Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club
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Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club |
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The meeting opened at 5.30pm and was attended by approximately 40 members
Helen Braverman, Oenone Cox, Gillian Robinson, Hugh Rosenbaum, Libby Summers, Tony Summers, Andrew Westlake
The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting (on April 12th 2003) were read and adopted
Evelyn Bercott reported that membership now stands at 210. During the past year 13 new members have joined and there have been 10 resignations. One of those resigning, Peter Twinn, belonged to the generation of members who helped to re-establish the Club when it re-started in the early post-war years. Evelyn quoted from an e-mail which she had received from Andrew Westlake on this subject. The honour of longest-serving member now belongs to Leonard Whitehouse, who joined at the same time as Peter Twinn (1951), closely followed by Graham Thorne and Percy Timberlake.
Evelyn has produced a recruitment leaflet which is available for placing in music libraries and other suitable places. Copies of the leaflet were available at the meeting and Evelyn invited all Club members to make use of the leaflet either for showing to their friends or for placing in music libraries and other suitable places
Alan Reddish reported on the musical events of the previous 12 months. In spite of the financial stringencies a remarkably varied programme of music-making had been achieved, including many highlights. Alan concluded by saying that after 15 years as Music Secretary he felt it was time to look for a possible successor, preferably with a view to a year of collaboration prior to actual handover. The invitation was open to any Club member. Alan’s full report can be read here.
By arrangement, Evelyn Bercott presented the Treasurer’s Report and accounts prepared by Libby Summers as Treasurer. These showed that the corrective action taken over the past year has resulted in a welcome turnaround in the Club’s financial position. When all outstanding bills are paid (those for hire of rooms at UCL are still awaited) the accounts for the calendar year 2003 are expected to show a surplus of approximately £785 compared with the deficit of £1083 in the previous year. A major reduction in expenses resulted from the saving of postage and photocopying costs, following the decision that all Club members with e-mail addresses should receive concert programmes by e-mail. Savings have also been made by having fewer orchestral concerts with the consequential reduction in costs for rehearsal venues, and by choosing an Opera (Idomeneo) which was less expensive to perform than that of the previous year (Queen of Spades).
This year’s accounts include as income a final gift of £664 from the Estate of Jack Waddell, without which income and expenditure would be in approximate balance. However they do not include the benefit which will result from the £5 increase in subscription rates. A further saving of around £160 pa will accrue from Sue Estermann’s use of DTP methods (in place of an external printer) for production of the annual Calendar/Fixture List. These benefits will take effect during the current year and hopefully will allow (1) some restoration of the 2002 deficit (2) slightly more adventurous concert planning (as in the use of St Cyprian’s Church for one concert instead of the Housman room).
Moneys from the Jack Waddell bequest (£5070) also a legacy of £500 from Kathleen Wallington, have now been invested in a special high-interest fund, the interest from which will be used to pay fees for student performers to reinforce the orchestra when needed.
In presenting the accounts, Evelyn Bercott pointed out that the figures for Income and Expenditure relate to moneys actually paid and received during the 12-month period. The analysis of the costs of individual concerts during the year (provided as an annexe to the accounts) is based on costs incurred. Any apparent discrepancy between the two sets of figures is due to the different bases of compilation.
Principal points discussed
Nick Reading raised the matter of piano tuning. The accounts for recent years show that this has only been done occasionally, ie when specially requested. Nick proposed that piano tuning should be done regularly according to an agreed schedule. After discussion with Nick Murray and Alan Reddish it was agreed that both pianos should be tuned twice pa on a regular basis with further tuning for special occasions as necessary. The cost of this for the two pianos was estimated at £75 per tuning (£50 for the Club piano and a 50% contribution to the tuning of the UCL piano)
Chris Reynolds commented on the decline in cost of room hire in spite of the steep increases in charges by UCL. Alan Reddish explained that this was the result of greater cost-consciousness in the use of rehearsal rooms.
Sue Estermann said that as Programmes Coordinator she hoped to make further cost savings by making greater use of combined mailings for consecutive concerts
Lyn Parkyns congratulated Libby Summers on the notable improvement which she had brought about since taking over responsibility for the Club’s finances. The accounts were adopted.
Lyn Parkyns explained the current position regarding the Club’s former library of sheet music which is now in the ownership of Robert Behrman and Gordon Cumming at Lee Barn, Cookham. The work of cataloguing was completed some time ago in respect of chamber music but completion of the catalogue for piano music has been held up in the absence abroad of Gordon Cumming. It is hoped that this task will be completed on Gordon’s return in April this year. The intention is for the catalogue to be made accessible to members via the website and in paper form at Club concerts. The specific arrangements for access to the catalogue and for the execution of loans remain to be worked out and will need to be agreed between the various parties concerned including Andrew Westlake.
Nick Reading pointed out that the 1999 agreement, under which Robert Behrman and Gordon Cumming acquired ownership of the library, specified that the work of cataloguing would be completed within 2 years. The 5-year delay in implementing this has been excessive. He recalled that, under the terms of the Agreement, the Club has the right to buy back the contents of the library at a price not exceeding £100. He suggested that the Club should now consider such re-purchase with a view to either
(1) selling the contents individually to members or
(2) sale as a job lot.
He also recalled that the original sale excluded any item of exceptional value such as the score of the Boccherini Quintets, the whereabouts of which needed to be established.Lyn Parkyns acknowledged that the completion of the catalogue has taken considerably longer than intended. She hoped that with the return of Gordon Cumming this can now be brought to an early conclusion. She understood that part of the delay is due to the poor condition of some of the bindings and that Gordon has been on a book-binding course to be learn the craft of repairing book-bindings. This matter - including the whereabouts of the Boccherini Quintets - will be dealt with as a priority issue and will be discussed at the first Committee meeting following the AGM .
The Club has its own storage cupboard at UCL (on the first floor) which is used for the storage of orchestral parts. However access to it is difficult due to problems with keys held by UCL officials. Attempts are being made both to solve the access problem and also to get agreement by UCL to enlargement of the Cupboard to provide additional storage for such items as lighting equipment.
The situation was unusual in that
(a) there were no vacancies on the retiring Committee, which had the full number of 12 members
(b) all 12 existing Committee members were willing to offer themselves for re-election.
Three members of the existing Committee were willing to stand down if other Club members wished to join the Committee. In explaining this situation, Lyn Parkyns said how much she as Chairman had appreciated having a full Committee and what a difference this had made in achieving a better spread of responsibilities and in making her task as Chairman more manageable.In the absence of any new candidates for election to the Committee, the existing 12 Committee members were re-elected en bloc. Lyn Parkyns made the point that the method of co-option is available to make further room on the Committee for any Club member who wishes to join the Committee.
The Committee members thus re-elected were :
Evelyn Bercott, Michael Crowe, Sue Estermann, Lynne Maya, Lyn Parkyns, Alan Reddish, Hugh Rosenbaum, Adrian Rushton, Peter Sowerby, Libby Summers, Richard Shaw, Percy Timberlake
A commemorative programme of the Club’s 1000th concert, signed by all those who attended, was displayed.
The meeting closed at 6.20pm and was followed by the AGM Concert and Party.
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