Connecting Kids Program Enables Participation in Local Activities

Brian Lipschultz serves as a co-chief executive officer and trustee of the Otto Bremer Trust, a charitable entity based in Minnesota that set a new in-house record for annual grant and program-related investments in 2016, $47.3 million. Under Brian Lipschultz’s leadership, the Otto Bremer Trust supported nonprofits that include the Greater Mankato Area United Way. The funds presented to the organization will go toward its Connecting Kids Program. 

Connecting Kids targets families experiencing financial difficulties that prevent their children from participating in out-of-school enrichment activities. The program provides scholarships to enable children in grades K-12 to join local clubs and organizations. Many local groups accept Connecting Kids scholarships, including Camp Courage, the Lake Crystal Rec Center, and the YWCA Girls programs. 

Families that wish to apply for a scholarship must submit an online application form before registering their children for a specific program or activity. Scholarships may not cover the full cost of participation, in which case the parent or guardian must make up the difference.

The Great Plains Food Bank Senior Food Pack Program

Brian Lipschultz became a co-CEO and trustee of the Otto Bremer Trust in 2012. Since that time, Brian Lipschultz has served alongside his colleagues to oversee the trust’s grant-making activities and ensure that everything is in compliance. 

Among the many grants the Otto Bremer Trust has distributed is $100,000 to the Great Plains Food Bank (GPFB) to help the organization provide services to people in North Dakota. One of the initiatives the GPFB operates is its Senior Food Pack Program. A community-based plan that operates throughout the United States, the Senior Food Pack Program provides nutritional, shelf-stable food packs to seniors in 25 North Dakota counties each month. 

For program eligibility, individuals must be at least 60 years old and have an income that falls below 130 percent of the federal poverty level, which stands at $15,800 in 2017. To continue operations, the Senior Food Pack Program must receive funding through the annual federal appropriations process, which currently allows the initiative to serve seniors in 39 states.

Tips for Better Squash Court Control

A veteran business leader who has served Eagle Street Partners and Pulse Mobile in executive roles, Brian Lipschultz became a trustee and co-CEO of Otto Bremer Trust in 2012. Beyond his professional duties with the trust, Brian Lipschultz is a fitness enthusiast who plays squash. Court control leads to winning more games and can be achieved with the help of the following tips:

1. Focus on acceleration over speed. As the game is played on a small court, power and acceleration should take precedence over speed. Power training that focuses on core and leg muscles helps you develop the quick acceleration required to get where you need to be on the court.

2. Avoid cross-court shots. Without pinpoint accuracy, cross-court shots will generally provide your opponent with plenty of time to pick a return. This grants the opponent more control over the court.

3. Keep your eyes on the ball. Your opponent’s movements may be deceptive, especially if a lob or drop shot is being prepared. Keep watching the ball and react to its movements, rather than those of your opponent, as this allows for quicker reactions and more time to select your return shot.

Making the Most of Your Visit to the Theater

A graduate of Northwestern University, Brian Lipschultz is now a trustee and co-CEO of Otto Bremer Trust. When not engaged in his duties with the trust, Brian Lipschultz enjoys attending theater productions. Here are some tips for making the most of a visit to the theater.

1. Look for discounts. Though they can be hard to track down, many theaters offer discount tickets for major productions. Occasionally, these can be found online by using a search engine. You may also be able to get discounted tickets for children or seniors.

2. Listen for the bell. Most theaters will offer some sort of signal that a performance is about to begin. Traditionally, this is a bell that will sound in the auditorium or foyer. Listen out for the bell to avoid being late, especially as some theaters don’t allow entry to latecomers. The flickering of house lights may also signal the beginning of a show.

3. Find the best place to sit. While balcony seats are often seen as the most desirable, the front mezzanine is usually where you will find the best experience. These seats offer a straight-on view while also being close enough to the stage to fall into the auditory sweet spot.

The Hissing Breathing Exercise for Singers

A graduate of Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business, where he was co-valedictorian, Brian Lipschultz serves the Otto Bremer Trust as both trustee and co-CEO. In this role, he helped oversee the Otto Bremer Trust’s record-breaking 2016, during which it made grants and investments of over $47 million to approximately 550 organizations. Aside from his work, Brian Lipschultz is a talented musician and vocalist.

