## **ANNUAL REPORT** ## **AND** **STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2025** ## **NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING** The Annual General Meeting of the Members of the Salisbury Musical Society will be held at South Wilts Grammar School, Stratford Road, Salisbury SP1 3JJ on **Tuesday 21 October 2025, 7.30pm,** for the following purposes: 1. To receive apologies for absence 2. To consider and approve the Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting 3. To receive Reports from the Chairman, Conductor, and Treasurer in respect of the year ended 31 July 2025 4. To receive and adopt the Statement of Accounts for that year 5. To appoint an Independent Examiner 6. To elect the Officers 7. To elect Ordinary Members of the Committee 8. To consider the Revised Programme for Season 2025/2026 and the Recommended Programme for Season 2026/2027 9. To appoint the Voice Representatives 10. To consider Any Other Business ## SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEEE …............................................... (SECRETARY) ## 20 September 2025 …............................................... (DATE) 1 ## **SALISBURY MUSICAL SOCIETY** The Committee as Trustees presents its Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 July 2025. ## CONSTITUTION The Society was founded in 1923 by Sir Walter Alcock and is registered as a Charity with the Charity Commission under the Number 266461. The Society is governed by a Constitution that was revised and adopted by the Members on 26 January 2021. The Registered Office of the Society is 41 Cornwall Road, Salisbury, SP1 3NH. ## PRINCIPAL OBJECT The principal object of the Society is to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of music in all its aspects by the presentation of public concerts. ## REVIEW OF THE YEAR The review of the activities of the Society during the year is given in the separate reports of the Treasurer, the Chairman, and the Conductor which are included on pages 12–17 of this Annual Report. ## COMMITTEE MEMBERS The members of the Committee (being the Charity Trustees) who served during the year ended 31 July 2025 were : |Officers|Luke March|Chairman| |---|---|---| ||Clare Tawney|Secretary| ||Steve Beverley|
Treasurer| President Roy Bexon |Ordinary Members|Sue Blyth|(from 01-11-2022)| |---|---|---| ||Hilary Goodman|(from 01-11-2022)| ||Heather Easton|(from 31-10-2023)| ||Linda Nardone|(from 31-10-2023)| ||Ginny Mackay|(from 22-10-2024)| ||Les Rose|(from 22-10-2024)| 2 All the Officers and Ordinary members will retire at the conclusion of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. Heather Easton, Linda Nardone and Les Rose are eligible for re-election as Ordinary Members and can be nominated. As regards ordinary members, there will be six vacancies to be filled. Nominations by members of the Society for any appointment as an officer or ordinary member must be made in writing, supported by a seconder and delivered to the Secretary by no later than **Tuesday 7 October 2025** . Nomination forms can be obtained on application to the Secretary or on the website. ## CO-OPTED COMMITTEE MEMBERS Heather Bache (Social Secretary) Carole Bexon (Membership Secretary) Sue Blyth (Patrons’ Secretary, retiring) Tracy Harding (Social Media) Campbell Edgar (Ticket Manager) Sara-Jane Newenham (Publicity) John Reed (Concert Manager) Les Rose (IT Manager) ## ADVISERS TO THE COMMITTEEE David Halls, the Conductor, and John Challenger, the Assistant Conductor, attended meetings of the committee during the year in an advisory capacity. ## SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEEE …............................................... (Secretary) 20 September 2025 ….............................................. (Date) 3 ## **Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Salisbury Musical Society held at South Wilts Grammar School, Salisbury on Tuesday 22 October 2024** ## 1. Welcome and Apologies Members and Patrons were all welcomed by the Chairman. Apologies for nonattendance were received from the Assistant Conductor, 25 Members and 12 Patrons. ## 2. