GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
Registered as a Charity No.
1026337
President: Sir David Willcocks, CBE, MC.
(S
Chorus Master: Jeremy Backhouse
MV
Accompanist: Jeremy Filsell
Chairman: John Thigg, 13 Vicarage Gate, Onslow Village, Guildlfod, Surrey,
GlU2 5Qf. Tet: 01483 566341/823084
Secestary: Stophen Jopsan, Clorsholl, Fellay Glode, Holobury St Wary, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6P, Tul- 01306 730383
Freasurer: ok Couell, 1 Ponhurst, Shores Road, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4 HP. Tet: 01483 770896
Wembership Sec: Woreen Agton, 51 Grrich Clse, Hersham, Wllon on Thames, Surrey, KI12 sNE. Tl 01932 221918
NOTICE
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the CHOIR
will be held on Monday June 25" 2001 at Christchurch Hall, Waterden Road,
Guildford, immediately following a buffet meal with wine at 7.30pm
AGENDA
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/2_ Consideration of the Minutes of’ fl\e fannual General Meehngj'\eld at Chrlsfchurch Waterden
/1.
Apologies for ubsznc:xv/'
Road, Guildford on Monday June 26TM 2000, and, if agreed as a correct record, to adopt them.
/3.
Chairman’s Report.
\/4_ Chorus Master's Report
With programme of Concerts for the 2001-2002 Season and provisional dates for 2002-2003.
)/ 5.
Treasurer's Report and Presentation of Accounts.
If agreed, the adoption of the Accounts.
fi, Election of Officers: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer & Membership Secretary.
The retiring officers are listed on the Choir's letterhead above. Nominations must be received
in writing, duly proposed and seconded, including confirmation of the nominee’s willingness to
stand, by Monday, June 18" 2001. A suitable form has been posted on the Choir's Notice Board
for this purpose. At his sole discretion, the Chairman may accept additional nominations up to
the time of the election.
A Election of Additional Committee Members: Not more than eight nor less than four additional
committee members are fo be elected.
The following are the retiring Committee Members: Jackie Alderfon, Marion Arbuck/e Alan
/Batterbury, Elizabeth-C/ar/;Bazin, Margaret Deritskevich, Laurie’James, H//aryTrigg.
Nominations must be receivedin writing, duly proposed and seconded, including confirmation of
the nominee’s willingness to stand, by Monday, June 18" 2001. A suitable form has been posted
on the Choir's Notice Board for this purpose. At his sole discretion, the Chairman may accept
additional nominations up to the time of the election.
/8.
Appointment of Chorus Master
Jeremy Backhouse has indicated his willingness to continue.
/. Appointment of Accompanist
Jeremy Filsell has indicated his willingness to continue.
'/10. Appointment of Independent Examiner of Acccunrs
11. Any Other Business
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Which must have been notified fo, andaccep?‘ed by, the Chairman, at least 48hours prior fo the
Meeting.
12. Date of next AGM
Stephen Jepson, Hon Sec, May 21" 2001. Rev June 24TM 2001
C:\My Documents\GPChoir\ GeneralMeetings\AG- Agenda2001-06-25 doc
o] s
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
Registered as a Charity No.
1026337
President: Sir David Willcocks, CBE, MC.
Conductor: Jeremy Backhouse
Accompanist: Jeremy Filsell
Chairman: John Trigg, 15 Vicarage Gate, Onslow Village, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7QJ. B 01485 566341
Secretary: Stephen Jepson, Clerchols, Felday Glade, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey, RHs 6PG.
& & B 01306 750385,
Treasurer: Bob Cowell, 1 Penhurst, Shores Road, Woking, Surrey, GL21 4HP. B & B 01485 770896.
Membership Sec: Noreen Ayton, 51 Garrick Close, Hersham, Walton on Thames, Surrey, KT12 5NZ. & o1932 221018
MINUTES of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the CHOIR
Held on Monday June 25TM 2001 at Christchurch Hall, Waterden Road, Guildford at 8:15pm
The following were present at the Meeting.
The Choir's Chorus Master, Jeremy Backhouse, the four retiring Officers, nine of the ten retiring
committee members, and 62 choir members whose names are on the associated register.
