2020 Updates

At its meeting on June 20, the Board adopted a motion:

• to fix June 25, 2020, as the day on which the ballots will be counted, 
• to appoint the Corresponding Secretary (Mitchell Stecker), J. Patrick McGill and Michael McCormick as the three tellers, 
• to fix July 14, 2020, as the day on which the tellers’ report is to be presented to the Board, and 
• to fix July 31, 2020, as the last day of the terms of the Class of 2020 directors.

For more information about the revised process for the 2020 election, please see this post.

[28 April 2020]

Dear Friends,

The board met about a week ago to continue deliberations about the fall out from the pandemic. Summarized below are actions taken to adjust the processes concerning the Election of Directors and the Carillonneur Examination, so that they can still take place in light of the unprecedented cancellation of congress.

First, the Election of Directors. The ballots will be mailed out to voting members in a few days as usual, but the only way to vote this year will be by mail. Please carefully read the instructions included with the ballot. To be counted, your ballot must be received by the Corresponding Secretary by June 25. A detailed explanation of the revised procedures can be found here. The election results will be available in July, and will be posted on this webpage and announced to the email list.

Second, the Carillonneur Examination process. Once the decision was made to cancel congress, the board sought the input of the exam committee on a number of potential ways of continuing the exam process. The exam chair also obtained information from candidates who passed the recording stage about their individual circumstances. After considering all of the different factors, the board unanimously approved the following adjustments to the process so that the candidates who passed the recording stage (i.e. those who received the approval of at least four out of five jurors) can complete the Carillonneur Examination process this year:

The recordings submitted by the candidates in January will constitute their examination recitals. As of about June 1, members with the right to vote in advancement votes will be invited to listen to those recordings online, and to cast their advancement votes online during the month of June. We will be using an e-voting service offered by Simply Voting Inc to conduct this vote. Additional information will be provided to voting members by June 1. We expect to be able to announce the results sometime in July. Further details are available here.

In view of the exceptional circumstances caused by the pandemic, this is a fair and equitable adaptation. Through no fault of theirs, candidates will not be able to perform for the whole membership this year, so we hope to feature this year’s successful candidates in New Members’ Recitals at future congresses, so that they can perform for everyone and receive belated but well-deserved congratulations for their hard work and achievements.

More information about these adapted processes and additional updates about the cancellation of Congress 2020 can be found at https://www.gcna.org/2020-updates/ 

Finally, we are working on offering, in webinar format, some of the presentations that would have taken place had congress not been cancelled. More details to come!

Before signing off, I want to thank all officers and board members for all of their work in recent weeks: three meetings in 30 days might be a record? Thanks also to our volunteer committees for continuing their work in these difficult circumstances. We will prepare and distribute officer and committee reports in June as usual, so you will learn about all the good work happening behind the scenes this year.

Keep safe and stay healthy!

Roy Lee
President

[19 April 2020]

In light of the cancellation of congress, the board of directors approved adjustments to the process so that the 2020 election of directors can take place.

1. The Corresponding Secretary mails out ballots before May 1 as usual, with an explanation of the revised election procedures, a link to the Bylaws, as well as a link to a webpage (https://www.gcna.org/2020-updates) where all further updates concerning the election procedures, and the election results, will be posted. In the same mailing, he includes an official notice that there will be no congress this year. 

2. The only method of voting is ballots by mail. Ballots must be received by the Corresponding Secretary on or before June 25 to be counted.

3. At a board meeting to be held before June 30, the Board must, in consultation with the Corresponding Secretary:

• fix a date as Counting Day;
• appoint the Corresponding Secretary and two other named individuals (GCNA members if possible) as the tellers;
• fix a date for another board meeting to ratify the results;
• fix a date (no later than August 31) for the end of the terms of the Class of 2020 directors.

These board decisions are posted on the webpage before Counting Day.

4. On Counting Day, the tellers check the names on the outer envelopes against the current roster as of that day to remove the ballots of lapsed members. If there are any questions concerning eligibility, the tellers may consult with David Hunsberger (the Guild's Attorney) and with Wesley Arai (the Guild’s Treasurer), and report this in the tellers' report.