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting (a) Heather Bache proposed and Sylvia Roseaman seconded a motion that the minutes, as published in the annual report, should be read as a correct record. The motion was carried by a show of hands. (b) _Matters Arising_ . None. ## 3. Reports from the Chairman, Conductors and Treasurer The Chairman highlighted that it was a remarkable year, with an increase in membership and great financial results. The photo of SMS reflected in the font at the Bach B Minor concert was wonderful publicity, appearing in two national papers. _Awakening_ was performed twice in June, with twice as big an audience here as at Poole, and a great success. We won _Wiltshire Life’s_ Award in the Arts, Culture and Music category, for the choir’s one hundred years of music making. The new website looks wonderful, and has great functionality. We continue to thank Ann Harries for her support of the Faithfull Bursary, which brings increasing numbers of young voices into the choir. We have also received a legacy from Graham Daniels, to be used on the bursary scheme. Above all, Tuesday evenings are fun and fulfilling, and for that we thank our conductors, David and John. David Halls had nothing further to add to his report as published in the Annual Report. Adoption of all three reports was proposed by Heather Easton, seconded by Campbell Edgar and carried by a show of hands. ## 4. Adoption of the Statement of Accounts The Treasurer reported that our finances continue on a good footing, in fact our cash assets have increased. This can be attributed to an increase in ticket sales this year, £58,000 compared to £44,000 last year. We have also had a 16% increase in subscription income, due to increased membership. Our very solid financials mean we can hire the best soloists and orchestras. It has also meant we can invest in a new website, and we could pay for a video recording of the Verdi Requiem, extracts from which are on the website, and demonstrate what a good choir we are. Good investments have also contributed to our financial wellbeing. Nobody had any 4 questions regarding the accounts. The Adoption of the Statement of Accounts was proposed by Di Verdon-Smith and seconded by Lorraine Blakey and carried by a show of hands. The Chairman thanked the Treasurer. ## 5. To Appoint an Independent Examiner The Chairman thanked Martin Gairdner and reported that he had agreed to continue as Independent Examiner for another Season. This Motion was proposed by Di Verdon-Smith, seconded by Fiona Hulbert and carried by a show of hands. ## 6. Election of Officers Clare Tawney (Society Secretary) took the Chair. One nomination had been received for the position of Chairman: Proposed Seconded Luke March Campbell Edgar Carole Bexon The election of Luke March was accepted with a show of hands. Clare thanked Luke for all his work as Chairman. Luke March resumed the Chair and reported that only one nomination had been received for the position of Secretary: Proposed Seconded Clare Tawney Luke March Steve Beverley The election of Clare Tawney was accepted with a show of hands. The Chairman reported that only one nomination had been received for the position of Treasurer : Proposed Seconded Steve Beverley Robin Wills Hilary Goodman The election of Steve Beverley was accepted with a show of hands. ## 7. Election of Ordinary Members of the Committee The Chairman thanked the Elected Members of the Committee for the 2023/2024 season: John Foster (the ‘100 club’), Hilary Goodman, Rowena Ingram, Heather Easton, Sue Blyth (Patrons’ Secretary), Linda Nardone (Librarian). He also thanked the Co-opted Members: Heather Bache (Social Secretary); Carole Bexon (Membership Secretary); Campbell Edgar (Ticket Manager); Tracy Harding (IT administrator and Social Media); Mandy Hollywood (Seating Manager); John Reed (Concert Manager); Les Rose (IT Manager); and Di Verdon-Smith (Publicity). 5 He also thanked others who contributed to the success of the Society: Steve Brown (Concert Programme), Jon Hampton (programme notes), Caroline Probert (hosting our soloists), and Sonia Woolley (warm-ups). The Chairman presented Les Rose with dining vouchers as a mark of particular thanks for his many hours of work over the summer getting the new website up and working. The Chairman reported that six nominations for the six vacancies had been received for the 2024/2025 season: ||**Proposer**|**Seconder**| |---|---|---| |Heather Easton|Ros Robertson|Kate Hobson| |Ginny Mackay|Sue Harris|Rosie Stiven| |Hilary Goodman|Mary Solon|Caroline Probert| |Linda Nardone|Dell Warner|Catherine Avery Jones| |Sue Blyth|Rosie Stiven|Marie Franks| |Les Rose|Clare Tawney|Peter Lane| The Election of Ordinary Members of the Committee en bloc was carried by a show of hands. The Chairman thanked the Elected Members for standing. 