Apologies were received from: Elizabeth-Claire Bazin*, Mary Broughton, Kate Rayner, Judy Smith,
Kate Peters, Ros Plowright, Cindy Wilson, Ingrid Hardiman, Christine Medlow, Lesley Scordellis,
Catherine Shacklady, Rima Sksld, Iris Ball, Iris Bennett, Carol Hobbs, Joy Hunter, Krystyna
Marsden, Gill Sharpe, Rosey Storey, Bob Bromham, Tony Cousins, Chris Peters, Jody Tranter, Peter
Andrews, and Max New. (* Committee).
1.
The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Monday June 26TM 2000 had been
circulated prior to the meeting. There being no corrections, the Chairman signed them as a
correct record.
2.
Matters arising: There were no matters arising.
3.
Chairman's Report.
John Trigg reported that this had been a good year in terms of concerts, if for no reason other
than having had the local newspapers recording favourable criticisms of our performances! The
down-side was that our audiences had been small on occasion. The Brahms Requiem had been well
attended, due no doubt to the efficiency of the Borough's marketing and publicity machine. If
we could only achieve 75-80% capacity audiences consistently ourselves, it would be excellent
news. There was an obvious need to co-ordinate our efforts and improve on our own record here.
John felt that we actually now had a good internal organisation, and that the concerts and choir
itself were running particularly well. However, all the efforts of the committee could not replace
the willingness (or lack of it) of individual members in selling tickets.
John wanted particularly to thank “the two Jeremys": Jeremy Backhouse continued to do a
“smashing job" and as for Jeremy Filsell, we were still struck with a sense of wonder that, being
lucky to have ever had him to accompany us at all, he was even willing to continue!
The Committee, too, had put in an enormous amount of effort, Bob & Stephen spending a lot of
time on Choir work, and Noreen so organising new members and auditions that, with Jeremy
taking them, we could all love our auditions - couldn't we? Jackie's continuing efforts on fundraising - especially the Car Boot Sales - continued to make a substantial contribution to keeping
the Choir financially afloat. Marion's management of the Friends and Patrons scheme - another
financial benefit; Elizabeth-Claire’s highly professional concert programmes so effectively
succeeded at short notice by Lucy Jo and Jo; Margaret for the Newsletter; Laurie for his
NFMS ligison; Alan for the time-consuming and sometimes thankless job on publicity, and, not
least, Hilary for co-ordinating (and more) the catering.
Outside the committee, John made special mention of Christine Medlow, continuing to do
sterling work as the Choir's Librarian. Few people realised how much more work this entailed
AGM-Mirutes-2001-06-25 doc
Website: http://www.GuildfordPhilharmonicChoir org.uk
E-mail: Chairman...Secretary... Treasurer..Membership.. @GuildfordPhilharmonicChoir org.uk
than the results they actually saw. Thanks also to Roger Penny & Gill Sharpe with their internal
ticket sales efforts, and to Chris Alderton (thanks via Jackie, please) for his Front-of-House
liaison at concerts. And finally, thanks to all those who had assisted in so many other ways such
as staging erection, and all those other jobs which kept cropping up. And while he was at it, John
also wanted to thank Jim Miles (GBC Director of Leisure) in his absence, for his support, and
even more, for his fiscal arrangements to our benefit!
At this point, by arrangement, Bob Cowell made a presentation on behalf of the Tenors, to
Maggie van Koetsveld (finally retiring from the Choir) for her years of contribution to the Tenor
section and the Choir in general.
Chris Robinson then offered, on behalf of the whole Choir, sincere thanks to John Trigg,
together with the hope that a suitable successor for the job of Chairman should come forward
soon to relieve him of the burden.
Chorus Master's Report.
Jeremy Backhouse's report (4 pages, including the draft programme of concerts for 2001-2002)
is attached (on file).
Jeremy also commented that JF had become the Choir's Accompanist in 1992 (and would
therefore shortly be starting his 10TM season with us).
Treasurer's Report & Presentation of Accounts. (Bob Cowell's Report & Accounts attached).
