Havant and District Orchestral Society Trustees’ Report for the Season 2022-23
- 1 Reference and administration details
Charity name Havant and District Orchestral Society Other names HADOS, Havant Orchestras Registered Charity No. 288747 Principal address 32 Pennard Way, Chandlers Ford, SO53 4NJ Charity Trustees Jonathan Scott Chair, Webmaster and Making Music representative Cath Hutchin Honorary Secretary Patrick Caines Honorary Treasurer (to March 2023) Stella Scott Administrator (and Acting Treasurer from April 2023) Barbara Martin Orchestral Manager, HCO Stuart Annable Tickets Secretary Michael Cook Committee member Helen Taylor Committee member (Publicity) Vincent Iyengar Committee member (Education) (to December 2022) Liz Caines Administration Assistant (to March 2023) Wendy Stafford Committee member (co-opted July 2023) Auditor and advisor to Hon Treasurer
Phillipa Holman
2 Structure, governance and management
Governing document Constitution adopted September 1983 as revised in September 2013 Constitution Association consisting of about 100 members Trustees are appointed or re-appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting in September. Trustees may also be co-opted by the Committee.
3 Additional governance issues
The Society is affiliated to Making Music.
Any members involved in organising activities for younger audience members have undergone appropriate DBS (CRB) checks.
The Society has a Safeguarding Policy in place
The Society has taken steps to ensure compliance with GDPR
All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits.
4 Objectives and activities
To promote the appreciation of music by the presentation of public concerts and recitals, and in other appropriate ways; to offer the opportunity for local musicians to play a wide range of classical music to a high standard.
Summary of main activities during the season
Concerts. This has been a normal season with a full seven concerts.
Havant Symphony Orchestra (HSO) were able to resume ‘popular classics’ concerts at Hayling in September 2022 and performed 3 concerts in December, April and July at Oaklands School, Waterlooville.
Havant Chamber Orchestra (HCO) began with a concert in October and continued in February and May with all three concerts performed at Holy Trinity Church in Fareham.
Further details of all the concerts are in the Musical Activities report appended to this document.
Pre-concert talks were resumed at the October and February HCO concerts and these were well received.
Audience numbers for HSO were considerably improved this season whilst HCO did slightly better but continued to struggle:
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| Event | Audience this season | Audience last season | Audience at comparable event before pandemic (2018-19) |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCOOctober | 68 | 46 | 179 |
| HCOFebruary | 94 | 71 | 186 |
| HCOMay | 60 | 61 | 157 |
| HSODecember | 250 | 110 | 174 |
| HSOMarch | 237 | 98 | 169 |
| HSOJuly | 212 | 160 | 158 |
5 Bob and Beryl Harding Bursary The Hayling concert planned by Avi Taler, bursary holder for 2019-20, was finally performed on October 1[st] 2022.
The Bob and Beryl Harding Bursary for Young Conductors for 2022-3 was awarded to James Thomas and we have enjoyed working with him this season. He will conduct at Hayling on September 16[th] 2023. James is going on to study conducting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and we congratulate him and wish him all the very best for his future career.
Auditions were held in July and the Bursary for 2023-24 was awarded to Enyi Okpara, currently a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music.
- 6 Members and Supporters
During this season the Society had 34 Season Ticket Holder Members. In addition there were 36 Playing Members, making a total of 70 members – rather fewer than usual. As always, the work of the Society was supported by a small group of non-member supporters, mainly with family connections to members, to whom the Society is extremely grateful.
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7 The Committee
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This season was somewhat traumatic for the committee (and for HSO in particular) with a number of very sad events happening:
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HSO Leader, Cathy Mathews, tendered her resignation in March 2023 due to continuing ill health, though happily she was well enough to play in the violin section for the July concert.
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The search for a professional leader to take her place prompted the resignation of Deputy Leader, Graham Frewer
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This in turn led to the resignation of Treasurer, Patrick Caines.
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Administration Assistant Liz Caines suffered a fall at Easter 2023 and this, along with pre-existing health conditions, tragically led to her untimely death.
