AGM

Southrepps Chorale - Annual General Meeting. 8.30pm Tuesday 22nd October 2024 - MINUTES

  1. Minutes
  2. Chair’s Report
  3. Treasurer’s Report
  4. Year end accounts 31.08.24
  5. Notes to Accounts
  6. Musical Director’s Report

MINUTES OF MEETING

  1. Apologies were received from Maggie McCormick, Kathryn Moore & Lesley Wall
  2. The minutes of the last AGM held on 17th October 2023 were unanimously approved.
  3. There were no matters arising
  4. Election of Committee: Carolyn explained the special circumstances this year, due to upcoming arrival of new Chorale MD, and therefore that she, Kate and Olga, who have completed their three years, have agreed to stand for a further year.   This was successfully proposed by Michael Gurney, and seconded by Carol Evans.

Two new members have been put forward to join the committee – Vijaya Fordington and Barry Oake.   Both were successfully proposed by Bet Wood and seconded by Michael Gurney.

  1. Chair’s Report: See attached
  2. Treasurer’s Report: See attached.   
  3. Musical Director’s Report: See attached
  4. Any Other Business: Carol Evans proposed a vote of thanks to the Committee, and in particular to Carolyn for her hard work during a challenging year.   This was unanimously agreed.  

Finally, Paul Rosier announced the welcome news that “The Bravest Man” is to be performed by the Thanet Chamber choir.   The first concert, on 15th November will be in Ramsgate, and the second on 16th November in Birchington, Kent.   Anyone wanting further details, please contact Paul, and great to know that this fabulous work lives on!  

CHAIR’S REPORT

Looking back on my report from last year, I realize how much quieter this year was in lots of ways:  no fundraising or Come and Sing events for example.

The website, which was in its infancy last year, is now up and running and I hope that you are all finding it useful.   Thank you again to Penny and Patrick for all the hard work which they have put into it.

So this year, an awful lot of time has been taken up with the daunting search for a new M.D.   We placed adverts in all sorts of appropriate venues and online, as well as asking anyone we could think of who might be able to help.   If I’m honest, the process has been very stressful at times, but thank you for the messages of support people sent and for cheering us on from the sidelines as it were.   It did help.

I’m pleased to say that, even though I don’t altogether know what next year will look like for the Chorale, I do know that we are in a position where it will be safe for at least the rest of this musical year.   Ro Curtis will definitely be conducting us from January to Easter, and, if necessary, through to July.   We will look to have at least one concert in that period   There will be implications for the choir but we will discuss those in due course.   We have one definite candidate long term, Jonathan Dodd was here 2 weeks ago singing with us, and the committee will interview him in the next week or two before he comes to conduct the choir in the New Year.   Ellie I’m not really sure about, but I will keep you informed.

Finally, my thanks.   I consider myself very lucky to have this hard-working and enthusiastic committee to support me.   We get on well, respect each other’s opinions and have quite a lot of fun.   In addition, there are various choir members who are happy to give a hand as and when needed.   People like Stan for example who is here early every week to set up the piano etc.   However, we are in need of more volunteers to help.  Penny could do with much more help with both the organizing and advertising for concerts, and now that Stephen will no longer be available, Olga needs help from  someone familiar with spreadsheets to prepare the figures.   Stephen has a template for this, so it should not be too time consuming.

And that brings me to Stephen.   A lot of things will be said about Stephen in the coming weeks, so I am going to confine myself to thanking him for another year of inspirational music in wonderful venues, and leaving us in such a strong position going forward.

TREASURER’S REPORT

As you will see from the figures, Olga reported that we find the Chorale in better shape than ever before this year, mainly due to two sell-out concerts.   The Norwich concert was expensive to put on, but was well attended, and brought in a healthy return.  There were no other fund-raisers this year, so the choir has done well to maintain such a healthy bank balance.

As Olga pointed out, this is fortuitous, as going forward we shall be needing more funds to keep the Chorale on its feet.   As will be documented more than once, Stephen has never taken a fee in his 14 years as Music Director, and any newcomer to the post will require payment, therefore the funds held at present will be whittled down pretty quickly.   New ways to bring in income will have to be found.   These were discussed, such as rental of music, however Stephen and Kate pointed out that the existing library has a huge amount of music that can be used.   Both Sten Jeavons and Duncan Moss proposed that annual membership fees should increase to match inflation at a steady rate.   This was agreed unanimously, and will start in January – the amount to be discussed and confirmed.

Olga also pointed out that with Stephen no longer able to help with the financial spreadsheet, she is going to need a volunteer helper – again this has already been mentioned, but it would be great if someone familiar with this kind of work would think of stepping forward.

All details of this year’s finances can be found on the attachment.