Matters arising:
John Britten asked about the considerable increase in expenditure on publicity and, while
acknowledging the wide resultant coverage, wondered if we had considered using the *What's
On" section of the Surrey Advertiser. Alan Batterbury replied that he concurred, the "What's
On" section having done us proud with the St Matthew Passion coverage in 2000 and the
Cathedral being well-filled, possibly as a result. Both he and Bob had considerable doubts about
the cost-effectiveness of hoarding ads, especially in the only sites we were able to obtain from
the Borough.
Sheila Hodson asked why there was such a difference between the Donations in 1999/2000 and
2000/2001. Bob Cowell explained that the previous year had included the large contribution
from the EC for the Freiburg visit (Matthatis-Passion).
In response to another question, it was confirmed that the Bradbeer Legacy had been spent
(with Anne Bradbeer's approval) on the new Conductor's Stand.
Alan Batterbury asked why there had been no income from Sponsors for 2000-2001. BC
responded that the high amount in the former year was actually due to an "anonymous" donation
and that sponsorship for concerts was rarely obtainable.
Sue O'Connell asked if the committee would consider other means of promoting ticket sales such
as quantity discounts. JT replied that this would be considered by the Committee, and that it
had already been decided to revise the concessionary ticket terms for all concerts to encourage
families.
Elaine Chapman asked what the position was concerning reserved seats at the Cathedral and BC
replied that Patrons could reserve seats anywhere in the Cathedral at any price, and that there
were in addition a limited number of £18 reserved seats in the front Nave rows available to
choir members from Roger.
Sheila Hodson asked what the subscription for the next season would be and BC confirmed that
it would remain unchanged.
Norman Carpenter Proposed that the Accounts and Report be approved and adopted. This was
seconded by Roger Penny and passed by the meeting, unopposed.
Election of Officers: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer & Membership Secretary
The relevant Nomination Papers are attached.
AGM-Minutes-2001-06-25 doc
Website: http://www GuildfordPhilharmonicChoir.org.uk
E-mail: Chairman.
Secretary.. Treasurer.. Membership. @6uildfordPhilharmonicChoir.org uk
Stephen Jepson then explained that John Trigg, although duly proposed and seconded had not
signed his acceptance of the nomination in the hope that someone else would agree to stand as
Chairman. However, no-one else had come forward and SJ had ascertained from John that he
would be willing to carry on provided the meeting wished it so. He was immediately re-elected by
acclamation, unopposed.
The only nominations for the remaining three offices were those of the three retiring officers.
Having agreed to stand again and having been duly proposed and seconded, they too were reelected unopposed.
As a result of Elizabeth-Claire Bazin having left the committee due to pressure of work, it was
agreed that the new committee should appoint their own Vice-Chairman.
Election of Additional Committee Members.
The relevant Nomination Papers are attached.
Eight additional members had expressed their willingness to serve on the new committee and
had been duly proposed and seconded. John Trigg proposed that the meeting should elect them
en-bloc, and this was also carried unopposed. The new additional members are therefore: Jackie
Alderton, Jo Andrews, Marion Arbuckle, Alan Batterbury, Margaret Dentskevich, Rachel
Edmondson, Amanda Freeman and Hilary Trigg.
John paid tribute to those committee members who had decided to retire, and said he was
grateful that Laurie James had agree to continue as liaison officer for the NFMS (now “Making
Music") for the Choir.
Appointment of Chorus Master.
John Trigg proposed that Jeremy Backhouse be re-appointed Chorus Master (or "Conductor”)
for another year. This was immediately seconded by a large number of those present (Les
Harfield was judged by the secretary to have been just in the lead) and carried with
acclamation, unopposed.
Appointment of Accompanist.
Jeremy Filsell (who had consented to continue) was proposed by JT and again the quantity of
hopeful seconders were too numerous to call although Norman Carpenter caught the secretary's
eye. The proposed re-appointment was again carried (noisily) unopposed.
10. Appointment of Independent Examiner of Accounts.
Bob Cowell confirmed that Brian Moore had agreed to continue as Independent Examiner and
proposed his re-appointment to the Meeting. This was duly seconded and again carried
unopposed.
11 . Any Other Business.
11.1. JT indicated that although he had only received one request for an “other business” item,
he would be prepared to accept others from the floor.
