Cassandra Foundation

Bylaws

Introduction

In the world of new classical music, the second half of the twentieth century has been dominated by a spirit of experimentation.  Certainly in the history of Western Music the old masters too, such as Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner, Debussy, had flaunted traditions and charted new courses for which subsequent generations have been eternally grateful.  However, in the past half century, the pressure to escape tradition grew far beyond simply a matter of evolution, that novelty became to be celebrated for itself.  To earn the label of being “modern”, a composer was obligated to negate his connection with the past, and any composer who dared not to jump-on one of the accepted bandwagons, such as serialism or minimalism, were ostracized and ignored by the new music community at large.

Whether the tyranny of the avant-garde has yet run its course upon entering the twenty-first century still remains to be seen.  At least in some circles, though, there seems to be a relaxed acceptance of what the rich tradition of Western Music has to offer composers of today, such as tonality.  Yet there seems to be a lack of direction in this regard.  Thus, in hope for inspiration and guidance in the further development of classical music, it is appropriate that we look back into the history of music of the recent century in search of faint threads of development that have hitherto been obscured by passing fashions and prejudices.  In this revisit, it is not difficult to find references to musical works long forgotten in all practicality but were at one time enthusiastically championed by highly respected musicians of the day.  Sadly, as many of these works have been long out of print and have never been available on commercial recordings, they are accessible only to the occasional researcher.  To the public, they remain only as tantalizing footnotes in the history of music.  The objective of the Cassandra Foundation, then, is to search out for the promising but neglected musical works and their composers and to help to make it possible for them to be heard and appreciated by an interested public.

Areas of Focus

There must certainly be more neglected musical works that deserve a hearing than any one organization can hope to address.  Therefore, the Foundation can only aim to make a selective contribution to the musical community in this regard, and the specific choices of repertoire cannot but reflect the personal tastes of its trustees.  Nevertheless, the trustees wish to declare a loose framework of criteria for their selections.

  1. The subject musical works shall have been composed in or around the twentieth century.
  2. Although works of living composers are not precluded outright, the focus shall be directed toward composers no longer living, as the latter (if not already famous) are usually in more desperate need of an advocate than the former.
  3. Wide scale neglect or relative obscurity of the musical works or of the composers is a necessary condition.
  4. The subject works or composers must exhibit sufficient originality to be deemed worthy of the Foundation’s attention.
  5. At the same time, a preference is given to those works or composers who respect, build upon and extend the great traditions of Western classical music.  The race and national origin of the composers, on the other hand, are immaterial in this consideration.

Range of Activities

The manners by which the Foundation may carry out its mission of disseminating worthy musical literature may include the following, as funds permit:

  1. A recorded performance would extend a musical work’s accessibility beyond current-day audience into future generations of music lovers.  If no adequately representative recording already exists for the subject work, the production of a music recording is the most far-reaching service the Foundation can contribute to a subject musical work.  The Foundation would undertake this task in partnership with the record label Cassandra Records.  While the Foundation would contribute primarily the initial production costs (including but not limited to the hiring of performing ensembles, the recording venues, publisher’s royalties, and necessary outsourcing such as for the pressing of CD’s), Cassandra Records would provide all necessary human resources – creative, technical and marketing – in producing and managing the on-going distribution of the recording.

It is disclosed hereby that the Foundation’s trustees wholly own and operate the “for-profit” Cassandra Records.  While the trustees will not collect any salaries from the Foundation, Cassandra Records will receive 50% of cash distributions, if any, from the operation of the partnership with the Foundation, as justified by its essential contributions to the partnership.  The Foundation would receive the other 50% of any such cash distributions. (See amendment below.)

  1. Another possible activity that has the potential for making a far-reaching impact is to introduce the subject works and composers to a new generation of musicians and to spark their own excitement with them.  Nominally this may consist of establishing a rapport with music schools and their faculty members – presenting the subject works and composers indirectly by way of distributing recordings and music scores or in person by way of lectures and informal talks.  More involved might be to organize music competitions on a well-defined subject.  And more ambitious yet would be to organize an extensive festival on a subject composer, involving lectures, master classes, competitions, and performances by both professional and student musicians.  The composer Kurt Hessenberg’s centennial is coming up in 2008, so he would be a prime candidate for such a treatment.
  2. As opportunities present themselves while funds permit, the Foundation may sponsor, in whole or in part, performances featuring one or more subject works, in any possible scale, from chamber to orchestral.

The undersigned trustees attest that the bylaws as stated above have been adapted by the Cassandra Foundation on this 16th day of December, 2003.

Leland Sun                                                    Thomas von Benda

Trustee and administrative officer            Trustee and executive officer

Amendment

In clarifying the conformity to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the proposed relationship between the Cassandra Foundation and Cassandra Records as described in Range of Activities, Section #1 of the Bylaws adapted on Dec. 16, 2003, is hereby redefined.

In its recording projects, Cassandra Foundation shall solely undertake all production responsibility and therefore would own in entirety the copyright of the finished recordings.  Cassandra Records shall assist in the marketing and distribution of these recordings, but other than reimbursements for specific marketing and sales expenses, it shall retain no portion of the proceeds from the sales of the Foundation’s recordings.  As with any of its earnings, Cassandra Foundation’s income from recording sales shall be used exclusively for furthering the Foundation’s purposes as declared in its Articles of Organizations and Bylaws.

The undersigned trustees attest that the amendment to the bylaws as stated above has been adapted by the Cassandra Foundation on this 22nd day of October, 2004.

Leland Sun                                                    Thomas von Benda

Trustee and administrative officer            Trustee and executive officer

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