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2024-07-31-accounts

Basingstoke Symphony Orchestra Annual General Meeting Minutes

Location: St Leonard’s Centre, Oakley

Date: June 28th, 2024,7:30 pm

Attendees : Ann Henshaw, Tim Martin, Clive Evans, Sue Bint, Tom Lee, Dayl Wallace, Ruth Malone, Lalage Cochrane, Charlotte Barlow, Suzy Thompson, Marianne Cook, Karen Middleton, Kim Austen, Robert Ravenhill, Derek Moorfield, Stephen Scotchmer, Sarah Scotchmer, Cathy Shaw, Sue Whitling, Kim Austen, Liz Combes, Ray Kitching, Amy Whitehall, Kai Choi, Fiona Anthony, Abi Anthony, Dave Sanderson, Derek Moorfield.

Apologies: Sarah Dineen, Clare Harding, Helen Laird, Suzanne Coates, Robert Ravenhill, Phil Unwin, David Simmonds. Matt Roberts, Hilary Armour, Susie Haynes, Simon Haynes, Michelle Gale, Martina Jones, Libby Jenkins, Alice Timms, Megumi Oka-De Agostini, Louise Emmett, Sophie Baylis, Laura McDougall, Elizabeth Hetherington

1. Opening and Apologies

AH opened the meeting; apologies were accepted as above.

2. Previous Minutes

The minutes of the 2023 AGM held on July 14, 2023, were approved unanimously.

3. Action Items

All action items from 2023 are covered in the agenda

4. Musical Director’s Report

Stephen delivered his report. See Appendix 1 for the text.

5. Chair’s Report

Ann delivered her report - see Appendix 2 for the text.

6. Finances

Tom presented and talked through the draft accounts for 2023/24

Discussion 1: Concert Marketing and Publicity – Orchestra Member roles.

A full and in depth discussion with all orchestra members present was held on how we can all individually and collectively increase ticket sales. The environment is getting more crowded at The Anvil and they are clustering professional orchestras with popular programmes around our two planned concerts:

Discussion 2: Programmes and Concert Scheduling:

The second discussion was regarding the programme of music and whether there should be more programmes with a slightly less demanding repertoire of music. The conclusion was that at least one concert this year (Petersfield – The Children’s Concert) and next year (The Vyne Concert) achieved this.

The orchestra is asked every season for recommendations and several of these choices have been incorporated into planning for the concerts this year.

In general members were very happy with the current programmes.

7. Elections

Officers and Committee Members were elected unanimously en bloc as below:

Elected Committee Roles Chair Ann Henshaw Secretary David Simmonds Treasurer Tom Lee Librarian Lalage Cochrane Publicity Vacancy – to be shared responsibility pro tem Elected Roles: Elected Member Clive Evans (Concert Manager) Elected Member Tim Martin (Assistant Concert Manager) Elected Member Grace Timms (Poster and Flyer Drop Coordinator) Elected Member Matt Roberts (Data Protection Officer)

Co-opted (non-voting) Patrons’ Administrator Suzy Thompson Social Secretaries Ray and Jane Kitching Grants and Funding Applications Cathy Shaw Safeguarding Liz Combes Social Media Sophie Baylis Ex Officio (non-voting) Musical Director Stephen Scotchmer Leader Sue Bint Other Roles: Health and Safety James Moar Rehearsal Tea and Coffee Ray and Jane Kitching and Rowan Bolton

8. AOB

Ann asked permission to spend £500 on Marketing and Branding if required. Action: AH

Kim thanked Ann Henshaw for all the work she had done to lead the Committee this year and planning for next year.

The meeting closed at 8:55 pm and we had a very nice party with food and drink supplied by the attending members.

Appendix 1 – Musical Director’s Report (2023-24 Season)

My overriding impression of our outgoing season is one of accomplishment. We performed seventeen works over four concerts – all to a very high standard.

We began the season with our November programme that included Brahms’ Tragic Overture, Grieg’s piano concerto and Beethoven’s 5th symphony. Roman Kosyakov gave a great rendition of the piano concerto – it is always a joy to hear the cadenza played so well. The Tragic overture was once part of the staple diet for symphony orchestras and it was great to have the chance to perform this work again. I think that this piece really developed our playing skills. The Beethoven symphony is simply a masterpiece. I felt that we really did it justice.