11.2. (notified item) Alan Batterbury wished to raise the matter of a replacement Concerts
Manager for Stephen Jepson, who had indicated his desire to relinquish this responsibility
two years earlier. ST explained that, although he was looking for more people to take
supervision responsibility for staging rig and de-rig, it was not this aspect that he was
seeking to relinquish - at least not yet! It was the task of setting out the vocal forces on
the staging -or wherever else the Choir was performing - as the conductor wished. This
entailed liaising with the conductor - usually Jeremy - obtaining the available forces list
from the Membership Secretary and (except for the occasional performances elsewhere),
using the established templates to arrange singing members on the staging or in their seats
on stage. They also sometimes had to be persuaded to sit where they had been put!
AGM-Minutes-2001-06-25 doc
Website: http://www.GuildfordPhilharmonicChoir.org.uk
E-mail: Chairman...Secretary... Treasurer...Membership..@GuildfordPhilharmonicChoir.org.uk
Various suggestions were put forward but no volunteer to take over the task was
forthcoming. Noreen Ayton had agreed to assist with setting out seat labels and would
continue to do so. Mo Kfouri suggested that the Lions Club might be willing to assist with
staging rig and de-rig. SJ explained the additional difficulties of using untrained, nonprofessional labour to do this.
11.3.Norman Carpenter requested that, for future concerts, someone could be appointed to co-
ordinate Front-of-House activities. This was unanimously agreed, and Norman put forward
Max New as a suitable candidate. Laurie James was suggested as a possible alternative. JT
agreed to ask Max (not present).
11.4.Norman Carpenter also requested that the prospectus for the next season could be
published earlier than last year. AB replied that it would be ready the following week.
11.5. Margaret Parry offered to draft a recruiting message. The committee welcomed the offer.
11.6. Elaine Chapman recommended that handbills for each forthcoming concert be handed out to
the audience at the preceding concert. This was accepted as a good idea provided enough
volunteers were forthcoming.
11.7. John Parry asked what steps the committee took to avoid date and programme content
clashes with other local choirs. ST explained about the ASC Anti-clash Diary.
11.8. Jeremy Backhouse reminded the members present that the next season's rehearsals would
start on Monday September 3TM 2001.
12. Date of next AGM. Monday June 24TM 2002.
Stephen Jepson.
AGM-Minutes-2001-06-25 doc
Website: http://www GuildfordPhilharmonicChoir.org.uk
E-mail: Chairman.. Secretary. Treasurer.. Membership. @GuildfordPhilharmonicChoir.org.uk
Annual General Meeting
25 June 2001
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
(Registered Charity No.1026337)
REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TM APRIL 2001
Report of the Hon. Treasurer
1
The Committee and Brian Moore, the Independent Examiner, have considered the
choir accounts and do not feel that there are any issues, which they are required to
bring to the attention of the Charity Commissioners.
2
Last year I reported my efforts to produce accounts reflecting the true expenditure
for the year. Except for £2-45 attributable to last year, this has been achieved. The
complete picture for the 100 Club is now apparent.
3
The surplus for the year has reduced to £2,820 and this is largely attributable to
losses on concerts. I was particularly pleased with increased income from tax
refunds, up from £2778 to £3090. This is due, in part, to more people embracing
the new Gift Aid setup but also due to increased income from Friends and Patrons.
This increase has been achieved in the face of a reduction of 1p in the standard
rate of income tax resulting in the Choir receiving £1-34 less per subscription. In
previous years we received a grant from the Guildford Philharmonic office of
£1,500 but I now apply directly to the Head of Leisure Services and this has
resulted in a grant of £3,000. You will have noted the reference to Borough
financial support in our publicity material.
4
The Concert Sub-Account summary is as follows:-
Income
Expenditure
Total
Belshazzar’s Feast
4081
8793
(4712)
Mozart Mass in C Minor
5860
8884
(3024)
Carol Concert
-
105
(105)
Brahms Requiem
555
555
The concert programme therefore had a deficit of £7.436
5
Fundraising activities made a profit of £1815 (£1,245) which was effectively
reduced to £1283 by the need to write off the stock of notelets at a cost of £741.