8. Revised Programme for 2024/2025 and Proposed Programme for 2025/2026 The Conductor David Halls reported the following Revised Programme for the current season: 23 November 2024: Mendelssohn _Elijah_ with Chelsea Opera Group Orchestra 22 March 2025: Handel _Creation_ with Hanover Band 21 June 2025: Mozart Requiem and Bach Magnificat with a guest orchestra. David Halls reported that our usual arrangement of being accompanied by SSO for the summer concert was being paused for the present while SSO concentrated on its own programme of music. We have been accompanied before (Elgar _Gerontius_ ) by a guest orchestra, with very good results, and he is confident that this arrangement will be very excellent. David Halls recommended the following proposed programme for 2025/2026: 22 November 2025: Finzi _For St Cecilia_ ; Bridge _The Sea_ , Walton’s _Belshazzar’s Feast_ with the Farrant Singers, and accompanied by Chelsea Opera Group Orchestra. 6 21 March 2026: Vaughan Williams _Toward the Unknown Region_ ; Stanford _Songs of the Sea_ (for male chorus) _,_ and Duruflé _Requiem,_ accompanied by COG. 20 June 2026: Poulenc _Gloria_ , Elgar _Music Makers_ with invited orchestra. The 2026 dates have yet to be confirmed by the cathedral. The Chairman put the recommended Programme to the Meeting. Jane Beaumont proposed and Jane Waddington seconded that the Revised Programme for 2024/2025 and the Proposed Programme for Season 2025/2026 be accepted. This was carried by a show of hands. Luke March offered thanks to David Halls and to John Challenger the Assistant Conductor; and to Peter Grove our Accompanist. ## 9. Appointment of Voice Representatives The Chairman reported that Anne Foster has taken over the Alto 2 Voice Representative role, and all others were happy to continue for another Season. He thanked them all on behalf of the Society. ## - 10. Membership (2023 24) In total our numbers went up from 123 members at the end of the 22-23 season to 132 at the end of the 23-24 season. Since the beginning of the new season the numbers have risen to 135. ||Left|Joined|Total
part
numbers| |---|---|---|---| |Sop1|2|5|26| |Sop2|0|4|31| |Alto 1|3|0|24| |Alto 2|3|4|13| |Tenor 1|2|4|12| |Tenor 2|0|0|6| |Bass 1|2|1|8| |Bass 2|0|3|12| There were 4 bursary members at the end of the season; and 1 at the start of the new season, with several more in the pipeline. Bursary members must be **29 years of age and under;** they benefit from free membership and are paid £50 per term. We also offer a **Choral Music Scholarship** for secondary school music teachers, 7 which offers free membership for the year. This is designed to promote interest in choral music in schools. ## 10. Any Other Business Philip Corp proposed another ‘Come and Sing’ event, perhaps in St Thomas’s church which would not involve such a big outlay as hiring the cathedral. The committee will consider this suggestion. It was noted that we are planning outreach in the form of a day’s workshop in the New Year, aimed at attracting and teaching people new to choral music. The Meeting closed at 8.00 pm. Signed on behalf of the Committee: ……………………………………….. (Secretary of the Society) 20 September 2025 ………………………………..(Date) 8 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examinerfs Report Report to the trustees of Salisbury Musical Society On accounts for the year ended 31 July 2025 Charity no (if any) 266461 Set out on pages 10and11 I report to the trust8es on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (Ihe Trusf} for the year ended 31 July 2025 Responslbilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparation basis of roport of the accounts in a￿ordance wrth the requirement$ of the Charities Act 2011 {"the 2011 Act.). I report in respect of my examination of the Twst's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and, in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by th8 Charity Commission under section 145151(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confinn that no material matters have ome to my attention in connection wrth the examination which give me ¢ause to believe that in any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance With section 130 of the 2011 Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records or the accounts did not comply ￿th the applicable requirements conceming the form and content of accounts set out in the Charrties (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2CQ8 other than any requirement that the accounts gtve a 'twe and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. Independent examiner's statsment I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order lo enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Slgned: Dats: 18 September 2025 Name". M.H.T. Gairdner Relevant professlonal qualification FCA Address: Keepet5 Cottage, Be￿Id{ Road, Berwick St. James. Whshire, SP3 4TQ **1** 01 11 ## **TREASURER'S REPORT** 2025 has been another great year of choral singing and it is especially pleasing that we can enjoy music whilst increasing the Society’s assets! The year has seen an increase in membership plus growth in the generous support of existing and new patrons which, together with a reduction in costs for website hosting and development (from £15,025 to £5,304), has contributed to the Society achieving a profit of £8,706 on the General Account. Total income from membership subs and patrons rose from £26,261 to £28,582, an increase of 9% on the previous year. These factors have enabled us to engage high-quality orchestras and soloists, which in turn contributes to higher volume ticket sales. While our three performances incurred a loss of £6,480 overall, after taking the profit on the General Account into consideration I am pleased to report an overall profit of £2,226 for the year. The Society’s reserves are predominantly held in the Charities Deposit and Tracker Funds, although this year there was a slight decrease of £805 in these funds. The total assets of the Society increased from £119,138 to £120,558. |**Item**|**Season**
**20/21**|**Season**
**21/22**|**Season**
**22/23**|**Season**
**23/24**|**Season**
**24/25**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Ticket sales|-|28,567.56|44,318.71|
58,871.03|
53,591.85| |Concert Income|-|28,904.28|45,518.71|
70,321.03|
54,886.85| |Concert Expenses|1,094.27|33,495.76|31,888.30|
54,054.27|
47,737.92| |Conductor and
Soloists|-|10,550.00|
6,235.00|
13,182.49|
13,629.15| |Performance
Surplus (Loss)|(1,094.27)|(5,181.48)|13,630.41|
3,084.27|(6,480.22)| |General Account
Surplus (Loss)|612.84|
4,750.96|
9,637.82|(4,599.30)|
8,706.14| |Profit (Loss) on
Season|(476.43)|
(430.52)|22,998.23|(1,515.03)|
2,225.92| |Increase in value
of investments|N/A|
N/A|
N/A|
16,343.67|
(805.47)| |Cash assets|81,741.72|81,311.07|104,309.30|119,137.94|120,558.39| 12 The Officers and the Committee continue to explore ways in which these assets can be used for the benefit of the Society and the wider community. We ran a very successful training day in March, and although there was a loss on the day of £1,392 the Committee believes that this is an important way of supporting one of the Society’s aims to “promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of music”. The generous sponsorship and promotion of the Faithfull Bursary scheme has enabled more young musicians to participate in the scheme this year, and for this the Society is very grateful. My thanks go to all who have made the above possible: David, John and our professional musicians for choosing an extremely attractive programme (for singers and audience alike), our Committee who work tirelessly to make the smooth running of the organisation possible, and to all those who work in the background: in publicity, marketing and ticketing, and of course all the patrons and members who encourage sales. Steve Beverley Treasurer 13 ## **CHAIRMAN'S REPORT** It may seem now a distant memory: the final concert of the previous season, two performances of _Awakening_ , and for some of us, a recording of the work with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. We needed the summer to recover from these remarkable events before we embarked on a more ‘traditional’ programme. Without doubt it has been a thoroughly enjoyable and successful season. Once again, as this report shows, we have benefited from large audiences for the great works of Mendelsohn, Haydn, Bach and Mozart. We have been joined by great orchestral musicians, including The Hanover Band, and very gifted soloists. Our choir numbers continue to increase, and through the generosity of Ann Harries we continue to attract younger singers through the Faithfull Bursary Scheme. We cannot thank our donors enough for their support, including a legacy from a past choir member. I pay particular tribute to the commitment and support of our enthusiastic committee, and those who represent individual sections of the choir. I invite more members to offer their skills to join the committee as we will have vacancies this year. We could not deliver three large concerts every year without the dedication of a strong committee, as we also continue to attract new members from all sections of our community. With an increased membership of the choir, and with