Redland Green Choir
Annual Report 2020 - 21
The year 2020 – 21 was, of course, severely disrupted by the pandemic!
In the summer, we sadly said goodbye to Nick Bromilow, whilst wishing him well with his new musical adventures in the USA (despite these being postponed for a year due to the virus). We had a presentation on the Downs, and goodbye drinks in the garden of the Cambridge Arms in September.
From September 2020, online rehearsals were undertaken with our accompanist Jonny Saunders organising and supervising. We sang in two halves, Sopranos and Altos, and then Tenors and Basses. We sang Since My Tears and Lamenting , Stand by Me , I Got Rhythm , Sicut Cervus , The Deer’s Cry, Your Song , Maid of Culmore , Linden Lea, with reduced fees of £15 for autumn and £7.50 spring and £15 for summer terms. There were two online lessons, one with Lotti Newstead 2[nd] November and a second with Katy Garden February 22[nd.] . Thanks to Jonny’s technical ability there were two recordings, one of The Deer’s Cry and the other of Your Song. Not all choir members were able, or wished to participate in the Zoom meetings, but we usually had approximately 25 attending.
Steve Hull kindly kept our brains ticking over with two quizzes online! Grateful thanks to Steve for putting these together.
We did attempt to have some carol singing on Redland Green, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate at all, so we were rained off, which was very disappointing.
The first time we were able to meet in person was outdoors on Redland Green in May. At this meeting, Johnny was presented with a customised t-shirt, cash and pottery bowl in grateful thanks for all his work with us. Outdoor rehearsals continued on 14[th] , 21[st ] and 15th July, and the final meeting in the summer was in Redland Green School, and was the first rehearsal with Huw.
Committee meetings continued throughout on Zoom.
The AGM last year was held on October 19th 2020 on Zoom. At this meeting Brian stood down, and Pat later took over as Chair.
Rehearsals resumed in Redland Green School on September 6[th] , 2021 and it has been agreed to continue to sing in masks until such time as the virus has abated. (We hope!!)
New Musical Director Huw Morgan
Clearly it was difficult for the choir during this period, as we were unable to complete the recruitment of a new Musical Director.
It took a long time to appoint, due to the lockdown situation. We had agreed as a committee to try and have the audition rehearsal for our final candidate, Will Stevens, who had been unfortunately delayed for his audition in October, and then we were unable to meet due to the pandemic. In the end Will decided to withdraw when he found that his new employer was unable to guarantee that he could be free on Monday evenings. So in the end, we reviewed the two previous candidates Tobias Jacob and Huw’s rehearsals, and consulted with the choir. Subsequently the committee unanimously agreed that we should ask Huw to become our new Musical Director. Thankfully, he was still able to accept this position, and we welcomed him to one of our outdoor rehearsals, and then were able to have one rehearsal at which approximately 40 members attended, before stopping for the summer. We are delighted to be working with Huw, who has created an interesting new repertoire for us, and kindly also comes to our committee meetings, which is extremely helpful.
New Website
We are extremely grateful to committee member John Atkinson for facilitating the transfer of our website to the site hosted by Making Music. It is a great improvement on the previous one, and all are encouraged to use it. Constructive suggestions for improvements are always welcome - it shows you are using it!!
Activities for 2021/2
Concerts
This year we plan to have two concerts. The first will take place in St Matthew’s Church on December 4[th] and the repertoire will include Pergolesi, Arvo Pärt, Durufle, and Palestrina. The summer concert will be on July 9[th] and will be held in All Saints Church in Clifton. It will include the Duruflé Requiem .
Usk Festival
This is a non-competitive festival taking place on March 6[th] 2022, and we have a 25-minute slot at 3.30pm.
Chamber Choir
During the past year due to the pandemic, the Chamber choir has not been able to meet. There is a clear desire to get this going again, but a hitch is that the timing of rehearsals in Redland Green School has changed, making it impossible to have rehearsals on the same day. It has therefore been agreed to have a workshop format, final details to be determined, and to start in the New Year. Currently we are seeking a venue for this.
Other Comments
As ever, we are extremely appreciative of the work of Kate Hughes, who keeps us all on our toes, and provides the minutes of meetings, as well as co-ordinating activities. Also to Sue Fox, who keeps track of all the music – a really big and important job on the committee – and to Carew Reynell for keeping track of the financial issues.
In general, as Chair, I feel extremely privileged to hold this position, and very lucky indeed to have such an excellent committee to support my role.
Pat Turton (Chair)
Accounts for 2020/21
The draft accounts are set out below. They are currently being inspected by Charlotte McIlroy.
Income from subscriptions exceeded expectations, partly because of generous members who subscribed even when they were not participating in the online programme. We therefore made a surplus of £596 for the year.
The finances for the current year
To date, 52 subscriptions have been received, but I expect this to rise to about 60. So subscription income for the year is likely to be about £500 more than budgeted. This, together with the surplus for 2020/21, can be added to the £1,000 originally earmarked for workshops/Usk music festival/Xmas gig/Chamber Choir. The costs of these are not yet clear.
Redland Green Choir - accounts for the year ended 31.08.21
| I&E account | £ | £ |
| Income | ||
| Subs & donations | 2757 | |
| Gift aid | 500 | |
| Sales | 24 | 3281 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Cost of online programme | 1757 | |
| Auditions for MD | 432 | |
| Overheads | 496 | 2685 |
| Surplus for the year | 596 | |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Opening balance | 8344 | |
| Plus surplus for the year | 596 | |
| Closing balance - cash at bank | 8440 | |
| - creditors | 500 |