The proceeds were as follows: 100 Club
£528
Car Boot Sales
£350
Change
£ pll
Drinks
£208
Goods
£ 99 excluding the effect of writing off notelets
Events
Newsletter
Socials
Other fundraising
£334
-£ 13
£425
£53
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th APRIL 2001
1999/2000
INCOME
Borough Grant
Concerts: GBC
Choir
Donations.
Friends
2000/2001
£
£
1250.00
3000.00
1613.20
555.00
21908.61
9940.45
3271.05
188.90
140.00
155.00
77.00
1178.00
General fund raising
Sale of goods
Gross Interest received
1382.30
1162.21
Miscellaneous receipts
865.00
15.65
Music sub-account contributions
601.28
304.10
Patrons
590.00
900.00
Social events
729.72
658.80
100 Subscriptions
Sponsors
Subscriptions
Tax refunds on covenants
TOTAL INCOME
162.24
99.00
134.79
1996.59
850.00
0.00
10823.90
10722.56
2778.36
3089.87
47177.45
33966.13
21625.08
16795.00
EXPENDITURE
Direct charitable expenditure
Choir concerts
493.85
253.10
Rehearsal fees
6754.00
6561.40
Rehearsal room hire
Staging depreciation
3145.00
3140.00
Music sub-account hire charges
Sub-total
625.00
0.00
32642.93
26749.50
Fund raising costs
650.00
100 Club prizes
102.18
Cost of stock sold
GBC concert ticket purchases
Social event costs
22.24
1435.20
0.00
274.32
23351
740.56
Write-off of Notelets
Other fundraising costs
169.06
Sub-total
Administration costs
Bank charges
Miscellaneous
1811.70
1815.37
31.50
450
345.79
451.62
1941.87
1413.38
59.23
Presentations
Publicity
212.00
229.56
2531.16
2158.29
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
36985.79
31145.98
NET SURPLUS (DEFICIT) FOR THE YEAR
10191.66
2820.15
341.84
2.45
Total this year
10533.50
2822.60
Subscriptions
Bradbeer Legacy
Plus surplus attributable to previous year
Sub-total
422.82
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
BALANCE SHEET as at 30th April 2001
2000
2001
£
£
ASSETS
Balances at banks
Barclays High Interest account
352.73
Current account
TSB account
TSB Term account
Sub-total
Cash
Sub-total
2,231.18
14,638.96
18,000.00
31,495.48
41,338.15
329.04
114.54
31,824.52
41,452.69
500.00
500,00
838.00
3,649.76
81.20
347240
Other assets
Assets account
Prepayments
600.00
Stock
Sundry Debtors
Sub-total
TOTAL ASSETS
LIABILITIES
Accrued rehearsal costs
Advanced income
Sundry Creditors
6,468.01
2,989.92
10,152.83
18,000.00
5,587.76
595.49
4,649.09
37.412.28
46,101.78
(715.00)
(1,758.00)
0.00
(661.00)
(5,461.00)
(23.90)
TOTAL LIABILITIES
(1,376.00)
(7,242.90)
NET ASSETS
36,036.28
38,858.88
Reserve fund brought forward
25,502.78
36,036.28
Net surplus/(deficit) for the year
Additional surplus from previous year
Reserve fund carried forward
10,19166
34184
36,036.28
2,820.15
245
38,858.88
REPRESENTED BY
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th APRIL 2001
1
Accounting Policies
These accounts have been prepared under historical cost convention and in accordance
with applicable accounting standards and the charities Statement of Recommended Practice;
“Accounting by Charities"
2
Assets
The charity has contributed £2,500 to the Association of Surrey Choirs' purchase of staging for
performances in Guildford Cathedral. This investment is now fully written off although the charity
as a founding member of the ASC has a continuing interest in the staging.
The Broadwood grand piano used for rehearsals 15 held on the books at a nominal value of £500
Itis NOT being depreciated as any depreciation would be immaterial
3100 Club income and liabilities for 2000/01 are completely included in this year's accounts.
4
Committee Members' Remuneration
No remuneration directly or indirectly out of the funds of the charity was paid or payable to
any committee member or to any person known to be connected with any of them
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
AGM - 25 JUNE 2001
MUSIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT
As in previous years | will start by reviewing the musical year, then follow with one or two other points and
finish with the programme for next season. And as ever, | will try to make it brief!