larger audiences we are able to attract great soloists and professional orchestras. Thanks also to the financial position which we have created over recent years, we are currently able to sustain concerts which cost in the region of £15,000 to £20,000 each. A key ingredient of any amateur choral society must be our desire to enjoy the experience. For this, we thank enormously our Director of Music, David Halls, his deputy John Challenger, and our hugely committed accompanist, Peter Grove. On behalf of the whole choir I thank them for their belief in our ability to deliver excellent performances. Luke March Chairman 14 ## **GOVERNANCE STATEMENT** The Trustees have taken note of the Charity Commission's Guidance on Public Benefit in undertaking its activities. They have also assessed the risks to which the Charity is exposed, including operational and financial risks. In the opinion of the Trustees the Charity has established resources and review systems which, under normal conditions, should allow the risks identified to be mitigated to an acceptable level in its day-to-day operation. ## **CONDUCTORS’ REPORTS** ## _David Halls writes:_ The 2024 SMS season started with a performance of _Elijah_ . Mendelssohn's career as a composer, one might say, peaked when he wrote his masterful String Octet at the age of 16. However, his oratorio _Elijah_ achieved huge popularity in the second half of the 19[th] Century and beyond and, like Bach's _Mass in B minor_ , employed virtually every type of choral technique including 4- and 8-part choruses, unaccompanied movements, show-stopping arias, chorale tunes and fugue. There is no doubt that the chorus, second only to Elijah himself, carried the work along and I was delighted with the response of SMS to this deceptively difficult piece. Having warned the choir that the Saturday rehearsal would be an afternoon 'straight through' performance, I was concerned that SMS would have nothing left in the tank for the evening. How wrong I was. I felt that I had my hands full in the afternoon, trying to control the 60 piece orchestra as well as the four soloists, yet I was confident that SMS would produce a good performance. A standout moment in the afternoon was the 'Lift thine eyes' unaccompanied chorus which was sung so musically and held its pitch to perfection. Could that be repeated in the evening? The answer to that was a resounding 'yes', and in fact it was even more secure in the concert itself and was definitely a high point for me. Other great moments were the 'Holy, holy, holy' movement with its exposed beginning, the tenor and bass chorus unison passages near the end, the chorus at the end of Part 1 and also the very last movement of Part 2. I admired the way the choir seemed to get stronger and stronger as the work progressed and felt that this ended up a very special evening. The second concert in the 2024-25 season contained another choral masterpiece. Haydn's _The Creation_ received a breezy, light performance with soloists, orchestra and choir on excellent form. I remember saying at our first rehearsal after Christmas 15 that I wanted the choir to sing with accuracy, careful tuning and style, and to keep those ideas to the fore in all the choruses. I was pleased with the way the choir adopted those ideas, and I know the orchestra enjoyed playing for us. There were many highlights: the orchestral opening, the speed of 'The heavens are telling’, the power of both the 'Achieved' choruses, those long crescendos after forte/piano chords and certainly the last chorus, bringing the evening to a wonderful close. There were, you might admit, one of two moments from the choir which were not perhaps as accomplished as we would have hoped, but I want to reassure you that live performance always produces such occasions. Most often, notoriously difficult sections come off better than ever before, and conversely, other sections can sound hesitant. The older I get, the more I admire people who take the musical initiative rather than waiting for everyone else to show courage, and occasionally that can produce what I would call an honest mistake. No-one is perfect, and certainly there were brief moments during the evening when a soloist lost his or her grip and (hard to believe, I know) even your conductor made a mistake or two. John Challenger will write about the June concert but I know he joins me in thanking each and every one of you for your hard work and, of course, Peter Grove for his fine accompanying. David Halls Conductor ## _John writes:_ As ever, it has been a