Thames Vale Youth Orchestra
Annual General Meeting 2015-16 Review
Monday October 31st
Larkmead School.
Annual General Meeting 2015-16 Review
Monday October 31st
Larkmead School.
Present:
Dr Carolyn May - Chair
Michael Stinton - Musical Director
Suma Tennant - Treasurer
Carolyn King - Auditions' Secretary
Claire Armon-Jones - Publicity Officer
Apologies:
Kate Preston - In-house Designer
Welcome from the Chair.
Minutes of Last Meeting:
Minutes of the last meeting were approved.
Matters Arising:
There were no matters arising from the last AGM.
Reports.
Chair of TVYO: Report 2015-16.
Preamble: TVYO holds a special place in the history of Oxfordshire and the local area. Generations of young musicians have explored the challenges of advanced musical repertoire, and enjoyed meeting together socially, under the auspices of our experienced and dedicated TVYO team. TVYO has an important role to play in bringing together musicians from state and independent schools, enabling them to rehearse music to a high standard under the guidance of experienced professional coaches, not only in a full orchestra setting, but also in sectional rehearsals. Parents tell us that the progress the players make during their time in the orchestra can sometimes be quite exceptional, and many have been inspired by this experience to pursue a career in music.
I wanted to begin my 2016 report with a vote of thanks to our coaches: to P.J. Augur, Marion Crombie, Valerie Findlay, Elizabeth Harré, Chris Fletcher-Campbell, Anna Evans, John King, Matthew Cooke, and Nigel Somerville. Without the concentrated work they undertake during sectional rehearsals the players would not be able to make such significant progress – the coaches do a great deal to encourage and support individual players who are often at very different stages of development.
A special vote of thanks must also go to Michael Stinton, as our Conductor and Musical Director. Not only do we benefit from his musical expertise, and his immense experience as a conductor (and hearing how much the orchestra develops from the first full orchestral play-through to the final concert is testimony in itself to his impressive gifts in skilfully guiding these young players through complex musical challenges), but we also benefit from his commitment in working so hard behind the scenes to try and recruit new players. Furthermore he and Clova are generous in their kind offers of hospitality to Committee members and coaches in the New Year and after our spring concert, and I know how much the TVYO leavers value their ‘Leavers’ Party’ at the end of the season. There is no doubt that it is the strength of his leadership that gives cohesion to the orchestra and helps it to retain its high standing in the local area.
Michael, on behalf of the TVYO Committee and all the parents I would like to take this opportunity to record our sincere thanks for all that you do. I know that you believe that the emphasis should always be on the players rather than on yourself, and that you are concerned that we should not focus too much on your leadership, but we are particularly conscious that this spring will mark the 25th year of your association with TVYO as its Musical Director, and we hope that you will allow us to mark that in a small way at the Sheldonian Concert.
We have a dedicated and hard working core of Committee members whose support of the orchestra is invaluable.
I would like to pay particular tribute:
to Suma Tennant for all her efforts as Treasurer, not only in resolving past financial inconsistencies and lapses, but also in handling all current financial transactions (and the dreaded taxis) with such efficiency and meticulous attention to detail; and also to Jo Tuffill for her professional advice.
to Carolyn King not only for her efficiency in handling new admissions and her patience in chasing forms, but also for attending as a helper at rehearsals on alternate weeks: this is hugely appreciated;
to Christopher Fletcher-Campbell for all his behind-the-scenes work as our Librarian (a job that has been particularly complex this season with a number of changes of repertoire);
to Kate Preston for her inspirational work as our in-house designer;
to Lee Guckian for her role in co-ordinating Refreshments (and a thank you in advance to Stephanie Hathaway for so kindly stepping into this important role); and
to Claire-Armon-Jones and Fiona Jackson who work so hard on disseminating publicity, most especially in the run up to the Sheldonian Concert.
I believe that TVYO can be proud that it puts forward a more ‘professional’ profile now, both in terms of its management and administrative underpinning, its regulation and policy infrastructure, the clarity and efficiency of its financial framework, its concert and online publicity, and its community contribution.
When I first took over as Chair in October 2014 it seemed to me that the main challenges facing TVYO were threefold:
In relation to the orchestra: recruitment and retention; fostering enthusiasm.
In relation to the parents/committee: recruiting more parent members; fostering enthusiasm.
In relation to the administration: updating all aspects (including publicity, website, and infrastructure).
I am very grateful to Michael and all the committee members who have worked hard alongside me since then to address some of these areas of concern. However, although we have made considerable progress and achieved many things, some of our targets have not changed, as unfortunately the challenges have actually increased.
But more of this in a moment.
Carolyn May, October 31st 2016.