Accounts For Period Ending August 2024

NOTES TO ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDING 31st  AUGUST 2024

  1. Average membership 55
  1. Two revenue earning concerts in the year compared to one in prior year:
    • December 2023 at St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich with Norwich City Concert Band
    • July 2024 at St. Nicholas church, North Walsham
  1. Includes £625 from Southrepps Festival and sale of unwanted titles from our music library.
  1. Significant increase on prior year due to music purchased for the winter concert with NCCB.
  1. Includes replacement conductor’s stool.
  1. Savings on prior year due to reduced website costs.
  1. Accruals record cash receipts and bills paid in September 2024, that relate to activity in the year ending 31st August 2024. (For example the money received from the Southrepps Festival for our August concert was actually paid into our bank in September).
  1. For the second year running our assets (our financial cushion) increased by c. £1,000.

Musical Director’s Report 2023-2024

As we near the end of the first phase of the Chorale’s existence, you will forgive me if this report is in part a reflection of 14 years, and not just the past year.

 

Having said that, the past year is typical of this choir. We broke new ground by performing a major concert in Norwich, one of my long-term goals for the choir achieved, and it was our first joint concert with a wind band. We learnt new music ranging from Polar Express to a bossa nova, Wave, to the Requiem by John Rutter. We held a half-day workshop based on music theatre songs by Stephen Sondheim. 

 

Indeed our musical programmes this year were typical of the Southrepps Chorale, in that we tackle fairly unusual repertoire sometimes in interesting contexts. That, along with my mission to extend our musical awareness and improve our singing voices through diverse musical styles, sums up my approach to programming for this choir. I also know that the repertoire is a key factor in a choir’s identity, and it is that which keeps the members coming back each week.   

 

I always record our concerts and so we have a history of our performances going back through most of our existence. And these are now included on our website for all to listen to, and it is a body of work of which we should all be very proud.

 

(See over for list of the major musical works learnt and performed in our choirs lifetime.)

 

Financially, as you have heard from Olga, we are secure and that is important too. When I plan a concert, in addition to the music I have to consider the financial aspect, the cost of the venue and professional soloists and musicians. Will we sell enough tickets to justify the risk? I tend to be ambitious for us, but the committee knows that each time I put forward a year’s programme, it is accompanied by a budget. We look at that together and take a view on its feasibility. Actually we could sometimes stage our concerts for less money (typically by having a piano or an organ accompaniment) but that leads to a different musical experience, and, depending on the choice of piece, generally not what the composer had in mind when the music was conceived. And in any case I am a great believer in the mixing of voices and instruments, and the impact that has on you singers.

 

So in December 2023 we had the ambitious concert with the Norwich City Concert Band in St. Peter Mancroft Church, one of the city’s largest venues, that cost £870 to hire. But we sold 260 tickets @ £15 and on a very busy night in Norwich with competing concerts nearby in The Halls and the Cathedral, we had a very decent size audience. We learned some new carols, sang them with wind band accompaniment (crazy idea), and included some in the village carol service. John Rutter’s Angel Carol and Star Carol will reappear at our winter concert in Trunch and at the 2024 carol service. It ended up being a memorable experience and it created a surplus of £600 to each of choir and band.

 

Our summer concert had the ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’, John Rutter ‘Requiem’ and Will Todd ‘Songs of Peace’. Some challenging stuff, however once again the choir excelled and in the ‘Requiem’ produced probably our best singing in all our time together. And we had amazing musicians working with us. But it’s not all about quality of singing: it is about the experience of working together, of the shared emotional and expressive experience, it’s about working with an unfamiliar, alien even, musical work and eventually presenting it in public in a compelling way; it’s about putting yourself in new situations, often somewhere you never before dreamt that you would be. It has been an unforgettable experience for me to go on that 14-year journey with you.  

 

As always I am grateful for the support of the Chair and Committee and our librarians Kate and Lindsey. Concerts manager Penny is incredibly useful to us all – especially me. Carolyn is a devoted and wise Chair, always generous with her time. In Cathy we have a great accompanist, accomplished and versatile, and always willing to meet whatever demands I throw at her. So all in all, after 14 years, the Chorale is in a good place. All of us are fortunate to be part of it.  