Proper breathing is among the most useful skills that vocalists can develop, and there are a number of techniques you can use to improve yours. One of the most popular is the hissing technique, during which you inhale air for a period of time, usually somewhere between 1 seconds and 6 seconds, before exhaling it with a hissing sound. 

The process is then repeated, often with smaller inhale periods and longer exhales, until you get to a point where you can inhale for 1 second and exhale consistently for 20 seconds.

The key is to ensure the hiss maintains consistency and evenness throughout the exhale, so listen to yourself and keep repeating the technique until you are able to complete it without any changes in volume.

U.S. Soccer Team Names New Head Coach

Brian Lipschultz is a board member of the Bremer Financial Corporation in St. Paul, Minnesota and also manages the Otto Bremer Trust, serving as a co-CEO and trustee. Apart from his day-to-day work life, Brian Lipschultz is an avid soccer enthusiast.

Bruce Arena once again takes the reins as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team, beginning his tenure on Dec. 1. Arena is lauded as the most successful coach in the team’s history, helping U.S. Soccer earn a quarterfinal finish in the 2002 World Cup--its best showing in recent memory. He steps into the position in place of former coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was dismissed in November 2016. 

In his former eight-year stint, Arena was 71-30-29 and is the only person to manage the team in two different World Cup runs. He also was responsible for guiding the U.S. men’s team to CONCACAF Gold Cup wins in 2002 and 2005.

Singing Tips for Amateurs

 


As a trustee of the Otto Bremer Trust, co-CEO Brian Lipschultz is responsible for helping oversee a $900 million organization that invests in nonprofits throughout the Upper Midwest. Outside of his work at the Otto Bremer Trust, Brian Lipschultz is an accomplished vocalist.

Like any other art form, singing is a skill that takes time and effort to develop. For those looking to take their vocal ability to a higher level, here are some tips to consider.

One of the first things an aspiring singer should do is spend time determining their natural vocal range. Simply put, this means becoming acquainted with how high and how low one can sing. Knowing this helps a singer find the songs and keys that are best suited to their singing voice.

It’s also helpful to record your singing in order to get an accurate idea of what your voice actually sounds like. Trusting the ears alone as a gauge of your singing voice can be misleading because the anatomy of the ear can give the voice a deeper tone than it really possesses. By listening to recordings, one can get an accurate picture of how the voice sounds and where improvements need to be made.

Tips for Improving Your Singing Range

 


Brian Lipschultz is a co-CEO and trustee at the Otto Bremer Trust, which was previously known as the Otto Bremer Foundation. Brian Lipschultz is also an accomplished vocalist.

If you are a vocalist striving to improve your singing range, you could follow the following tips to get off to a good start:

1. First, find out what your current range is. Hit the middle C note on the keyboard then start playing and singing the subsequent notes in the downward direction. Continue until you find a note you cannot hit. This will be the bottom end of your range. Repeat the process from the middle C upward to find the top end of your range.

2. Use the appropriate singing techniques when attempting to sing beyond your range. This includes maintaining a consistent airflow. Some inexperienced vocalists force a larger amount of air through their throats. This can have the effect of jamming up their vocal cords.

3. Moreover, it is a good idea to get professional training on singing properly, maintaining your posture while singing, and singing along to songs that go higher than your range.

Singing Can Benefit People with Respiratory Issues

With a career in the field of finance, Brian Lipschultz currently works as the co-chief executive officer and trustee at Otto Bremer Trust. Before that, it was called Otto Bremer Foundation. When he is not working, Brian Lipschultz enjoys singing.

Experts in the health industry, composed of doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, psychologists, and music therapists, recently signed a consensus statement advising people with lung conditions to join singing groups to help improve their breathing.

The evidence was taken from a study of people diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes cases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. These patients need to frequently take top-up breaths coming from their upper chest to get sufficient air into their lungs.

The research reveals that singing regularly provides benefits that are not just physically advantageous, such as an increase in lung capacity and muscles strength. Singing also offers social and psychological benefits, like decreased anxiety and improved health-related quality of life. When combined, all these can lead to controlled breathing and more confidence.

Successful Instrumental Singles on the Billboard Charts

 

Brian Lipschultz has served as director of the Bremer Financial Corporation and co-CEO and trustee of the Otto Bremer Foundation since 2012. Away from his work at Otto Bremer, Brian Lipschultz enjoys performing as both a vocalist and an instrumental musician.