Cathy had been leader of HSO since 2000 and had generously given a huge amount of her time to the Orchestras. Graham had been Deputy Leader since 2000 and had recently covered the Leader position in Cathy’s absence, sometimes at very short notice. Patrick had been Treasurer for 5 years keeping a tight rein on the finances. Liz had taken on a good deal of the administrative work, taking the pressure off Stella Scott. All will be sadly missed.
Martin Palmer was engaged as leader for the July concert and will continue with us on a rolling basis from September.
The committee met as usual before each concert and have continued, where possible, a series of additional meetings in order to discuss particular topics which otherwise take up valuable time in normal meetings. They welcomed Clare Draycott to a meeting in June as a representative of the wind section and hope that Clare will join formally in September. They were also grateful to Wendy Stafford for offering to take on the role of Treasurer from September. Wendy has been co-opted onto the committee in July 2023 in order that she could be given early access to the bank account so as to smooth the transition pending, hopefully, her election in September.
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8 Educational Activities
Education Liaison Officer Vincent Iyengar sadly had to resign from the committee in December 2022 due to other commitments so the work he had begun with local schools is currently on hold. However, we are offering family group tickets to pupils, parents and staff of the school where we perform HSO concerts and this is proving very popular. In addition, at the July HSO concert pupils from a local prep school performed pre-concert music, organised by Principal Viola Becky Hill.
- 9 Financial Review
No funds are in deficit. Outgoings are continually monitored in order to take account of rising costs.
Donations continue to be received for the Peter and Sandra Craddock Memorial Fund, which at the end of July 2023 stands at just over £23,000.
The fund benefitted in particular this year from the final instalment of a legacy and from a grant from Bedhampton Charitable Trust.
Money from the fund was used to subsidise the costs of soloists in October, February, March and May and to cover hiring or purchasing music in December and July. The committee will meet in September to decide which items in the coming season will be supported using this fund.
This season we received sponsorship in the form of:
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a) a subsidy from the Making Music Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists Scheme to support our engagement of violinist Madeleine Pickering for the December HSO concert
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b) a grant from the Finzi Trust to cover the cost of hiring the ‘New Year Music’ by Finzi, also for the December HSO concert
Hire library net income was again a great success, totalling almost £3,000.
The overall balance for the year is a surplus of £1,040 which represents a significant turnaround from last year when we were only just emerging from the pandemic.
Reserves : The bank balance at the end of July 2023 is just over £63,000, which equates to around £61,500 once liabilities are taken into consideration.
The Society aims to maintain reserves of at least £15,000 without advances in order to enable us to meet contractual obligations in the event of not being able to perform concerts, so we are currently in a relatively comfortable position from this point of view.
10 Season 2023-2024
A full season of 7 concerts has been planned and advertised for the coming season and season tickets are on sale.
James Thomas will conduct at Hayling on 16[th] September 2023.
There will be three concerts by HSO, conducted by Jonathan Butcher, assisted by Enyi Okpara, at Oaklands School and three concerts by HCO, conducted by Robin Browning, at Holy Trinity Church, Fareham.
11 Issues for the future
The Society is still dependent on a relatively small number of people.
Our main difficulty in terms of workload now tends to be the need for non-players to help with tasks such as front-of-house and catering on concert days. We do have some, and their help is very much appreciated so it would be lovely to have a few more and if possible someone to co-ordinate this work so that players can concentrate on playing. In particular Tickets Secretary, Stuart Annable, has indicated his need to retire from this role at the end of next season so someone to take this over is urgently needed.
Chairman and Trustees of Havant and District Orchestral Society
26[th] August 2023 www.havantorchestras.org.uk
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Appendix: Reports on musical activities for the 2022-23 season
Havant Chamber Orchestra – Conductor Robin Browning Report by Stella Scott, approved by Robin Browning
HCO and Musical Director Robin Browning performed three concerts at Holy Trinity Church, Fareham this year. They continued to work with guest leaders: Christa Porter, Kirstie Robertson and Catherine Lawlor.
The first concert was our chance to play a concert celebrating the life of Brian Howells and this included works we particularly associated with him such as the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, which was beautifully played by Laura Rickard and Elliott Perks. Also included was Holst’s St Paul’s Suite, Mozart’s Symphony no. 33 and Puccini’s Crisantemi – a work for strings which Brian had introduced us to a few years ago.