2. Director of Music Report.
1 Our Concerts since the last AGM (16 March 2015)
1 May 2015
Suppe: Poet and Peasant Overture
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite
Sibelius: En Saga
Borodin Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
13 December 2015
Borodin Prince Igor Overture
Khachaturian Spartacus Ballet Suite No 2
Schumann Symphony No 4 in D minor
27 April 2016
Wagner: Mastersingers Overture
Sarasate Zigeunerweisen (Mila Ferramosca, violin)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 2 (Little Russian)
Last year’s concerts included a wide variety of music which gave us plenty of challenges. I think that the orchestra has really enjoyed the music that we have tackled in the last eighteen months. Last term’s performance of Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with our leader, Mila Ferramosca, was particularly memorable, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 2.
Further back, everyone loved playing the Khachaturian ballet music from Spartacus and, further back, still, Sibelius’ En Saga was also hugely memorable and a big achievement for everyone.
2 The Current State of Orchestra
This year’s orchestra has very good potential, I feel. Although the orchestra is considerbly smaller this year, the loss of a lower brass section has meant that we have been able to tackle some early romantic repertoire, which is very welcome.
The atmosphere in rehearsals is really purposeful and we are making good progress with quite a demanding programme of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave and Beethoven’s great Eroica Symphony.
As last year, we have been able to recruit some key extra players at the start of the season. However, we are always keen to recruit new players, so please remember to encourage new members, especially in the strings. We hope to grow the orchestra for January and for that we need extra players - two horns, three trombones, a tuba and some more percussion players.
3 The Coaching Team
We continue to be so lucky to have a first class team of sectional coaches. We are grateful to have our violin coach, PJ, back with us after his absence due to illness and I would like to pay tribute to all the coaches for their dedicated work with our players.
4 The Players
Since September, Athalie Armon-Jones has made a great start as this year’s leader. Athalie has some dynamic ideas about how we can improve the promptness of the start to rehearsals and the concentration during them. Although we lost a good many players last year, we have many keen young musicians now, and they are really beginning to sound like an orchestra.
5 The Management Committee
We continue to be enormously grateful to the two Carolyns for their on-going work. Carolyn May, our Chair, continues to offer energetic and inspiring leadership to our management committee, and Carolyn King is wonderfully efficient and proactive Admissions Officer. Suma Tennant has done a huge job in unravelling our finances and booking transport of the Oxford contingent of players and I am particularly grateful to her. Kate Preston continues to produce gorgeous posters and programmes for our concerts. But, of course, we are grateful to all our hard working committee members, who have done so much to help us recruit talented young musicians.
6 Conclusion
TVYO is in good heart and we are already enjoying a terrific year. I do hope that parents will get actively involved if they can. It is enormous fun and we need them!
Special thanks to all those parents who deliver their children at 6.05pm for a prompt start at 6.15pm and to those that encourage their offspring to stay and help clear up at the end.
TVYO is a very special organisation and I continue to feel very privileged to be the Conductor and Musical Director.
Michael Stinton. 31 October 2016.
3. Treasurer's Report for October 2016 AGM
The year 2016 was spent getting the accounts in order and catching up with Gift Aid claims. Looking at our income and expenditure for the past two years it can be seen that there is a slight loss in the year 2014/2015 and a small profit in the year 2015/2016. The figures are slightly misleading in that not all the Rehearsal Hall Hire was paid in 2014/2015 and hence the payment has had to come from year 2015/2016. This suggests that there would have been an approximate £2000 loss in 2014/2015 and a comfortable £1500 profit in 2015/2016. The loss in 2014/2015 mainly comes down to not all subs being collected and not all gift aid forms being filled out. It is important that parents are requested to fill out the gift aid part of the form.
The monies in the account to date (31st October 2016): Current Account+Deposit Account is £23273.68
Thames Vale Youth Orchestra End of Year is Aug 31st. The account balances are as follows:
Dr Carolyn May - Chair
Michael Stinton - Musical Director
Suma Tennant - Treasurer
Carolyn King - Auditions' Secretary
Claire Armon-Jones - Publicity Officer
Apologies:
Kate Preston - In-house Designer
Welcome from the Chair.
Minutes of Last Meeting:
Minutes of the last meeting were approved.
Matters Arising:
There were no matters arising from the last AGM.
Reports.
Chair of TVYO: Report 2015-16.
Preamble: TVYO holds a special place in the history of Oxfordshire and the local area. Generations of young musicians have explored the challenges of advanced musical repertoire, and enjoyed meeting together socially, under the auspices of our experienced and dedicated TVYO team. TVYO has an important role to play in bringing together musicians from state and independent schools, enabling them to rehearse music to a high standard under the guidance of experienced professional coaches, not only in a full orchestra setting, but also in sectional rehearsals. Parents tell us that the progress the players make during their time in the orchestra can sometimes be quite exceptional, and many have been inspired by this experience to pursue a career in music.