A February concert always puts pressure on us to prepare a programme over a shorter period of time. The Paganini Variations is not an easy work, but we overcame the difficulties. Ivana Gavric played beautifully and we managed to play rhythmically enough to keep the interplay between the piano and orchestra synchronised. Ivana played a lovely encore which is now featured on our website. The Rhapsody was preceded by the Noonday Witch – a symphonic poem with a happy story about ordinary folk in the Czech Republic! It took our orchestra a while to warm to this work, but by the performance it had won over some hearts amongst our membership. Dvorak symphony no. 8 has some lovely cello tunes and woodwind melodies. It is also a crowd pleaser and it did just that.

The theme for the Petersfield concert ‘Fit for a King – a Right Royal Recital’ was the brain child of Clive Evans – and what a good choice it turned out to be. We performed: The National Anthem, The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Yeoman of the Guard, Medley from the Lion King , Air & Bouree from Handel’s Water Music Suite no. 1, Coronation March by Walton, Medley from Frozen and Pomp & Circumstance March no. 1. Sarah Scotchmer did an excellent job as Queen Camilla (and narrator) and because her name wasn’t in the programme, I think that some people did think that she was Camilla! The children loved the concert and so did the parents. The Yeoman of the Guard was fiendish for the strings, but by playing much of the passagework with slurs instead of separately, we found a solution to the problem. Another stand out moment was the sharing of my intimate knowledge of the Lion King Songs with you all at the early rehearsals!! Thank you to Karen Middleton for guiding me in the right direction. The lack of space for the orchestra at the Festival Hall was down to a misunderstanding within the Box Office. The empty seats in the first couple of rows had never been sold and shouldn’t have been put out. It is worth remembering that there is plenty of room for a full orchestra if those empty rows of seats hadn’t been put there.

Our Summer concert last weekend was a great success - another fantastic programme. It is difficult to sell tickets for our summer concert, but Ann Henshaw continually bombarded our supporters with emails and eventually we reached a respectable target number. The two Sibelius pieces worked really well side by side and they provided the perfect springboard to launch the Strauss horn concerto. Elspeth was so easy to work with and she was really well received by the very warm and generous audience. The Tchaikovsky symphony is a big work and the first movement is a monster of a piece. Following a successful final rehearsal on Saturday we managed to play the symphony to the best of our ability in the evening performance. There were some great wind and brass solos from our membership and the

strings did really well to master the complexities of the writing. Needless to say, the audience loved it.

Going forward, we have a wonderful series of concerts planned for next season. I am sure that you have all seen the beautifully produced brochure. I would like to remind the membership that in our planning, we assume that everyone will take part in concerts if required. Part of the joy of belonging to the BSO is that it has an exciting agenda and performs concerts in wonderful venues. As our concerts become more professional the costs increase, so it is imperative that playing members commit to rehearsals and share the responsibility of delivering a first class product. I have an old fashioned view that there is more fun to be had if you do something well.

Special thanks to Ann, who works so hard for the orchestra and constantly finds creative ways to raise the orchestra’s profile. Also, thanks to the committee and the entire membership for making this season’s concerts enjoyable and memorable. In addition, I would like to thank Sue Bint for her unerring support.

I am really looking forward to restarting rehearsals with you all in September.

Thank you.

Stephen

Appendix 2 - Chair’s Report (2023 – 24 Season)

BSO Chair’s Report 2024

This has been another brilliant year for the orchestra. Overall our orchestra continues to grow and thrive and we have a number of new people who have joined this year and whom I would like to welcome them all and thank them for contributing to such a great season.

I would like to begin by thanking the Committee who have been a fantastic support this year to me as ever. There is a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes including regular meetings and calls and planning for the following season which have included some field visits this year.

I would like to thank Marianne who has decided to step down this year for arranging such brilliant Christmas socials and we wish you well with all your plans in retirement for the narrowboat adventures.

