for children; and Professional Performances – offering quality concerts for the community.
After the website redesign, NEMPAC saw an increase in web traffic and an increase in email subscribers. They created online event listings, and are seeing more purchasing of tickets through the website. NEMPAC has also increased their social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and have received positive feedback on the new online registration system.
In terms of finances, NEMPAC had a profitable year in 2017 thanks to fundraising efforts, including the annual Student Perform-a-thon, Board Member Andrea Waldstein’s birthday event where she generously had all gifts made to NEMPAC, and the 15th anniversary celebration. Thanks to these efforts, NEMPAC was able to set aside some money in a reserved building fund for their space needs.
Overall, it was an exciting year for NEMPAC and the organization looks forward to continuing to grow in 2018. Board Member Andrea Waldstein summed it up nicely at the end of the meeting:
“The partnership with the library, the expansion into the schools, it’s all so exciting. The level of the performances and quality of lessons is so high. The community can really depend on what NEMPAC is doing.”
To read more details, see the complete NEMPAC 2017 Annual Report.