In 2013, the song “Harlem Shake” by Baauer reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the first time in more than a decade that an instrumental song reached Billboard's top 10. Instrumental songs have not always been such a rarity in mainstream music, with ten different instrumental tracks achieving top-10 positions in 1963 alone.

Over the years, instrumental singles have ranged from the lackadaisical surf rock of the Chantays’ “Pipeline” to grand orchestral compositions. In some cases, determining which songs should be considered instrumentals may be difficult. “Tequila” by the Champs, for example, is a former chart topper almost devoid of vocals, though the word “tequila” is uttered several times. Billboard recognizes the track as an instrumental.

While the 1960s and '70s were rife with instrumental top-10 hits, such as “Hawaii Five-O” and “Jungle Fever,” songs without vocals became less frequent in the following decades. Only six instrumentals reached the top 10 in the 1980s, while “Theme from Mission: Impossible” in 1996 and “Auld Lang Syne” in 2000 were the two most recent top-10 instrumentals until “Harlem Shake.”

UMN Center for Safe and Healthy Children Receives $2.5 Million Grant

Brian Lipschultz serves as co-CEO and trustee of the Otto Bremer Trust, one of the nation’s largest charitable trusts. Under Brian Lipschultz's leadership, the Otto Bremer Trust has supported a broad variety of community efforts and nonprofit programs. Grants awarded during the 2016 period included a $2.5 million gift to the Center for Safe and Healthy Children at University of Minnesota (UMN) Masonic Children’s Hospital. 

Awarded monies will expand UMN’s child abuse treatment program in several ways and contribute to the center’s goal of becoming a national leader in combating child abuse and neglect. Funds will go toward hiring additional staff, increasing efforts for community education, and opening new roads to train child abuse specialists. A portion of the grant funded the creation of a fellowship program designed to train more child abuse pediatricians.

The Center for Safe and Healthy Children opened in 2014, becoming the first regional program to focus on providing comprehensive care to children who have been abused and neglected. Its specialized training equips physicians and medical staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to work with victims of abuse and neglect, who often require specialized treatment. Necessary training goes beyond an understanding of child development; physicians must also receive training in treating child injuries, child psychology, and how to recognize signs of abuse and neglect to prevent misdiagnosis.

Three Safety Tips for Wakesurfers

As a co-CEO and trustee of the Otto Bremer Trust, Brian Lipschultz is responsible for managing the $900 million fund and responding to the needs of communities through grants and program-related investments throughout the region. When he is not tending to his philanthropic duties with the Otto Bremer Trust or his other business pursuits, Brian Lipschultz enjoys getting out on the lake for wakeboarding and wakesurfing. 

Wakesurfing is a new take on wakeboarding in which surfers are propelled directly by a boat's wake rather than being continuously towed by a cable. The sport is challenging, and can be dangerous if certain precautions are not taken. Consider the following safety tips before your next wakesurfing adventure: 

1. Never surf behind anything but an inboard boat. The prop of an inboard boat is far enough in front of the rudder to prevent accidental contact after a fall. 

2. Ensure that the boat is weighted appropriately. It takes about 1,800 pounds more than the stock ballast weight to produce a sufficiently sizable wake. If the wake is too small, it will be difficult to stay on top of it, which can be dangerous.

3. Use a rope specifically designed for wakesurfing to help you get up. Other ropes, such as wakeboarding ropes, are thin and can cause rope burns and other safety problems.

OBT Grant for Telemedicine Health Initiative in North Dakota

 

Brian Lipschultz leads the Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) as co-CEO and trustee and manages the Minnesota institution’s full range of charitable grantmaking activities. These extend beyond Minnesota to western Wisconsin and North Dakota, where the Otto Bremer Bank has a commercial presence. In June 2016, Brian Lipschultz managed a nearly $100,000 grant to the Altru Health Foundation in Grand Forks, North Dakota, for a telemedicine initiative.

The OBT grant went toward telemedicine expansion plans focused on the Roseau and Devils Lake regional hubs. The services provided take advantage of Internet technologies to offer remotely located patients the opportunity to consult with specialists via audio and live, interactive video. The consultations take place at health centers in the patient’s hometown, where a physician with in-depth knowledge of the specific health issue at hand may be unavailable.

The OBT grant funds will help the Altru Health Foundation expand the range of services provided and improve connection times across 80 existing telemedicine providers and 40 regional sites. The grant will enable a significant increase in telemedicine visits in complex medical areas such as cardiology, dermatology, and diabetes treatment.