I wanted to begin my 2016 report with a vote of thanks to our coaches: to P.J. Augur, Marion Crombie, Valerie Findlay, Elizabeth Harré, Chris Fletcher-Campbell, Anna Evans, John King, Matthew Cooke, and Nigel Somerville. Without the concentrated work they undertake during sectional rehearsals the players would not be able to make such significant progress – the coaches do a great deal to encourage and support individual players who are often at very different stages of development.
A special vote of thanks must also go to Michael Stinton, as our Conductor and Musical Director. Not only do we benefit from his musical expertise, and his immense experience as a conductor (and hearing how much the orchestra develops from the first full orchestral play-through to the final concert is testimony in itself to his impressive gifts in skilfully guiding these young players through complex musical challenges), but we also benefit from his commitment in working so hard behind the scenes to try and recruit new players. Furthermore he and Clova are generous in their kind offers of hospitality to Committee members and coaches in the New Year and after our spring concert, and I know how much the TVYO leavers value their ‘Leavers’ Party’ at the end of the season. There is no doubt that it is the strength of his leadership that gives cohesion to the orchestra and helps it to retain its high standing in the local area.
Michael, on behalf of the TVYO Committee and all the parents I would like to take this opportunity to record our sincere thanks for all that you do. I know that you believe that the emphasis should always be on the players rather than on yourself, and that you are concerned that we should not focus too much on your leadership, but we are particularly conscious that this spring will mark the 25th year of your association with TVYO as its Musical Director, and we hope that you will allow us to mark that in a small way at the Sheldonian Concert.
We have a dedicated and hard working core of Committee members whose support of the orchestra is invaluable.
I would like to pay particular tribute:
to Suma Tennant for all her efforts as Treasurer, not only in resolving past financial inconsistencies and lapses, but also in handling all current financial transactions (and the dreaded taxis) with such efficiency and meticulous attention to detail; and also to Jo Tuffill for her professional advice.
to Carolyn King not only for her efficiency in handling new admissions and her patience in chasing forms, but also for attending as a helper at rehearsals on alternate weeks: this is hugely appreciated;
to Christopher Fletcher-Campbell for all his behind-the-scenes work as our Librarian (a job that has been particularly complex this season with a number of changes of repertoire);
to Kate Preston for her inspirational work as our in-house designer;
to Lee Guckian for her role in co-ordinating Refreshments (and a thank you in advance to Stephanie Hathaway for so kindly stepping into this important role); and
to Claire-Armon-Jones and Fiona Jackson who work so hard on disseminating publicity, most especially in the run up to the Sheldonian Concert.
I believe that TVYO can be proud that it puts forward a more ‘professional’ profile now, both in terms of its management and administrative underpinning, its regulation and policy infrastructure, the clarity and efficiency of its financial framework, its concert and online publicity, and its community contribution.
When I first took over as Chair in October 2014 it seemed to me that the main challenges facing TVYO were threefold:
In relation to the orchestra: recruitment and retention; fostering enthusiasm.
In relation to the parents/committee: recruiting more parent members; fostering enthusiasm.
In relation to the administration: updating all aspects (including publicity, website, and infrastructure).
I am very grateful to Michael and all the committee members who have worked hard alongside me since then to address some of these areas of concern. However, although we have made considerable progress and achieved many things, some of our targets have not changed, as unfortunately the challenges have actually increased.
But more of this in a moment.
Carolyn May, October 31st 2016.
2. Director of Music Report.
1 Our Concerts since the last AGM (16 March 2015)
1 May 2015
Suppe: Poet and Peasant Overture
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite
Sibelius: En Saga
Borodin Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
13 December 2015
Borodin Prince Igor Overture
Khachaturian Spartacus Ballet Suite No 2
Schumann Symphony No 4 in D minor
27 April 2016
Wagner: Mastersingers Overture
Sarasate Zigeunerweisen (Mila Ferramosca, violin)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 2 (Little Russian)
Last year’s concerts included a wide variety of music which gave us plenty of challenges. I think that the orchestra has really enjoyed the music that we have tackled in the last eighteen months. Last term’s performance of Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with our leader, Mila Ferramosca, was particularly memorable, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 2.
Further back, everyone loved playing the Khachaturian ballet music from Spartacus and, further back, still, Sibelius’ En Saga was also hugely memorable and a big achievement for everyone.
