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
Cathy Bird, Oenone Cox, Chris Crocker, Gordon Cumming, Claire Edwards, Philippa Kings, Norman and Jane MacSween, Penny Manser, Prof Roger Morgan, Lilian Phipps, Sheila Shuttleworth, Norman Starritt, Libby Summers, Chris Underhill, Genevieve Usher
The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting (on 28th April 2007) were read and adopted
Club library
Andrew Westlake apologised for the further delay in making the catalogue available to members via the website. However, he had now tackled this task and had created a database containing not only the full set of piano and vocal works held by Gordon Cumming and the chamber music held by Robert and Deborah Behrman, but also the orchestral parts which have recently been recovered from University College by Hugh Rosenbaum. These amount to over 4000 entries, and two catalogues have been produced, grouped either by composer or title. These are available as PDF files, and so can be searched.A certain amount of tidying up, including work on standardisation, still needs to be done and there remain the administrative questions of how to arrange access. However the main work is now largely complete and the catalogues will be available through the Club web site soon. He hopes, in the longer term, to provide a more sophisticated on-line search facility.
Lyn Parkyns asked that OCMC members without internet facilities should be able to access a printed copy. Deborah Behrman pointed out that members will need to be aware, in using the catalogue, of the distinction of ownership and responsibility between (1) the piano and chamber works held by Robert and Deborah Behrman or by Gordon Cumming, and (2) the (recently recovered) orchestral parts which are still in the ownership of the Club.
Andrew Westlake reported a suggestion by Gordon Cumming that the library could be viewed by OCMC members as a facility to be built on and that it could be expanded by further contributions from members.
The Chairman expressed the thanks and appreciation of the Club to Andrew Westlake, and also to Robert and Deborah Behrman and Gordon Cumming, for their work and dedication to this important project.
Procorda
As current Chairman of Procorda and a committee member of OCMC, Keith Daley gave his view on the relationship with Procorda which he had been instrumental in setting up. Keith was one of Procorda’s first pupils when it was founded in 1969, and joined OCMC seven years later in 1976. His view of the natural affinity between the two organisations is based on his own experience.Not all Procorda ex-alumni become musical professionals. Those that choose to earn their living outside music only become aware of their need for performing opportunities, and the difficulty in finding them, after they leave the academic environment. This means that there will be a 3 or 4 year time-lag before OCMC start to benefit significantly from their gift of free membership to current Procorda pupils. In view of OCMC’s perennial problem of string-fixing, Keith believes that over time this will prove to be a very worthwhile investment. Access to the OCMC library of music will be a valuable inducement towards this. KD also said he will be glad to cooperate with Carole Kaldor in string-fixing.
Reporting on her final year as Membership Secretary, Evelyn Bercott said that membership had risen during the year from 249 to 256. This resulted from 17 new members offset by 5 resignations, 2 non-renewals of subscription, and 3 deaths. Of the 17 new members, 2 were aged under 26.
Gudrun Edwards asked whether it was still a requirement for applications for membership to be supported by the recommendation by an existing member. The Chairman quoted the Club Rules. These require each application to be proposed by a Club member, however since the 2006 AGM the applicant is no longer required to be personally known to the Club member (this change is shown in the updated Rules on the website, but not yet in the print version). EB commented that most applications still come by personal recommendation with occasional applications being generated by the website.
Lyn Parkyns expressed the appreciation of the Club to Evelyn Bercott for the valuable contribution which she had made to the Club during her years of service as Membership Secretary.
In reporting on his final year as Music Secretary, Nick Murray referred to his aim of giving all members the maximum opportunity and encouragement to perform. Not only was there now a much greater range in the type of concerts being offered, but the growth of informal ‘playdays’ and Concerto Workshops, had proved to be extremely popular. Arising from this experience, Nick invited Club members’ views on two main debating points
(1) what should be the balance between set-piece concerts and informal workshops ?
(2) does the limit of the Club’s concert programme imply a limit to the number of performers that the Club can accommodate ?
To read the full text of the Report, please click here.Nick Murray welcomed Graham Bowler as the incoming Music Secretary (designate).
On behalf of Club members Lyn Parkyns expressed thanks and appreciation to Nick Murray for the important contribution which he had made to the Club’s musical life
In the absence of Libby Summers, the Treasurer’s Report was presented by Evelyn Bercott.
At long last the arrears of room hire due to UCL (for 2004, 2005 and 2006) had been cleared. In order to see the true income/expenditure picture it was necessary to exclude this item (£2020) and also payments of £180 not yet paid for 2007.The resultant corrected figure for expenditure in 2007 was £6447, ie a small deficit of £360 against income of £6083. This was explained partly by the extra room hire costs of wind workshops, these being additional to the regular concert programme, but also by the extra costs involved in the more innovative and adventurous character of the 2007 concert programme.
