Yvonne Sing

Yvonne Sing currently serves as President and Board Member of Bay Area Friends of the Fine Arts (BAFFA). She also performs as the principal percussionist and timpani player for the BAFFA Symphony Orchestra. Other musical experiences include performing in her church’s youth handbell choir, Brentwood High School musicals, and Green Machine Marching Band.  

Yvonne is an alum of Ithaca College and Southern New Hampshire University.

BAFFA had a moment to ask Yvonne some questions about her experience with serving on the BAFFA Board and what she loves about BAFFA.

What first inspired you to become involved with BAFFA?

"I was recruited by a fellow orchestra member, who told me that the orchestra was in need of a timpani player."

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BAFFA has been enriching the community through the arts for decades. What do you think makes the organization so special?

"I think what makes BAFFA special is the fact that we have three branches that provide fine arts programming: our gallery, our chorus, and our orchestra. We're very fortunate to have our gallery space in the historic Gillette House, which enables us to partner with other art organizations whose artists wish to show their work, but may not have their own spaces. We're also unique in that so much of our fine arts programming is enabled by volunteers who give their time and energy to enable BAFFA to give back to the community."

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What accomplishments or moments during your time in the Board are you most proud of?

"I am proud of the fact that BAFFA can provide scholarships through our organization and through partnerships with other groups like Women Sharing Art. I've had many people tell me that their children's' ability to participate in the arts serves as a healthy outlet for them, or as a path to their future careers as fine arts educators. I feel that it's our responsibility to grow and nurture future generations, because we never know what we could miss or who we could help if we don't make those investments now."​

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What are some of the biggest opportunities and challenges that nonprofit arts organizations like BAFFA face today?

"I believe we're facing two challenges right now: funding and finding volunteers.

 

Funding is a challenge because a lot of grant opportunities are subsidized by federal dollars. When those extra funds are missing, New York State has to make tough decisions about what gets funded, and what gets cut. There are many art organizations throughout the state, so the competition becomes even tighter when fewer funds are available.

 

Finding volunteers is a challenge because things like food, gasoline, and housing are getting more expensive for everyone across the board. Your basic needs have to be met before you can consider how to get involved in your community, and that's understandable. When the available pool of volunteers shrinks, more of the workload has to get carried by our board and a small, core group of volunteers who have supported us over the years. At the same time, as President of BAFFA, I worry about burnout and making sure that individual people aren't carrying too much of the load on their own."

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What would you say to someone who is considering becoming a BAFFA member, volunteer, artist, or supporter?

"I would say to them that, "every little bit helps", whether that's you volunteering your time, signing up to provide financial support as a member or supporter, or contributing your talents as an artist, singer, or musician. I always remind people at every event where I speak that, 'BAFFA is powered by our members, supporters, and volunteers', because I don't want anyone to forget or take for granted what it takes to enable an organization like BAFFA to continue to exist."

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Looking ahead, what is your vision for BAFFA over the next five years?

"This is a tough question to answer because I couldn't have predicted the things that have happened to date in this world. Maybe a way to look at this question is 'what would I want to see if I could wave a magic wand?' I'd want to see growth in our pool of volunteers, so that we can deliver more programs to the community. I'd love to see more financial supporters/sponsors, because it does take money to make everything happen. I'd like to see more partnerships with other civic organizations in our area, so that we can support each other in our respective missions."

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If you could describe BAFFA in just three words, what would they be?

"Community, talent, service."

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What's something people might be surprised to learn about BAFFA?

"People might be surprised to learn that, for our 2025-2026 season, our gallery was booked and had shows every single month."

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If you could invite any artist or musician—past or present—to a BAFFA event, who would it be, what event would it be, and why?

"I would invite Rasheed Johnson to one of our gallery events. Last year, I saw his exhibit, "A Poem for Deep Thinkers", at the Guggenheim in NYC. It was fascinating because the exhibit was installed in the majority of the space at the museum and it was combination of canvas artwork, sculptures, plants, and multimedia pieces. I would love to have a conversation with him about what it takes to develop and install a show of that scale in one of the most famous museums in the world."

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What's a fun fact about yourself that most BAFFA members don't know?

"Most people don't know that I used to work in the television industry. I have some credits on documentaries for several cable networks: A&E, Food Network, and The History Channel. This was before the days of IMDB or streaming, so fortunately, I have copies at home of the programs that I worked on back in the day."​