Lucis Choir
Charity no 1092531 Patron: Will Todd Musical Director: Francis Faux www.lucischoir.com
Annual General Meeting
St Luke’s Church
7[th] November, 2023
MINUTES
Present: 64 members: 21 sopranos, 24 altos, 9 tenors, 10 basses. In attendance: Francis Faux, Musical Director and Will Ashworth, Accompanist In the Chair: Sian Rogers, Chair Minutes: Susan Chadwick, Admin Secretary
1 Apologies for absence Received from Mirren Derby, Tim Greeves, Josephine Herrlinger, Howard Griffiths, Sue Lester, Sian Macdonald, Martina Mitchard, Anna Salkeld and Claire Urmston. 2 Minutes of the AGM of 1[st] November, 2022 These were circulated to all members before the meeting. They were approved. 3 Matters arising None. 4 Chair’s Report Main points Sian expressed her regret at saying goodbye to Kate Stacey, her predecessor as Chair and wished Kate well. She thanked other members of the committee for their support to her as incoming Chair and the many non-committee members who play a vital role. She noted that about 20% of the membership give their time to LUCIS. There have been four varied concerts in the past year, plus carol singing and ‘Party in the Park’. The choir’s thanks go to Francis for his musicality and leadership and to Will for his much-appreciated skills. Social events added to members’ experience of LUCIS: the Burns Supper and the Summer Walk both had a positive, cohesive impact. Appreciation for their efforts go to the Social Committee.
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Despite excellent planning, the proposed choir tour to Tallinn in 2024 did not go ahead for want of uptake. It is hoped that the subsequent survey will indicate how to proceed with future tour plans. 2024 is LUCIS’ 10[th] anniversary. Membership numbers have rallied since the drop in membership resulting from the Covid pandemic. The challenge now is to become better known and to expand our target audience. Diane is retiring as Librarian. Her energy and commitment, plus her organisational skill, meant that we always had the right scores at the right time. Special thanks to her for all she has done for LUCIS. Since the meeting, Sian’s report has been circulated to all members. 5 Musical Director’s Report Main points LUCIS continues to be a vibrant part of Bath’s music scene. We are noted especially for our friendliness, different repertoire and collaboration with other artists, including the championing of young talent. 2023 has seen well-received performances. However, audience numbers post-pandemic have been low, especially for smaller-scale concerts. If we are to finance larger events and/or avoid an increase in the annual subscription, ticket sales must improve. We have ambitious plans for our 10[th] anniversary year, with a varied concert repertoire, a number of commissions and, beyond 2024, a video games concert. Making our plans a reality depends on a proactive and fully supportive membership, as we celebrate the past ten years and look forward to the next ten. Since the meeting, Francis’ report has been circulated to all members. 6 Presentation of accounts The accounts were circulated by the Hon. Treasurer before the meeting. Main points The external auditor has agreed the figures. The key message arising from the accounts is the critical importance of improving ticket sales. 70% of total annual subscriptions are absorbed by the day-to-day costs of rehearsal: a Tuesday rehearsal costs c.£300 and a Saturday rehearsal c.£450. Additional fixed costs such as salaries, John Fletcher, insurance, performance rights etc also have to be covered. Concerts, therefore, have to be paid for by ticket sales. Everyone has to take responsibility for this if we are to have good performances and not cut corners.
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The Abbey costs upwards of £4K. An orchestra plus soloists can be £8K-12K. At these rates, without good audience numbers, our reserves will soon run out. The Finance Committee sets ticket prices in line with the circumstances, eg a Christmas concert would be cheaper than the Vivaldi at St Mary’s. Questions from the floor: How much do we get from sponsorship? A: No number was given. We had support from Dyson for the Malmesbury concert and also from a motoring organisation. How are decisions made about venues? A: The main factors are size – some venues are too small to accommodate LUCIS, others too large eg the Forum; acoustic - eg avoiding carpeting; location - Bristol is not attractive to some of our core audience. Are some venues cheaper than others? A: There is little variation. How much does Wiltshire Music Centre cost? A: The last concert there cost £3.6K overall, including the brass section and band. Of this, the venue cost was £800, but there were additional costs such as piano hire/tuning, staging and the use of the Green Room. WMC run their own bar, so we have no opportunity to generate income that way. What about a cheaper rehearsal venue? A: Rehearsing somewhere comfortable and with a decent acoustic is very important. St Luke’s charges are reasonable - £80 room hire per rehearsal plus £30 for heating. Suggestions and comments: • Zoning ticket prices and not always giving a concert in the evening, which is a barrier to some people. • In obtaining sponsorship, the fact that LUCIS is a charity can be influential. • VIP Ticket – ‘meet Will Todd’. This has already been done. • ‘Early bird’ tickets are a good idea, but entail a reduction in income. 7 Appointment of Independent Examiner for 2023-2024 The appointment was proposed by Simon Tatton-Brown and seconded by Colin Bushell. The motion was passed with no abstentions. 8 Subscriptions for 2024 Subscriptions are to remain unaltered.