delight to prepare and conduct SMS for the summer concert. It was great to be able to work on two classics this term, Mozart’s fabulous _Requiem_ , and Bach’s slightly lesser-known but equally spectacular _Magnificat_ . The Mozart _Requiem_ with its fascinating history, musical drama and depth of expression is clearly a piece beloved by many members of SMS, and this shone through in all the rehearsals and performance. It was fulfilling to work with everyone on the piece in some depth, going way beyond note-bashing and musical security to shape a very stylish and moving performance. To be joined by such fine instrumentalists and distinguished soloists raised the game further, I’m sure you’ll agree. On the night I felt that the Bach _Magnificat_ was given a fair performance, and everyone put in a great deal of hard work learning it through the term. I was a bit surprised as we drew nearer to the concert that people seemed to be losing their confidence with it. Of course, complicated baroque works can be tricky with a big choir in that setting, but don’t forget that in recent history you tackled the _Mass in B_ 16 _minor_ , which is harder still. I was however pleased with that difficult soprano/alto ‘Suscepit’ movement towards the end, which I felt was carried off very effectively in the concert, and I was also pleased with how everyone coped in the June heat. I believe the very good ticket sales are testimony to all your hard work and dedication, but also to the hours put in behind the scenes by the dedicated members of the SMS committee. I remain very grateful to the committee for everything, but particularly to Clare and Luke for all their assistance and support. Of course, the rehearsals would not be possible without Peter, and I wish to thank him once again for all his playing during our rehearsals over the summer term. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to SMS. John Challenger Assistant Conductor 17 ## **CONCERTS FOR SEASON 2025/2026** Saturday 22 November 2025: Walton: _Belshazzar’s Feast_ and Finzi’s _For St Cecilia_ with Chelsea Opera Group Saturday 21 March 2026: Duruflé _Requiem_ , Vaughan Williams _Toward the Unknown Region,_ Stanford _Songs of the Sea_ with Chelsea Opera Group Saturday 20 June 2026: Poulenc _Gloria_ and Elgar _Music Makers_ with guest orchestra ## **CONTACTS** Chairman: Luke MARCH, luke.march@salisburymusicalsociety.org.uk Society Secretary: Clare TAWNEY, clare.tawney@salisburymusicalsociety.org.uk Patrons' Secretary: to be confirmed. patrons.secretary@salisburymusicalsociety.org.uk Treasurer: Steve BEVERLEY, steve.beverley@salisburymusicalsociety.org.uk Membership Secretary: Carole BEXON, membership@salisburymusicalsociety.org.uk 18 ## **What is the Faithfull Bursary scheme?** Salisbury Musical Society (SMS) wants to encourage younger singers to join the choir and have the opportunity to perform major choral works. We are therefore offering financial support for singers aged between 16 and 29 who join the choir. The Faithfull Bursary Scheme offers these singers: - Free membership of SMS for a year. - A payment of £150 per season (payable £50 per term), subject to attendance at rehearsals and the concert, according to the choir’s rules. - Free music hire. - The opportunity for an ongoing Bursary up until the end of the SMS Season in which they turn 29 years of age. The Faithfull Bursary has kindly been donated by Ann Harries, a former choir member and chairman of the choir, in memory of her mother, whose maiden name was Faithfull. ## **Choral Music Scholarship** Salisbury Musical Society wishes to stimulate interest in choral music in schools – the schoolchildren of today are the future members of SMS and other choirs. Singing teachers are an essential link in bringing the enjoyment of choral music to our young people. To assist us in that aim we are offering a training and development opportunity – a Choral Music Scholarship – to professional singing teachers in private and state schools in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire area who teach pupils over the age of 13. This will give you - Free membership of the choir (worth £150 per season) - The opportunity to sing in a large choir under the expert direction of a recognised national choral conductor, David Halls. - CPD opportunities: observation of instructional and teaching techniques in choral music, networks with other singers. For further information, please contact the SMS Membership Secretary Email: membership@salisburymusicalsociety.org.uk 19 www.salisburymusicalsociety.org.uk