5. The tellers count the ballots. The tellers record the results and each teller signs the tellers' report. Any irregularities are described in the tellers’ report. The Corresponding Secretary keeps the ballots until the 2021 annual meeting in an envelope sealed in the presence of all the tellers.

6. The Corresponding Secretary sends the tellers' report to the Board. The report is confidential until the Board ratifies the results.

7. The Board meets to ratify the results.

8. The terms of the newly elected directors begin when the terms of the Class of 2020 directors end, and end at the adjournment of the 2023 annual meeting.

9. Should there be a tie involving third place and one or more lower places, the candidate(s) with the greater number of votes are elected. The remaining seat(s) may be filled by the Board, with the term of any such director(s) ending at the adjournment of the 2021 annual meeting. The number of directors to be elected in the 2021 election of directors is increased as necessary to return the Board to the full complement of nine directors. The top three elected in that election will fill three-year terms, and the remaining will fill two-year term(s).

10. The names of those elected are posted on the webpage, and the tellers' report and the Board's decisions are reported in the minutes. Any irregularities are reported to the membership.

11. The Board by motion may adopt further revisions to the process if necessary.

12. At the same meeting when the Board ratifies the election results, or another meeting held on or before August 31, the Board elects officers for 2020-2021.

13. A resolution is moved at the 2021 annual general meeting to ratify this adapted process.

[19 April 2020]

Once the decision was made to cancel congress, the board sought the advice of the exam committee and its input on a number of different potential options for revising the exam process. The exam chair also obtained information from candidates who passed the recording stage about their individual circumstances. After considering all of the different factors, the board unanimously approved the following adjustments to the process so that the candidates who passed the recording stage (i.e. those who received the approval of at least four out of five jurors) can complete the Carillonneur Examination process this year:

The recordings submitted by the candidates in January constitute their examination recitals.

Candidates wishing to continue with the revised process provide their consent by May 15 for the GCNA to distribute their recordings to voting members (Carillonneur Members and Honorary Members who are former Carillonneur Members) for adjudication purposes.

The recordings of participating candidates are uploaded to the GCNA’s Dropbox account, on a listen-only (not-downloadable) basis. Only the recordings for which the GCNA has permission from publishers/composers to distribute for adjudication purposes are uploaded and distributed.

By June 1, voting members receive Dropbox links so they can listen to the recordings online.

Voters receive voting information via email from Simply Voting Inc (a web based online voting system). They cast their vote to advance (or not) each candidate, by electronic voting. 

Carillonneur Members are given 30 days to vote (until July 1). The Board ratifies the results at its July meeting, then the candidates and the membership are notified.

[March 30, 2020]

Joint announcement from Longwood Gardens, WCF and The GCNA:

All of us around the world are facing unprecedented and ever-changing times. Due to continuing developments with COVID-19, the difficult decision has been made to cancel the 2020 GCNA and WCF Congresses. Please remember to cancel any travel plans you may have made related to the congress. If you have any questions, please contact Emily Moody (Longwood Gardens) at carilloncongress@longwoodgardens.org, Roy Lee (GCNA) at president@gcna.org, or Koen Van Assche (WCF) at beiaardierkoen@hotmail.com, depending on the nature of your question. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time of uncertainty.

Message from the GCNA Board of Directors:

When the board met by teleconference yesterday, it resolved unanimously to thank Emily Moody and the staff of Longwood Gardens along with Robin Austin, Doug Gefvert, Lisa Lonie and Janet Tebbel for all of their efforts in preparing to host the congress.

The board met twice this month to plan for this contingency and will meet again in mid-April to make further decisions. Further updates will be sent to the GCNA Members Email List and posted at https://www.gcna.org/2020-updates/

This is a stressful time for all members, but the uncertain status of congress has been a source of anxiety for Carillonneur Examination candidates perhaps more so than for anyone else. The examination committee chair will be communicating with candidates directly before the end of this week.

Roy Lee
President
The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America