2 The Current State of Orchestra
This year’s orchestra has very good potential, I feel. Although the orchestra is considerbly smaller this year, the loss of a lower brass section has meant that we have been able to tackle some early romantic repertoire, which is very welcome.
The atmosphere in rehearsals is really purposeful and we are making good progress with quite a demanding programme of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave and Beethoven’s great Eroica Symphony.
As last year, we have been able to recruit some key extra players at the start of the season. However, we are always keen to recruit new players, so please remember to encourage new members, especially in the strings. We hope to grow the orchestra for January and for that we need extra players - two horns, three trombones, a tuba and some more percussion players.
3 The Coaching Team
We continue to be so lucky to have a first class team of sectional coaches. We are grateful to have our violin coach, PJ, back with us after his absence due to illness and I would like to pay tribute to all the coaches for their dedicated work with our players.
4 The Players
Since September, Athalie Armon-Jones has made a great start as this year’s leader. Athalie has some dynamic ideas about how we can improve the promptness of the start to rehearsals and the concentration during them. Although we lost a good many players last year, we have many keen young musicians now, and they are really beginning to sound like an orchestra.
5 The Management Committee
We continue to be enormously grateful to the two Carolyns for their on-going work. Carolyn May, our Chair, continues to offer energetic and inspiring leadership to our management committee, and Carolyn King is wonderfully efficient and proactive Admissions Officer. Suma Tennant has done a huge job in unravelling our finances and booking transport of the Oxford contingent of players and I am particularly grateful to her. Kate Preston continues to produce gorgeous posters and programmes for our concerts. But, of course, we are grateful to all our hard working committee members, who have done so much to help us recruit talented young musicians.
6 Conclusion
TVYO is in good heart and we are already enjoying a terrific year. I do hope that parents will get actively involved if they can. It is enormous fun and we need them!
Special thanks to all those parents who deliver their children at 6.05pm for a prompt start at 6.15pm and to those that encourage their offspring to stay and help clear up at the end.
TVYO is a very special organisation and I continue to feel very privileged to be the Conductor and Musical Director.
Michael Stinton. 31 October 2016.
3. Treasurer's Report for October 2016 AGM
The year 2016 was spent getting the accounts in order and catching up with Gift Aid claims. Looking at our income and expenditure for the past two years it can be seen that there is a slight loss in the year 2014/2015 and a small profit in the year 2015/2016. The figures are slightly misleading in that not all the Rehearsal Hall Hire was paid in 2014/2015 and hence the payment has had to come from year 2015/2016. This suggests that there would have been an approximate £2000 loss in 2014/2015 and a comfortable £1500 profit in 2015/2016. The loss in 2014/2015 mainly comes down to not all subs being collected and not all gift aid forms being filled out. It is important that parents are requested to fill out the gift aid part of the form.
The monies in the account to date (31st October 2016): Current Account+Deposit Account is £23273.68
Thames Vale Youth Orchestra End of Year is Aug 31st. The account balances are as follows:
Gift Aid had not not been claimed for the last four years and we were not able to claim back all the stated amount. Some adjustments will need to be made to our annual return to HMRC with regards to unclaimable gift aid.
Suma Tennant. October 31st 2016.
4. Comments from Admissions Secretary.
Carolyn King confirmed that she was almost completely up to date in securing details from the newest members who have joined the orchestra in the last few weeks.
She is agreed to have her details (email and phone number if necessary) on forthcoming publicity.
5. Looking ahead:
Discussion regarding the future development of the orchestra.
Our discussion regarding the future of the orchestra and how best cope with current recruitment challenges, and to sustain and develop the orchestra so that it continues to flourish and offer exciting musical opportunities in the Thames Vale area extended across the remainder of the evening. We were very grateful to our coaches for sparing time to join the discussions and offer their ideas.
As a result we are hoping to be able to put in place a series of new initiatives. These will be collated onto a separate TVYO Development Plan in due course.
Thank you to everyone for all the time and effort they continue to put into TVYO.
4. Comments from Admissions Secretary.
Carolyn King confirmed that she was almost completely up to date in securing details from the newest members who have joined the orchestra in the last few weeks.
She is agreed to have her details (email and phone number if necessary) on forthcoming publicity.
5. Looking ahead:
Discussion regarding the future development of the orchestra.
Our discussion regarding the future of the orchestra and how best cope with current recruitment challenges, and to sustain and develop the orchestra so that it continues to flourish and offer exciting musical opportunities in the Thames Vale area extended across the remainder of the evening. We were very grateful to our coaches for sparing time to join the discussions and offer their ideas.
As a result we are hoping to be able to put in place a series of new initiatives. These will be collated onto a separate TVYO Development Plan in due course.
Thank you to everyone for all the time and effort they continue to put into TVYO.