I would like to thank Stephen and Sue who have done a fantastic job this year in keeping the orchestra running smoothly. We are now able to plan a whole season and the first concert of the following year well in advance. The new season brochure was ready for June for our audience thanks to a lot of help from Clive and there is a copy for every member of the orchestra and also electronic versions to use with WhatsAp and Email. Send them far and wide….

Following my request at the last rehearsal we now have several people who have come forward for the committee roles. Cathy has agreed to take on the grants and fundraising role, Sophie to run our Instagram account, Ray and Jane will take on the Social Secretary and I

am talking to Louise’s about supporting me with the publicity. Ray, Jame and Rowan have all agreed to cover the tea, coffee and refreshments next year.

Reflecting on last year the November concert was fantastic with the Grieg Piano concerto and Beethoven’s 5th and we played really well. I always find it amazing that these talented soloists turn up to play for us with one rehearsal. I was lucky enough to be in the concert hall when Roman was practicing alone which was great to hear before the main concert.

In November, courtesy of Derek we also had our first schools programme where we gave away free tickets to 100 children and their parents and we will do the same in the November 2024 concert. I would like to thank Derek for this idea and for sponsoring the programme. I hope next year will be really successful once again.

February was simply brilliant with Ivana Gavric. Ivana was very active on social media and showed us how to practice on a static keyboard which makes no noise other than the sound of the key depression so that she could play into the night without disturbing anyone.

Elspeth Dutch was also superb and thank you to the horn section for suggesting that we have a brass soloist. The Times described Elspeth’s playing as immaculate and it certainly was.

Despite these brilliant soloistsand the wonderful performances by the orchestra, our audience numbers have fallen this year which does mean we made a loss for the last two concerts. This is why I am driving home the need for everyone to step up and “sell 8 tickets to profit”.

We have had some success with The Anvil and their fees and they have formally told us that the rates will stay flat and also reduced into 2026 at £4750 for a Saturday and £4350 for a Sunday plus VAT. The high level of fees has been in part responsible for our decision to try an alternative venue outside The Anvil for our June 2025 concert and am looking forward to the concert at The Vyne and making a profit for this concert.

We have partnered with the amazing charity, Dogs for Autism (DfA) and Buddy is making good progress at our rehearsals. It is clear that he has a passion for a bit of BACH now and again and he likes the pawses! The charity raised £238.63 for the DfA which is great and will go towards their goal of transforming the lives of families affected by autism. Next stop after us was on the red sofa with Keir Starmer so who knows if he will be in No 10 before we know it.

This year I have set up BCAT (Basingstoke Community Arts Together) alongside BATS theatre group, BAYO and the Choral Society. I think the work we have done here has made The Anvil reconsider their fee structure and the treatment of charities in general. I do hope that the difficult conversations of the past three years are now over.

We are going into our 95th anniversary year and have a brilliant line up, we are well organised and will have a lot of fun. I will never forget that we are a community orchestra and I see a lot of friendship developing and lots of support in the orchestra for each other. I fell the culture of the orchestra is strong and we have a great bond of community and musicianship which comes across when we play

Please think about what you can do to help the orchestra to keep it all well balanced – good participation and attendance, great music choices and good sales.

My overriding sense of pride this year was in this last concert. I know and I certainly was silently concerned about the Tchaikovsky but I have to tell you we really pulled it off and it sounded amazing.

When you face a really big challenge with people in your tribe, you can actually surprise yourself at how you can step up and pull something off. The feeling of satisfaction and immense pride when our audience stood up and shouted Bravo was immense.

It took me some time to come down from The Anvil ceiling after Saturday’s performance. I mean we smashed it!

Have a great summer.