The highlight of the February concert was the Strauss Horn Concerto no. 1 played for us by Ben Goldscheider. A stunning performance by this former BBC Young Musician finalist drew a larger crowd than usual and was greatly enjoyed by all. The orchestra were stretched by the Schumann Overture, Scherzo and Finale and the Schubert Symphony no. 9 but successfully rose to the occasion.
In May we tried an experiment with a presentation ‘Exploring Beethoven’ by our Music Director Robin Browning. Sadly this did not attract the numbers we had hoped for but the performances of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and his Symphony no. 6 were exciting and much enjoyed by an appreciative audience.
Next season we hope audiences will enjoy a concert of mainly string music including the famous ‘Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis’, an Italian-themed concert, and an opportunity for our wind section to shine in the ‘Petite Symphonie for Wind’ by Gounod.
Havant Symphony Orchestra – Conductor Jonathan Butcher
Report by Stella Scott, approved by Jonathan Butcher
HSO performed three main season concerts with Musical Director Jonathan Butcher and Bob and Beryl Harding Bursary holder, James Thomas.
In December we presented a concert on a Saturday afternoon which drew a large, appreciative audience. In particular the Bruch Violin Concerto no. 1 was beautifully played by Madeleine Pickering. Christmas and winter-themed items such as the Waldteufel ‘Skater’s Waltz’, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and two Sleigh Rides by Delius and Anderson proved very popular.
The March concert, this time on a Sunday afternoon, also drew a good-sized audience and include such popular pieces as the Grieg Piano Concerto, played for us by Florian Mitrea, and the Overture ‘Poet and Peasant’ by von Suppe. Bursary Holder James Thomas delivered an excellent performance of Sibelius’ Karelia Suite and the concert ended with the Symphony no 2 by Borodin.
The final concert, in July, was a ‘Last Night of the Proms’- themed event with flag waving and singing-along encouraged! The audience for this was not as large as we had hoped but those attending, including the Mayor of Havant, told us how much they enjoyed it.
Next season we are looking forward to two more afternoon concerts and some very popular pieces including the Elgar Cello Concerto and Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 2.
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I (HARITY (QMMISSION Havant And District Orchèstral So¢igty IHAt)os} 288747 Receipts and ments accounts CC16a Foi the perlod from 1 August 2022 To 31 Juty 2023 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted lund8 to th• n••r••t Restricted fund8 Endowmont fund• to th• M8rnte Total fundB Last y•ar to the n••mt£ to th• n••r••t £ to th• n•4rn•t £ A1 Recel t8 Grants Sponsors Don8tionslFrnds Season Tickels Ticke15 al Door Prograrnme Sales Adver115ernents Playino Memb8rn' Donab"onb Inveslmenl Income Music Library Lending Fee8 Sundries H8yling lilènd Conc8rt8 Gift Aid Bur80ry lund tlonathcns Sub total (Gross income for AR) 290 4.022 S8 1,913 9,987 290 4.022 S8 1,913 9,987 3,710 3,710 4,856 4.856 999 26,836 25,836 88e see table Mu81c Sala8 nve8 en sa Sub total 25,836 2S,836 A3 Paymgnts
Soloists Conductor and Or¢he6tr8 R8h8ar5al Hall Hira Piano tuni Concert ProstrntationlBox Office Publ¢ity antl IPrograrnmo pnIng Olher concrls Music Hire Music Hire Library Expenses Adrninistratsonlln5urancelAudrtlPRS Etc. Bursary lund expens05 and scores Sub total 2,755 11,252 2.185 2.755 11.252 2,18S 2.990 794 2.990 383 1,184 974 383 1,104 974 1,41ri 23,92T 1,410 1.410 22,518 A4 A880t and inve8tm•nt Mu8lc urchas88 768 768 76 Sub total 768 Total payments Net of recelpts/(payments) AS Transfers between fund8 A6 Ca8h fundi last y&ar •nd Cash funds thls year end 60,377 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period aiegortes Unfestricted to neare8t £ Restricted Endowment to naare8t £ to nèaro$t e B1 Cash funds Cash 01 bank. CAF account 41,050 20,467 Total cash funds 41,OSO 20,467 (agree balan& réLlpts and psymenl 8ttounllsll
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