President's Message

It is with great with honor and great pleasure that I write you as the new President of the
International Viola Society, a post I assumed on January 1, 2011, after having spent the previous
three years as the Secretary of the International Viola Society and four years as Secretary of the
American Viola Society. While growing up as a young violist, I revered the American Viola Society
and everything it did, and it was a dream of mine to be involved in such a fantastic organization.

One of the many missions of the International Viola Society is to serve as a conduit for providing
International Aid to grief-stricken areas of the world in the form of musical and monetary offerings
In the past, the IVS has been helpful in providing material and monetary donations to South Africa
and Iraq. Currently, we are wrapping up a relief project for Talca, Chile, which had been hit with
a devastating earthquake on February 27, 2010. Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the
Chile relief effort can do so at http://www.internationalviolasociety.org/chilirelief/. So far we have
secured over ten instruments and $1000 to help replace damaged instruments from the earthquake.

The most important responsibility of the International Viola Society is the oversight of the annual
international viola congress. As the worldwide economy has been tightening for the working class,
especially for musicians and educational institutions, it has been increasingly difficult to secure
venues, sponsorship, and registrants to make these events occur successfully. Having served on the
AVS and IVS boards, I have also been acutely aware of the burdensome responsibility that has been
placed on the shoulders of the congress host. Since I view it as my responsibility as leader of the IVS
to ensure the long term success of the organization, and much of that success is due largely to the
membership created by holding International Viola Congresses, I feel the need to review the system
for funding these Congresses, which I can say with complete confidence the overwhelming majority
of worldwide members of the IVS would love to see continue.

I am currently working with the IVS Board and the IVS Assembly of Delegates to adopt measures
that I believe will greatly help the solvency and future of the international viola congress society.
Firstly, I am working with some legal professionals to obtain non-for-profit status for the IVS in the
United States, which should allow us more eligibility for outside funding (for instance, donations of
airline tickets for board officer and IVC artists' travel). Additionally, I am looking at creative ways
for the IVS to raise revenue to help administer certain aspects of the congress. Finally, I am working
on bylaws legislations that would add a small mandatory "Congress Fee" (of about
$1-2 per member) for all members worldwide, which will go directly for either funding the congress
or serving as an emergency coffer if the congress runs into debt problems due to unforeseen
circumstances. As members of the Arts Community, we are (hopefully) aware of how a mandatory
(very small) contribution from all taxpayers can help to sustain arts programs that receive federal
grants.

We have had held our successful International Viola Congress XXXIX in Würzberg, Germany, with
hosts Emile Cantor and Karin Wolf. It gives me great honor to announce that the 2011 Silver Alto
Clef Award has been given to Nobuko Imai, presented at the viola congress. This year's congress

was a challenge to pull off due to numerous unforeseen circumstances, and I am sure you will all
enjoy reading about it in the next issue. The 2012 Congress also looks very promising; and the
website of event listings can be found at http://www.esm.rochester.edu/ivc2012/ with hosts Carol
Rodland, George Taylor, and Philip Ying.

At this time, I would like to publicly thank some individuals for their public service to the viola and
the International Viola Society. First of all, thanks again to Catharine Carroll and Masao Kawasaki
for the fantastic viola congress they held in Cincinnati in 2010; it was a truly wonderful event. I
would also like to thank members of the IVS family who have provided terrific service over the
last few years: Carlos María Solare, for his two terms of service as an IVS Executive Secretariat;
Dwight Pounds, for his service as advisory member to the IVS Board and his work as IVS Historian
and Photographer; Steven Kruse, for his stepping in as IVS Treasurer and doing a terrific job in a
pinch; and finally Past President Michael Vidulich, who helped oversee numerous successful viola
congresses during his term and has also helped in dramatically increasing the number of Sections
that have joined the IVS international community. I would also like to offer special thanks to
Nokuthula Ngwenyama for her phenomenal job in running the most recent Primrose International
Viola Competition, at which I was in attendance. I was most impressed at the organization, the
innovative usage of the transparent score system, and the web streaming of the competition, an
accomplishment that will surely set the bar higher for international violin and cello competitions to
follow!

Additionally, I would like to thank and congratulate the winners of the IVS Board elections, all of
whom I am very grateful for and honored to be serving with: Vice-President, Ronald Schmidt
(Germany); Secretary, Louise Lansdown (England); Treasurer, Catharine Carroll (United States), and
my appointees: Executive Secretariats, Max Savikangas (Finland) and Luis Magín Muñiz
Bascon; and Advisory Member, Michael Palumbo.

The International Viola Society unveiled its new website this year at
www.internationalviolasociety.org or www.viola.com/ivs. The site will be continually improved and
will hopefully include other useful components in the future, some possibilities include a photo
gallery, a "stolen instruments" section, and an "in memoriam" section.

I am also looking to form an International Viola Composition competition, much like the recently
created Gardner Competition from the AVS, but on an international scale. Another goal of mine
is to have an established "E-news" from the IVS, which Myrna Layton from Brigham Young
University has agreed to run.

The IVS has recently been given control of the yahoo groups viola e-mail list, formerly run by Alan
Lee, owner of www.viola.com. This list will primarily be managed from the President position of
the IVS. You can join this group (which today has 2517 members) at
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/viola/?yguid=349966010. I have been a member of the

group since 1997, and I continually enjoy strengthening my professional relationships and sharing
ideas with violists across the world. We have also taken over the Young Violists group, which has
recently been converted to a Facebook Group. To join us on Facebook, please visit http://
www.facebook.com/#!/groups/youngviolists/.

Lastly, I foresee some exciting development and growth for the International Viola Society.
Our stability as an organization not only depends on healthy membership numbers and revenue
generated from our current Sections (of which we now have fourteen, having added Poland and
Switzerland-and Wales has recently been incorporated into the British Viola Society), but also
on the worldwide development of new Sections. Potential Sections that we have been working on
include Thailand, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands, just to name a
few. Stay tuned for further developments!

Please feel free to contact me at kenamartinson@gmail.com to let me know of any concerns or
suggestions for the International Viola Society.

Violistically yours,

Kenneth Martinson, President of the International Viola Society