Ann Henshaw,

Chair

BASINGSTOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - REGISTERED CHARITY No. 264670

INCOME
Concert Profit (see separate breakdown)
other/interest
EXPENDITURE
concert loss
Management/Administration Costs
marketing
Profit/Loss for the season (ex fund raising)
fund raising income - see separate breakdown
Profit/Loss for the season
BALANCE SHEET
ACCUMULATED FUND
Opening Balance - brought forward
Profit/Loss for Period
Young Musicians Fund - endowment
Closing Balance - carried forward
ASSETS
Current Account
Deposit Account
Instant Access Saver
Friends Account
Young Musicians Account
Prepaid expenses (note 2)
Receipts in arrears (note 3)
Suspense (note 6)
LESS LIABILITIES
Accrued expenses (note 4)
Receipts in advance (note 5)		 2023/2024 SEA
2023-2024
250.68
250.68
4764.79
621.00
600.00
5985.79
-5735.11
893.35
-4841.76
34021.03
-4841.76
2023-2024
761.13
0.01
27354.23
64.00
464.70
250.00
1037.47
0.00
37.57
0.00		 SON CONCE












29179.27
464.70
29643.97









29931.54


37.57
29893.97		 RT ACCOUNT
2022-2023
Examined
1836.82
62.86
1899.68
1047.40
0.00
1047.40
852.28
17307.13
18159.41
15861.62
18159.41



2022-2023
17951.98
0.01
14803.28
768.00
458.42
0.00
1732.76
200.00

1185.00
0.00

 S













34021.03
458.42
34479.45









35914.45


1185.00
34729.45

----- Start of picture text -----
programme sales3% fundraising income0%
donations/
grants
9%
ticket sales
subs 62%
21%
patrons
5%
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
cost of generating other
programme cost funds4% advertising2% 2%
4%
music cost
4%
rehearsal hall
7%
leader+conductor
10%
anvil
56%
soloists
2%
augmentation
11%
----- End of picture text -----

BASINGSTOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - REGISTERED CHARITY No. 264670

2023/2024 SEASON CONCERT ACCOUNTS

Tickets sold
(inc patrons)
Income
Ticket Sales
Patrons Subs
Programme Sales
Members subscriptions
TOTAL
Expenditure
Soloists
Piano Tuning
Augmentation
Conductor
Leader
Concert Hall
Ticket commision
Rehearsals Hall
Music Costs/PRS
Programme Costs
Advertising
sundries
TOTAL
Profit or Loss
TOTAL GRANTS
Profit or loss		 November-23
February-24
June-24
Total
2022-2023
410
356
766
7,851.75
6,196.50
5,400.25
19,448.50
25,219.90
533.33
533.33
533.33
1,600.00
1,408.00
363.00
371.67
240.09
974.76
1,119.93
2,192.05
2,192.05
2,192.05
6,576.15
6,037.98
10,940.13
9,293.55
8,365.72
28,599.41
33,785.81
500.00
600.00
500.00
1,600.00
1,800.00
436.80
436.80
0.00
873.60
504.00
890.00
1,250.00
1,100.00
3,240.00
2,730.00
760.00
630.00
720.00
2,110.00
1,640.00
623.33
588.33
658.33
1,870.00
1,180.00
6,036.00
6,156.00
6,156.00
18,348.00
17,004.00
1,220.84
960.37
837.21
3,018.43
3,900.06
900.00
900.00
900.00
2,700.00
2,707.50
100.00
100.00
100.00
300.00
1,289.44
332.27
355.52
217.62
905.41
858.72
282.76
352.95
313.05
948.76
1,159.43
150.00
0.00
0.00
150.00
435.84
12,232.01
12,329.98
11,502.21
36,064.20
35,208.99
-1,291.88
-3,036.42
-3,136.49
-7,464.79
-1,423.18
900.00
900.00
900.00
2,700.00
2,620.00
-391.88
-2136.42
-2236.49
-4,764.79
1,196.82

BSO 2023/2024 SEASON Fund raising ACCOUNTS

notes
2023/2024 SEASON CONCE 2022/2023 change
Income
Sir Jeremiah Trust 250.00 -100%
PMF 218.25 997.5 -78%
Daphney White legacy 16,143.45
various donations 211.68 166.18 27%
Bramshott & Liphoo Concert July BGC 463.42
3.00
TOTAL 893.35 17,557.13
exclude legacy 893.35 1413.68 -37%

BASINGSTOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - REGISTERED CHARITY No. 264670