Well | suppose the year started at the end of August — a sort of pre-season warm-up — when some of us
appeared at the Open Air theatre at Crystal Palace to take part in a Barogue concert with the Brandenburg
Sinfonia. The day before Sally and | had returned from a week on a barge with George, and Jeremy and
Jenny Filsell and her two children, so my head didn’t quite seem to be in work mode. But it was good to
have been asked to take part and was all very good fun; who will ever forget the antics of Mr Henry Kelly in
his efforts to entertain us and the assembled crowds that evening?!
The season proper started with the concert at the end of October which consisted of the glorious C minor
Mass by Mozart. We also sang that brilliant motet by Haydn “Insanae et vanae curae” and the orchestra
played the Symphony No.40 by Mozart. Even now when | think of this concert | still get that horrible dark
sinking feeling when you know you've really cocked up! The moment the orchestral manager asked for the
orchestral parts and | realised they were on my desk in Catford
. just ghastly! So thanks for your patience
and understanding that afternoon! The Symphony was of course rehearsed very well and sounded really
good on the night, | thought. | also think that the fact we had so little rehearsal on the Mass in the afternoon
focused minds and made us concentrate all the more in the evening. There were some fabulous moments
both from soloists (Helen Neeves singing of the “Et incarnatus est” was just heaven) and from the choir.
And for once, the Surrey Advertiser agreed with our assessment that this was choral singing of high calibre:
“. .
the choir sang with a conviction that would have warmed the composer's heart. In the complex runs of
the Cum Sancto Spiritu fugue they were well drilled and flexible in tone and dynamic”. All's well that ends
well one might say.
We were then into carols and the usual Mayor of Guildford’s concert, organised (although I'm not sure if that
is quite the right word to use!) by the Rotary Club of Guildford, and again sharing the platform with the
Guildford Symphony Orchestra and Darrel Davison. The concert itself seemed to go well and the
performances suitably festive, though | personally think the format is a little tired and needs re-thinking
Also, | have to say that | personally find the behind-the-scenes politics that seems habitually to surround
this event both unnecessary and tiresome. At any rate, | (and | think the committee too) would welcome
your thoughts on whether there is a need for change here, and if so, how.
In the New Year we embarked on the German Requiem of Brahms. It seemed that many people knew this
already and perhaps this helped those who were singing it for the first time to learn it more quickly. In any
event, we were able fairly swiftly to move beyond the mere note-bashing to think about more interesting
musical points. To direct us, we were privileged to have the highly experienced David Hill, conductor of the
Bach Choir in London and Organist and Choirmaster of Winchester Cathedral Choir. He was very
impressed with the choir and dared to go into minute detail in the Friday rehearsal. For the Saturday
afternoon rehearsal he seemed more tense and this seemed to communicate to the choir making the
singing sound hesitant; but by the evening everyone seemed more relaxed and determined to give of their
best. Certainly there was some really fine singing and, sitting up in the auditorium for once, | felt really
proud of the choir. David Hill has since repeated to a number of my friends who sing in the Bach Choir how
well prepared he thought the choir was, and how well you sang
Perhaps this is a good point to make one other brief comment. Since going “independent’, my role has
become more one of conductor of the choir than of chorus master. Now I'm personally very happy about
this and there are very many other benefits, not least of which is that we have built up a really strong
musical rapport between us — you know how | operate in rehearsal and concert and | think | know how best
to approach you collectively, drawing out the best performances; and we move from rehearsal period to the
concert itself fairly effortiessly and without any great angst. But the downside perhaps is that now we are
less used to guest conductors and it may be that it takes us longer to adapt to a different style and method.
| think it is important that we are aware of this in the future when we welcome more eminent guest
conductors. Mind, having said I'm afraid you're stuck with just me for all the next season!