 

 

Stephen Richards, Musical Director 22nd October 2024

 

 

 

Selected Repertoire 2011-2024

 

 

  • Ceremony of Carols (Benjamin Britten)
  • Requiem (Sir John Rutter)
  • Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré)
  • Stephen Sondheim Celebration
  • The Bravest Man (Douglas Coombes/Paul Rosier), Southrepps Chorale commission
  • Snow Angel (Sarah Quartel)
  • Light in the Stable (Alan Bullard)
  • Songs of Peace (Will Todd)
  • The Nightingale (Geoff Cummings-Knight), Southrepps Chorale commission
  • Zadok the Priest (Handel)
  • I was Glad (Parry)
  • Fantasia on British Sea Songs (Sir Henry Wood)
  • Funeral Music for Queen Mary (Thomas Purcell)
  • Hallelujah Chorus (Handel)
  • Choral Dances from Gloriana (Benjamin Britten)
  • Feel The Spirit (Sir John Rutter)
  • The Armed Man and The Peacemakers (Sir Karl Jenkins)
  • Songs and Sonnets (George Shearing)
  • Three Shakespeare Madrigals (Emma Lou Diemer)
  • Little Jazz Mass (Bob Chilcott)
  • Requiem (Gabriel Fauré)
  • You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban) – flashmob in Morrisons, Cromer.
  • Captain Noah (Joseph Horovitz and Michael Flanders)
  • Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring (Bach)
  • West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein)
  • Multitude of show music, madrigals, sacred anthems, carols

Southrepps Chorale - Annual General Meeting. 8.30pm Tuesday 17th October 2023 - MINUTES

Southrepps Chorale Annual General Meeting held in Southrepps Village Hall on 17th. October 2023 at 8.30p.m.
Minutes of meeting

  1. Present: 43 members of the Chorale were in attendance. 
  2. Apologies: were received from Beth Walsh, Juliet Collier, and Nicki Land.
  3. Minutes of the last AGM on the 11th. October 2022 were approved, proposed by Michael Gurney and seconded by George Bradford.
  4. Matters arising: none
  5. Election of committee: Stan Jeavons and Janet Rosier were standing down from the committee, and were thanked by the Chair for their contributions. Julia Forsyth (proposed by Michael Gurney and seconded by Jane Morris) and Sally Chapman (proposed by Janet Rosier and seconded by Lynda Brown) were elected to the Committee.
  6. Chair’s report: attached below. Michael Gurney proposed a vote of thanks to the Chair for all her hard work and leadership over the past year, and this met with the acclaim of the meeting.
  7. Treasurer’s report: attached below
  8. Music Director’s report: attached below
  9. Any other business: none

The meeting concluded at 9.15p.m.

Chair’s Report 2023

This has been a particularly busy year for the Committee, as I’m sure they will agree.

So, we started with a very successful fundraising quiz in April, organised by Ian – our thanks to him. This raised about £400.

Then the following month we held the Rutter Requiem Come and Sing, an event which was supported financially by the North Norfolk District Council Arts and Culture Fund. This is the second grant that we have received from them and we are extremely grateful.

Amidst all this activity, we discovered that our website had been hacked, and that presented us with a big problem. It become obvious that by far the best option was to create a new one. At this point I must thank Penny and her husband Patrick who took this on and have spent hours overseeing it. I’m fairly sure that creating a new website was not in her Events Organiser job description when she took it on. I hope that you have all looked at it and will use it regularly.

This year we have been trying to rationalise our extensive music library, which Kate and Lindsey look after. Having put together a list of music which we are unlikely to use again, we have explored several routes for selling it or loaning it out. We have managed to raise nearly £200 in sales so far, and some pieces are out on loan; the latter could be developed we think, but someone needs to take that on separately. Kate and Lindsey don’t have time – perhaps you could speak to them or me if you are interested in helping. You don’t have to join the Committee!

As you know, I see this as my opportunity to thank the Committee for all their hard work and the support that they give me. They willingly give up a lot of time to the choir and pretty much turn their hands to anything.

And then there’s Stephen. I think I’m right in saying that he has always wanted the Chorale to be different from other community choirs. His vision and enthusiasm for offering us new opportunities musically and in so many different venues has certainly achieved this. Thank you Stephen.

Carolyn Nash

Hon Treasurer comments

I am delighted to present accounts that show that, in an active and ambitious year, your committee carefully managed the finances so that we ended the year with a surplus of £946. So our reserves are now just under two and a half thousand pounds, and are back to the level they were pre-pandemic.

In fact, if you look across to the year-end accounts 2018/19, and compare them with the latest accounts, you will see a close resemblance in the two sets of results, some five years apart.

Starting at the top with our income:

  • Membership subscriptions came from an average membership of 55.
  • Actually concert ticket sales of £2,100 was less than our budget required, however, thanks to:
    1. Some hard work by Carolyn and Ian in obtaining a grant from NNDC for £1225
    2. Again, thank you to Carolyn and Committee for the fund-raising Quiz Night
    3. And to Stephen who donated his services for our Come and Sing
    4. Fundraising also included the sale of some items from our library that we would not be likely to use again in the future.

Taking these contributions together, we managed to redress the shortfall in ticket sales of £800. Otherwise our outcome would be a lot less satisfactory than I am reporting.