INCOME
Concert Profit (see separate breakdown)
other/interest
EXPENDITURE
concert loss
Management/Administration Costs
marketing
Profit/Loss for the season (ex fund raising)
fund raising income - see separate breakdown
Profit/Loss for the season
BALANCE SHEET
ACCUMULATED FUND
Opening Balance - brought forward
Profit/Loss for Period
Young Musicians Fund - endowment
Closing Balance - carried forward
ASSETS
Current Account
Deposit Account
Instant Access Saver
Friends Account
Young Musicians Account
Prepaid expenses (note 2)
Receipts in arrears (note 3)
Suspense (note 6)
LESS LIABILITIES
Accrued expenses (note 4)
Receipts in advance (note 5)		 2023/2024 SEA
2023-2024
250.68
250.68
4764.79
621.00
600.00
5985.79
-5735.11
893.35
-4841.76
34021.03
-4841.76
2023-2024
761.13
0.01
27354.23
64.00
464.70
250.00
1037.47
0.00
37.57
0.00		 SON CONCE












29179.27
464.70
29643.97









29931.54


37.57
29893.97		 RT ACCOUNT
2022-2023
Examined
1836.82
62.86
1899.68
1047.40
0.00
1047.40
852.28
17307.13
18159.41
15861.62
18159.41



2022-2023
17951.98
0.01
14803.28
768.00
458.42
0.00
1732.76
200.00

1185.00
0.00

 S













34021.03
458.42
34479.45









35914.45


1185.00
34729.45

Examination of accounts in progress, submission will be update once complete

----- Start of picture text -----
programme sales3% fundraising income0%
donations/
grants
9%
ticket sales
subs 62%
21%
patrons
5%
cost of generating other
programme cost funds4% advertising2% 2%
4%
music cost
4%
rehearsal hall
7%
leader+conductor
10%
anvil
56%
soloists
2%
augmentation
11%
----- End of picture text -----

BASINGSTOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - REGISTERED CHARITY No. 264670

2023/2024 SEASON CONCERT ACCOUNTS

Tickets sold
(inc patrons)
Income
Ticket Sales
Patrons Subs
Programme Sales
Members subscriptions
TOTAL
Expenditure
Soloists
Piano Tuning
Augmentation
Conductor
Leader
Concert Hall
Ticket commision
Rehearsals Hall
Music Costs/PRS
Programme Costs
Advertising
sundries
TOTAL
Profit or Loss
TOTAL GRANTS
Profit or loss		 November-23
February-24
June-24
Total
2022-2023
410
356
766
7,851.75
6,196.50
5,400.25
19,448.50
25,219.90
533.33
533.33
533.33
1,600.00
1,408.00
363.00
371.67
240.09
974.76
1,119.93
2,192.05
2,192.05
2,192.05
6,576.15
6,037.98
10,940.13
9,293.55
8,365.72
28,599.41
33,785.81
500.00
600.00
500.00
1,600.00
1,800.00
436.80
436.80
0.00
873.60
504.00
890.00
1,250.00
1,100.00
3,240.00
2,730.00
760.00
630.00
720.00
2,110.00
1,640.00
623.33
588.33
658.33
1,870.00
1,180.00
6,036.00
6,156.00
6,156.00
18,348.00
17,004.00
1,220.84
960.37
837.21
3,018.43
3,900.06
900.00
900.00
900.00
2,700.00
2,707.50
100.00
100.00
100.00
300.00
1,289.44
332.27
355.52
217.62
905.41
858.72
282.76
352.95
313.05
948.76
1,159.43
150.00
0.00
0.00
150.00
435.84
12,232.01
12,329.98
11,502.21
36,064.20
35,208.99
-1,291.88
-3,036.42
-3,136.49
-7,464.79
-1,423.18
900.00
900.00
900.00
2,700.00
2,620.00
-391.88
-2136.42
-2236.49
-4,764.79
1,196.82

BSO 2023/2024 SEASON Fund raising ACCOUNTS

notes
2023/2024 SEASON CONCE 2022/2023 change
Income
Sir Jeremiah Trust 250.00 -100%
PMF 218.25 997.5 -78%
Daphney White legacy 16,143.45
various donations 211.68 166.18 27%
Bramshott & Liphoo Concert July BGC 463.42
3.00
TOTAL 893.35 17,557.13
exclude legacy 893.35 1413.68 -37%