We were then into our May concert and preparation for the Vaughan Williams “Sea Symphony”. Wonderful
work and wonderfully performed on the day by you, the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra (my favourite of the
orchestras we use) and two lovely soloists in Caroline Lenton-Ward and Bertie Rice. In the rehearsal | know
the orchestra was overplaying and you felt ... well, shall | say, “submerged”! But by the evening the
balances were mostly good and the choir came across really well, with only the occasional moments when
the orchestra let rip! And once again we received plaudits from The Advertiser, which, amongst other
positives points, specifically picked out the “really fine soprano” line for particular praise! Incidentally it is a
mark of the stature of our performances this year that the press not only have been to all our concerts, but
have written extremely positive reviews as well. We shouldn't let appraisal of this concert go by without
mentioning Jeremy's playing of the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto, which was stunning playing and
at the same time wonderfully lyrical. It was quite by chance that last year, when | was thinking of which
Really Popular Work should fill the first half of this concert, Jeremy mentioned to me that he was playing
this work a couple of months earlier in Hemel Hempstead — decision made! He was fabulous and I'll even
forgive him forgetting to give me a lift to the concert that evening, making me arrive with only a couple of
minutes to spare, having ordered a taxi from the Posthouse hotel at twenty past seven!! As we have said
before, we are very lucky to have him and | hope we will feel able give him a decent celebration of his 10
years with the choir this coming September.
That just about rounds off the concerts we have sung this season. For some there is the Vivaldi “Gloria”
coming up this Saturday which promises to be a good day out. About this concert, | would just like to
reiterate what| said a couple of weeks ago at a rehearsal. There is no question that it is very good to be
asked by the Brandenburg Sinfonia to sing with them in their concerts and very worthwhile to sing (and be
seen to be singing) in venues outside Guildford, especially London. On balance | think we are right to be
accepting these dates, despite the downside that only part of the choir is required and the potential for it
being divisive. Broadly speaking, on occasions such as this | choose singers who are in or on the verge of
being in the semi-chorus to make up the smaller choir; by approaching it this way the aim is to provide the
best possible group of singers who can maintain the high standards of the full choir and produce the best
possible musical results. Those are my sole criteria. | really hope this doesn’t cause ill feeling as these sorts
of date don’t come up that often and we really should not allow it to affect the friendly atmosphere of the
choir. And please, if you are not in the semi-chorus and feel that you should be, there is every opportunity to
prove it to me at audition!
And so to my annual plea for renewal of individual commitment to the choir
Last year | said that there should be no question of picking which concerts you want to sing or not
depending on the repertoire, nor of deciding how many rehearsals you feel it necessary for you personally
to learn any given work. In some quarters this holds as true this year as it has done in previous years and |
would ask you again to make sure you commit yourselves as fully to the choir as possible. Noreen from
time to time gives me figures of rehearsal attendances or a list of people not singing a concert, and the
numbers can be very disturbing — big gaps in certain voice parts (especially more recently in the sopranos)
that leave them significantly weakened. So please, for me, for your fellow singers and for the overall good of
the choir, do as much as you can with the choir.
And talking of voice parts, | am very aware that we need numerically to strengthen certain areas of the choir
- of course, we always need tenors but we also need more sopranos, so please spread the word
So, to next season
Saturday 3 November 2001
Handel: Messiah
GPC/Brandenburg Sinfonia/Jeremy Backhouse
GPC promotion
Sunday 16 December 2001
Mayor of Guildford's Christmas Concert
GPC/GSO/Jeremy Backhouse/Darrell Davison
Guildford Rotary/GPC promotion
Saturday 2 February 2002
Mozart: Vesperae solennes de confessore, K.339
Haydn: Nelson Mass
GPC/Surrey Mozart Players/Jeremy Backhouse
GPC/Charity promotion
Friday March 22" 2002, Southampton Guildhall
possible date only
Mahler: Symphony No.2 ("The Resurrection") with S'ton Uni Symph Orch, S'ton Choral Soc.
Saturday 6 April 2002
Concert to celebrate Queen’s Golden Jubilee
Britten: National Anthem
Handel: Zadok the Priest & The King shall rejoice
Parry: | was glad
Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens
Walton: Orb and Sceptre March & Crown Imperial March
Organ solo from JF
Elgar: Coronation Ode
GPC/GPO/Jeremy Backhouse
GBC promotion
Saturday 25 May 2002
Mendelssohn: Elijah
GPC/Forest Philharmonic Orchestra
GPC promotion
Saturday October 26" 2002 — Guildford Cathedral, Programme tba (GPC promotion).
