2024-03-31-accounts

Truro Choral Society

Registered Charity 281902 President: Michael Galsworthy CVO CBE DL

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 01 APRIL 2023 – 31 MARCH 2024

A. Legal and administrative information

1.	Full name:	Truro Choral Society (The Truro Singers)
2.	Registered Charity number:	281902
3.	Correspondent:	Hon. Treasurer
4.	Governing document:	Constitution, revised 12 July 2022
5.	Trustees:	Officers and elected committee
6.	Bank:	Lloyds Bank
7.	Activities:	Choral music rehearsals and concerts (usually in Cornwall)
8.	Investment powers:	None specifically mentioned in the governing document,
		apart from “control of finance to be in hands of the
		committee”

B. Aims and organisation

1. Aim: To promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art and science of choral music, by the presentation of public concerts.

2. The Charity is organised entirely by volunteers. The Director of Music and the accompanist

3. are fee-paid per rehearsal at an agreed hourly rate.

4. The activities of the Charity are:

5. (i) Regular choir rehearsals

6. (ii) Presenting choral concerts

7. There are no major changes in the aims and organisation to report this year.

C. Review of progress and achievements

It was a good year for recruiting new members, with membership close to pre-COVID years at 133, an increase of 19 from the previous year. Particularly welcome were new members for the tenor and bass sections.

A significant change to our usual concert cycle was a “Come and Sing Mozart’s Requiem ” event, which we held in Truro Cathedral, and which attracted over 250 singers.

Scheduling clashes meant that only two concerts fell into this financial year, rather than our usual three, with the Spring concert being postponed until April 2024. Nevertheless, there was still a full programme of choral activities, and the new choir season in September started with a particularly busy term, as we were invited to take part in two events held at Truro Cathedral: (i) Matthew Coleridge Requiem and (ii) Haydn’s The Creation Pt 1 as part of a Gaia Festival concert, all the while rehearsing for our performance of Messiah . The choir was keen to offer support to the Cathedral, and we offered to open two choir rehearsals to singers who had signed up for the Gaia event - a gesture much appreciated by the Cathedral. We also provided the management of and box office services for a concert by Truro Symphony Orchestra on 15 July 2023. All those taking part gave their services for free, with proceeds going to support the Music Department of Truro Cathedral.

Registered address: 15 Chyandour, Redruth TR15 3AB. https://trurochoral.org tel: [phone] email: [e-mail]

Truro Choral Society

Registered Charity 281902 President: Michael Galsworthy CVO CBE DL

The following Truro Choral Society concerts were performed:

11 June 2023 – “Come and Sing Mozart’s Requiem in Truro Cathedral”

This was a joint event with Truro School, with the school providing a chamber orchestra and soloists, and the Society covering all other staging arrangements. It was widely publicised to choirs and churches in Cornwall, Devon and beyond and resulted in a choir of over 250 voices, with participants coming from as far afield as Kent, Essex and South Wales. In order to fit in with the Cathedral’s services on a Sunday, there was a two-hour gap between the rehearsal and the performance; we filled this with a standing-room-only lecture on Mozart by Russell Pascoe, after which many participants elected to attend Evensong. The 6:00 pm performance had an audience of around 230, and was very well received. We later received many compliments from those who had taken part, including comments that the age of the singers spanned seven decades, and how nice it was for young singers and their parents to sing together in a concert. Organising the event took several months and around a third of our membership was involved with running the day’s activities.

23 September 2023 – Matthew Coleridge Requiem

Although this was an event organised by the composer himself, the Society was deeply involved in the all-day workshop and evening performance in Truro Cathedral. Several months before the event, Mr Coleridge attended one of our rehearsals and introduced us to the work, and at the start of the new season, we used half of our rehearsal time to learn the piece. Many members took part in the event, and our contribution (including supplying him with a Cornish pasty in his hectic day) was much appreciated by Mr Coleridge.

09 December 2032 – Handel: Messiah

We were pleased that 11 local schoolchildren were able to join us and take part in this concert, and our vocal forces were swelled further by half a dozen Lay Vicars and Choral Scholars from the Cathedral, who were keen to sing Messiah . The concert in the Cathedral was sold out at full capacity (our last Messiah required socially-distanced seating in the Cathedral). We were accompanied by Truro Symphony Orchestra (leader: Philip Montgomery-Smith) and soloists Imogen Dowse (soprano), Alison Kettlewell (alto), Toshi Ogita (tenor) and Charlie Murray (bass), with Katie Martin (trumpet), Martin Palmer conducting.

D. Review of financial activities and affairs

Membership subscriptions from new members provided a welcome boost in income. However, the residual balance at the end of the financial year was artificially inflated due to firstly, the delay in the spring concert pushing the concert accounts into the next financial year, hence only two concerts in this financial year, and secondly, a very generous donation from a choir member who wished to remain anonymous. The financial account and statement from the Financial Examiner are shown below. The Society is planning for a “low cost” event every other year, which enables the remaining 5 concerts to continue to be major works performed in the Cathedral.

Registered address: 15 Chyandour, Redruth TR15 3AB. https://trurochoral.org tel: [phone] email: [e-mail]

Truro Choral Society Registered Charity 281902 President.- Michael Galsworthy CVO CBE DL Tnwo Choral Sc¢%ty Registered Charty ￿281￿)1 at 31at 2024 Bakn at B￿￿. 57&46 32,2e6.75 86S21 o. CWI Acc¢>J TVJO cfml Sx%tylChartyP$2819(Ql Bd) Pffjfft (l￿8) 15283. Tmro Cho￿1 S( Regratered Chjrity No 281gr 31st 2[124 2024 2023 15,171_46 10,951.08 17,447DJ 13.634.DJ 845.fA) 1,(O). 1,057.31 1557.32 1,2CLS.02 6,176.55 839.31 io.th) 240.16 43 064.50 34.78 ) 079.49 14,844.73 ,391.36 2,504.48 2,￿3.28 1,1m.rx) 1,641.20 843.95 6D4.74 110.$9 &)od E 79)54 6B7.80 J￿i￿ty 49.70 25 ￿3.25 Net P￿￿{L￿1￿)ry Registered address.- IS Chyandour, Redruth TRIS 3AB. htt chair trurochoral.or trurochoral.or tel-. 07894 668256 email-.

Truro Choral Society

Registered Charity 281902 President: Michael Galsworthy CVO CBE DL

Report prepared by: Travis Mason (Secretary) Signed by: Kathryn Routledge (Chair) Date: 19 December 2024

Registered address: 15 Chyandour, Redruth TR15 3AB. https://trurochoral.org tel: [phone] email: [e-mail]