Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club

Music Committee

Report on the 2008/9 season

This is my first report as Music Secretary, and I would like to thank my predecessor Nick Murray for the excellent hand-over support he gave me.

Concert highlights since the last AGM

The Club has staged 22 concerts since the last AGM. There were many memorable performances. Picking out a few highlights…

Of the larger scale concerts…

• Orchestral Workshop with Pro Corda (conducted by Sir Neville Marriner).
  34 members performed. 70 performers in total. The event was a great success; thank you to all the behind-the-scenes organisers.
• Falstaff. This was a very successful event with a high standard of musicianship. 43 members took part.
• The Fairy Queen, believed to be the first baroque-pitch opera staged by the Club. 29 members took part
• Concerto Workshop. There were excellent performances by the soloists. 29 members took part.

Of the smaller scale concerts…

• Club Composers concert. Eight composers (past and present members) had their music performed. We said farewell to composer member Tony Noakes, who has now emigrated to Perth, Western Australia.
• Memorial concert for Graham Thorne and Leonard Whitehouse, two very long-standing members who made great contributions to the Club
• “Nothing Too Serious!”. This concert just before Christmas was a huge success. 23 members performed, which is almost a record for a chamber concert. As a result of its popularity this will become an annual event
• 8 new members performed at the New Members’ concert, and after a gap of four years there was a Pianists’ concert (11 members performed)
• 12 members performed at the Wind Orchestra concert, and 7 at the Messiaen Centenary concert. The latter was held at Hinde Street Methodist church, and made good use of its fine organ.
• Rupert Bawden’s very interesting Berio Folk Songs concert, incorporating a rehearsal with explanatory comments to the audience (10 members performed).

Thoughts on how well (or badly) we are programming our concerts

If we are programming our concerts successfully then everyone who wants to perform should get sufficient opportunity, and there should be a good balance of styles and periods of work to satisfy listeners.

Taking the first of these (does everyone who wants to perform get an opportunity), since the last AGM the number of members performing in a concert has ranged from 5 to 43, but it turns out that 50% of our entire membership performed at least once. This has been the case in each of the last four seasons, and just over 60% of the membership have performed at least once over this period.

More importantly, those who did perform averaged two concerts in any one season in which they took part.

The conclusion is clear – that our current mix of 17 chamber and 3 large-scale events per annum is more than sufficient to give all members who wish to perform the opportunity to do so at least once, and that we have ample capacity for more of our membership to perform should they wish to do so.

Taking the second of these measures (do we have a balanced portfolio of works for listeners?), since the start of the 2004-5 season approximately 700 works have been performed. It is averaging about 150 per annum, and the spread by period is roughly…

• baroque 15%
• classical 15%
• romantic 30%
• 20^th-21^st century 40%

There is nothing right or wrong with these figures – they reflect the interests of our members – however we are clearly providing a healthy mix of music for our audiences.

Forthcoming concerts this Season

We still have 9 concerts to look forward to this season. These will be reviewed at the 2010 AGM.

Please note that the Orchestral Workshop with Pro Corda scheduled for July 11^th has been cancelled. In its place will be a “Haydnfest” concert at UCL. Deborah Behrman and Jo Parton are the organisers.

Looking ahead to the 2009-2010 Season

We will have 20 concerts, 3 large-scale and 17 chamber.

There will be a good balance of chamber concerts taking place on both Wednesdays and Saturdays (which was not the case in 2008-2009), and we will experiment with two Open concerts, one on a Wednesday and one on a Saturday.

Sir Neville Marriner has agreed to conduct another orchestral workshop, and there will be a joint chamber concert with the UCL Chamber Music Club.

A message to New Members

Don’t wait to be approached if you would like to perform. Look at the concert schedule on the website. This gives dates and names of the concert organisers. Contact an organiser to say that you wish to perform.

If you need to find other players contact a member of the Music Committee who will be pleased to help find someone suitable.

Thank you’s

Thank you to the Music Committee for a job well done. Some have a very difficult task sourcing performers for our large scale works, and it is much appreciated.

Thank you to Andrew Westlake, Pip Kings, and Sue Estermann for their efficient publication of the concert programmes and messages to members.

A special thanks to Adrian Rushton for handling the many room bookings and cancellations that have taken place over the last year.

Message to Non-Members

If you are a non-member reading this you will see that this is a very vibrant club providing a healthy mix of music, with space for new members. Do contact the Membership Secretary if you are interested in joining.

Graham Bowler (Music Committee Chairman)
February 2009