Sunday November 10" 2002, Freiburg Konzerthaus, Dvorak: Requiem (FBc promotion).
Sunday December 22TM 2002 — Guildford Civic — Mayor's Concert (Guildford Rotary promotion).
Saturday February 15" 2003 — Guildford Cathedral, Programme tba with GPO (GBC promotion).
Saturday March 29" 2003 — Guildford Cathedral, Programme tba (GPC promotion)
Saturday May 17" 2003 - Guildford Cathedral, Programme tba (GPC promotion).
2003-2004 Season (Provisional)
Saturday November 8" 2003 - Guildford Cathedral, Programme tba (GPC promotion)
Just before | finish, 1 would like to thank various people for their support over the last year: Noreen who,
despite my best efforts at sabotage, masterminds the smooth running of the auditions and Pru for her
playing at the auditions; | have already spoken about the value of Jeremy's contribution and that cannot be
underestimated; and of course to all the committee for working so hard on my and your behalf, especially
perhaps Stephen for keeping my e-mail Inbox so well stocked, despite being on the other side of the world!
Special thanks go to John who yet again has done a brilliant job as Chairman; it's worth remembering that a
successful relationship between chorus master and chairman is crucial and the fact that John and | are
friends as well as being able to work well together is extremely valuable.
To sum up, | think it's been a really good year for us. We seem to have grown in confidence as a choir and
we really are singing better and better. And it seems that the local press has woken up to that fact, and for
our own sakes we must ensure that an ever-wider public knows of our ever-higher standards too.
A couple
of weekends ago | was the guest chorus master for one of the major London choruses (who had better
remain nameless) at a Sony Classics recording session — the choir was providing choral backing for a new
Charlotte Church CD. Frankly | spent the whole afternoon wishing it had been the Guildford Philharmonic
Choir singing because | knew for certain that the singing would have been oh so much better. So thanks for
your hard work and loyalty and lets hope that next year we have as much social and musical enjoyment and
success as we have had this year.
Thank you.
Page 1 of 1
Stephen Jepson
From:
To:
Sent:
Subject:
"Stephen Jepson" <jepson@feldaysys.freeserve.co.uk>
"Robinson, Chris" <cjdr@cjdr.screaming.net>
24 June 2001 02:17
Minutes of 2000 AGM/Constitution change
Dear Chris,
T have just remembered that T intended to place this, my rendering of your apropos comments last year, in front of
you before submitting to the membership at this year's AGM for "approval as a correct record" so that you could
haul me over the coals for any misrepresentation of what you actually said. Can you let me have your comments asap
please?
Matters arising: [from the minutes of the previous year's AGM] Chris Robinson presented a short item on the
Choir's Constitution.
The Committee had attempted to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on June 19 to amend Item 5b of the
Choir's Constitution. The Committee's intention had been to seek the Members' approval for the removal of any
reference to a time limit on a Chairman's term of office. The current wording limits his/her term "normally" to five
years. Due to opposition led by Chris Robinson (who was responsible for the current wording), the Committee had
agreed to abandon the EGM.
Chris now explained why he believed it was both unnecessary and counter to the wishes of the majority of Members
to change the wording of Ttem 5b. He pointed out that while it was healthy for the Choir to have regular changes of
Chairman, the present wording did not preclude a person from serving more than five years in "abnormal"
circumstances. Furthermore, the whole business of getting approval from the Charity Commissioners and the
Membership for an unnecessary change was time wasting. There should be no change without a compelling reason, and
he did not believe that this issue was a compelling one. The real issue was the lack of persons of fering themselves for
election to the post. His opposition to the change in wording was definitely not a criticism of John Trigg's tenure,
which he felt had been admirable in every way. However, John had now served for five years and no one had come
forward o give him a break.
While agreeing with Chris about the real issue, Stephen Jepson said that he had proposed the amendment because he
(and the majority of the Committee) felt that the inclusion of the word "normally" in clause 5b made nonsense of the
five-year limitation. He felt this was inappropriate in a Constitution. However, the Committee appreciated the
strength of feeling against the suggested change and had therefore already abandoned the idea.
Regards,
Stephen Jepson
Phone + Fax: 01306 730383
24/06/01