At £4907 the total cost for the concerts and workshops in 2007 was £1700 more than for the previous year. However the surplus carried over from 2006 was sufficient to cover this, so that over the two years 2006/2007 there was an approximate balance of income and expenditure.
In response to a question from Livia Gollancz, it was stated that the number of members aged under 26 who pay no subscription is now 48.
The chairman thanked Libby Summers for her work and the accounts were adopted nem con (proposer Norman Parkyns, seconder Adrian Rushton).
43 members had responded to this survey, initiated and conducted by Hugh Rosenbaum. The survey sought members’ views on types of events to be included in the Club programme eg lectures, themed concerts etc. In the absence of Hugh Rosenbaum the survey findings were remitted to the Committee.
Evelyn Bercott put forward the proposal that there should be a time-limit of 10 years on the tenure of any position in the Club, and that this should apply to every position listed on the front of the Club Directory including coordinators, Webmaster etc. While there was general agreement with the idea of a 10-year rule in principle, a number of members foresaw problems if this had to be implemented in a hard and fast way. It was therefore agreed, on a motion by Andrew Westlake (seconded by Peter Sowerby), that the matter should be remitted to the Committee to discuss and offer a motion for next year’s AGM.
As the outgoing Chairman, Lyn Parkyns expressed her thanks to the members of the Committee for their support and individual contributions, also to all other office-holders on whose work the Club depends. Lyn recalled that, soon after she joined the Club in 1990, she became its first-ever chorus coordinator. In 1998, after working her way through a succession of Committee jobs - compilation and mailing of concert programmes, minute-taking, and finally Secretary (which in those days included room bookings) - Lyn was invited by Hilary Orr to succeed her as Chairman. She greatly appreciated the opportunity which this gave to take part in the organisation of the Club’s Centenary in 1999.
Lyn had particularly warm memories of the Centenary Concert at St Johns Smith Square and the Dinner at Lincoln’s Inn at which she was able to introduce, through family contacts, a descendant of Joachim. She also remembered some of the emergencies which she had to deal with as Chairman, such as the occasion when, due to the Secretary turning up late, the AGM had to start without the Minutes of the previous AGM.
Lyn expressed particular appreciation for the constant support of her husband Norman and warmest congratulations and best wishes to her successor Michael Crowe. In response Mike Crowe expressed his own appreciation, on behalf of the Club, for the leadership and commitment which Lyn had given during her years as Chairman. He thought of Lyn as an embodiment of OCMC at its best - a combination of charm and hardheadedness! He singled out one particular innovation which Lyn had introduced and made her own during her years as Chairman - the Chairman’s New Year letter. He was particularly glad that Lyn would be staying on the Committee.
Four members of the existing Committee did not offer themselves for re-election (Evelyn Bercott, Nick Murray, Richard Shaw, Peter Sowerby). Seven members of the existing Committee (Deborah Behrman, Michael Crowe, Sue Estermann, Pauline Kahn, Lyn Parkyns, Hugh Rosenbaum, Libby Summers) offered themselves for re-election. 5 Club members (Graham Bowler, Keith Daley, Philippa Kings, Carl Murray, Jo Parton) offered themselves for election to fill the remaining vacancies for the 12-strong Committee.
The new Committee of 12 were duly elected en bloc (proposed Adrian Rushton, seconded Giles de la Mare, carried nem con)
Guest performers
Lyn Parkyns had received a letter from Chris Crocker concerning the Club’s policy on guest performers. Chris feels there are too many guest performers at Club concerts and too few of these become members. Peter Kaldor agreed and cited a Hampstead musical club which does not allow guests to perform. Another suggestion was that there should be a limit on the number of times guests can perform without becoming members.It was pointed out that the orchestral repertoire would be drastically limited without guest players. Also that the Club’s instructions to concert organisers lay down that preference should be given to Club members. Keith Daley suggested guest players should be charged £5.
Summing up the discussion, Mike Crowe pointed out the difficulties in devising a policy which would cover all situations. This might be a matter for the Committee to look at.
Andrew Quartermain, Procorda’s ‘Director of Outreach’, described Procorda’s involvement in community work and promotional aspects including the weekends at Leiston Abbey.
Alan Reddish enquired regarding the Neville Marriner concert on July 19th. Lyn Parkyns said that Sir Neville had confirmed that he is still available for this concert. Keith Daley said that Procorda was offering the database of Procorda alumni for string fixing purposes. The question of whether the OCMC and Procorda players should rehearse together or separately was also discussed.
The meeting closed at 6.45pm and was followed by the AGM Concert and Party.
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