Turning to our expenses:

  • Most of the headings are similar to those in prior years
  • The amounts spent on music scores has dipped as repertoire choices have enabled us to hire sets of scores, and to re-use music from the library we have built up over 12 years
  • Kate (and Michael) and Lindsey have renovated our music library, which in a much better state now, which is why we spent a modest amount on shelving
  • The largest amount in the Concert Expenses was for the orchestra: £2000 for musicians, and £1270 to hire the orchestral parts. Both of these amounts were as expected, and as planned for in our budget
  • The largest cost in “Miscellaneous” was £230 for food for our fund-raising Quiz evening.

I have to thank the Committee, and particularly to Carolyn for stepping in on the times it has not been possible for me to be at choir in the last year.

I am happy to take any questions.

Musical Director’s Report 2022-2023

Our musical programmes for the past year were typical of the Southrepps Chorale, in that we tackled fairly unusual repertoire sometimes in interesting contexts. That, along with my mission to extend our musical awareness and improve our singing voices through diverse repertoire, sums up my approach to programming for this choir.

The winter concert, performed for Trunch Concerts, featured Snow Angel by the young Canadian composer, Sarah Quartel and Light in the Stable by Alan Bullard. We should note the excellent contribution on African drum from Mike Brown in Snow Angel.

Our summer concert featured works by Karl Jenkins, in particular The Peacemakers. I don’t believe that The Peacemakers is performed much, and it was very pleasing to get good-luck messages from the composer, and from Sir Terence Waite, from the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and the Sisters of Mercy in Calcutta.

This year we also gave a platform to some young artists who performed with distinction: Elijah and Mimi at Trunch, and the wonderful Hannah Kelleway in Sheringham and Southrepps. I would like that to continue to be another characteristic of the Southrepps Chorale.

The two summer concerts cost us quite a lot of money, mainly for hire of the orchestral parts, and for the professional players. We had a budget based on three elements: the fund-raising Come and Sing, the Sheringham concert (for which we sold tickets), and the Southrepps Festival concert (where the Festival makes a contribution to our costs). With an overall income of £4.5K we budgeted to make a shortfall of £500 and in fact we came in very close to that (shortfall of £715), so thank you to the committee and to members of the choir for their support. If we had sold just 18 more tickets we would have come in on budget. Some members of the choir did a fantastic job and sold multiple tickets for the Sheringham concert, but I would like to see greater ticket sales via all of our members. I like us to perform in as professional manner as possible, and I like our audiences to hear the music as the composer intended it to be heard. But the costs of putting on concerts are increasing, and I feel that if we can’t sell tickets to our family and friends, we can’t always expect the general public to make it up for us.

I wonder sometimes if we should start a concert fund, say of £25 per member, for which you get two tickets to re-sell. That would ensure the first 100 seats were filled. (Something for the committee and members to take on board perhaps?).

I was very happy to welcome some new members this year, mainly attracted by our repertoire and our approach to performing. Typically, new members are a little bit younger than some of our long-serving members, and they bring with them new energies and some younger vocal cords. The choir benefits from this constant renewal. We do need a few new members in 1st soprano, tenor and bass. If you can persuade any of your contacts to give us a go, please do that.

As always I am grateful for the support of the Chair and Committee. This year Kate and Lindsey have taken all the music library duties from me, for which I am enormously grateful. As we left the village, Kate and Penny took on the provision of storage for choir equipment. Penny is incredibly useful to us all in her role as Concerts Manager. Carolyn is as competent, wise and as devoted a Chair as you ever come across. In Cathy we have a great accompanist, accomplished and versatile, and always willing to meet whatever demands I throw at her. So all in all, after 13 years, the Chorale is still in a good place. All of us are fortunate to be part of it.

Looking ahead to the next 15 months:

  • We have our exciting concert in St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich on Saturday 10th December with Norwich City Concert We need to sell lots of tickets for this.
  • Remembrance Sunday and Carol Service in the
  • Sunday 25th February 2024 an afternoon workshop of Stephen Sondheim songs, with a young ‘belter’ soloist.
  • Saturday 20th July 2024 – our summer concert in North Walsham church, Requiem by John Rutter and (provisionally) Songs of Peace by Will Todd and Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Fauré.
  • Saturday 9th December 2024 – a concert with harp accompaniment for Trunch Concerts will include Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten and some favourite carols from John Rutter.

Stephen Richards, Musical Director 17th October 2023

 

SOUTHREPPS CHORALE ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDING 31 AUGUST 2023 HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY:

Stephen Allen

Mike Brown

Penny Clifford

Juliet Collier

Wendy Dane

Carol Evans

Jennifer Evans

Julia Forsyth

Cathy Kingham

Louise Marriner

Penny McClean

Carolyn Nash

Jo Samuels

Ian Stevenson

Beth Walsh

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