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| 9 | Election of Officers and Committee Every member of the Committee was willing to continue. The required nominations had been received. A collective re-election was proposed by Michael Cuff and seconded by Michele Gross. The motion was passed. The election of Glenys Adams to the Committee as Librarian was proposed by Sandra Cardy and seconded by Hazel Giles. The motion was passed and Sian welcomed Glenys to the Committee. A list of Committee members is at the end of these Minutes. |
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| 10 | AOB An extra rehearsal for the current concert of Christmas Carols was suggested. Thursday 16th November was identified as the date, with Saturday 25thNovember being held in reserve. Most people had completed the tour survey. The new deadline for completion was announced as Tuesday, 14thNovember and those who had not yet completed the survey were urged to do so. 20thJuly 2024 was suggested as the date for the Summer Concert. A show of hands indicated that a few people will be away on that date. Autumn 2024 may see a Come & Sing with a guest conductor. The Will Todd composition will be performed for Christmas 2024 to avoid a rushed rehearsal schedule. The concert will be mid-week. |
| 11 | Conclusion The Chair thanked everyone for attending and brought the meeting to a close. |
Commitee Members 2023-24
| Chair: | Sian Rogers |
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| Vice Chair: | Suzanne Thomson |
| Hon Treasurer: | Paul Slade |
| Admin Secretary: | Susan Chadwick |
| Membership Secretary: | Anna Glover (Sheila Knowlton covering maternity leave) |
| Librarian: | Glenys Adams |
| Concert Manager: | Felix Page |
| Social Secretary: | Kay Labate |
| Member: | Ann Buterfeld |
| Member: | Tim Greeves |
NB: Francs Faux, Musical Director, is in attendance at Committee meetings.
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Charity No: 1092531
Lucis Choir
Treasurers Report for the Year Ending 31[st] August 2023
| Current Assets 2022-2023 2021-2022 CAF Cash Account £1,408 £6326 CAF Gold Account £18,075 £22,015 _ _ Total £19,483 £28,341 Decrease in funds -£8,858 Total Income and Expenditure This Year Last Year Income £31,322 £37,159 Expenditure £40,181 £40,775 Events during the Year Income Expenses Coleridge Workshop £1317 £598 Coleridge Concert £1127 £3,027 St Mary’s Christmas £2,392 £!,712 Carmina Concert £2,100 £3,610 St Michaels Concert £1,568 £679 (£405) |
+/- +£734 -£1900 +£1,160 -£1,510 +£889 -£627 |
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Comments
Membership numbers, along with our subscription income, fell in the early part of the financial year largely, we think, due to the ‘pandemic effect’. Pleasingly we have welcomed a number of new members during 2023 and our membership currently numbers 89.
I am also pleased to report that our ‘Social team’ raised the sum of £1700 in the year and made a profit of over £1,000 for choir funds. Kay and her assistants have some interesting plans for later in the winter! Ann Butterfield continues to encourage our Friends and Patrons and thanks also to Jean for the generous donations of her pottery. Thank you all.
One-off extra expenditures have added to the decrease in overall funds. We commissioned our Patron Will Todd, at a cost of £3,600, to compose his Lux Aeterna that we will premiere at the end of next year. We have also engaged a commercial company to completely revamp the Lucis Website, with an initial maintenance arrangement, at a cost of £1,350.
The Gift Aid declarations have all been updated and I thank the section reps for their help with that process. Unfortunately, due to a problem with the ‘Treasurer’ e-mail, I was unable to apply for the tax refund before the end of August. That represents a £2,400 deficit in the accounts that will be corrected in next year’s figures.
Those three elements account for £7,350 of the deficit. Subscriptions were down by £2,000 so when all is taken into account we are keeping our heads above water.
- Planning for 2023 2024
Our annual subscriptions were increased last year and with the increase in membership we do not feel the need to make a further increase. I therefore suggest that the annual subscription remains at £204. Please remember that this fee, unlike some other choirs, includes the provision of all music scores. We allocate £4,000 per annum for that and have managed to remain within budget for the last two years.
Concert performances are expensive to produce and it is not rare for us to “plan an expenditure” (make a loss!) to put on a special event. The Carmina Burana Concert at the WMC and Matthew Coleridge’s Requiem in Malmesbury were the highlight performances of the year and both ran at a loss. Orchestras are particularly costly. The committee does it’s best to pitch ticket prices appropriately for each event but we are very dependant on members encouraging ticket sales.
Audit of Accounts
The accounts have been audited and approved by our external examiner and a certificate of compliance has been issued to forward to the Charities Commission.
Dr Paul Slade
Treasurer Lucis Choir
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