Leeds Festival Chorus Annual Report 2024/25 Season
Annual Report of the Trustees and
Financial Statements for the
Year ended 31 July 2025
For
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS
Registered Charity 517127
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS
Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year ended 31 July 2025
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Trustees’ Annual Report | 1 |
| Report of the Independent Examiner | 3 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 4 |
| Balance Sheet | 5 |
| Notes to the Accounts | 6 |
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 July 2025
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity is an unincorporated body governed by its constitution and guidelines issued by the Charity Commission.
Trustees (Executive Committee) Elected Officers: Elizabeth Pal mer Administrative Secretary Andrew Smith Treasurer James Moxon Concerts Organiser Fiona irkby K Choir Coordinator
Other trustees in the year were as follows: Will Clarke (resigned October 2024) Peter Coltman (appointed December 2024) Emma Elg ie Chris Foren Margaret Mara (resigned March 2025) Judith Scott (resigned October 2024) Caroline Stanyard Ruth Swanwick (resigned October 2024)
Appointment and recruitment of Trustees
The executive committee works with the Artistic Advisor (the conductor) to run Leeds Festival Chorus in accordance with the Constitution. The full committee are elected on a three yearly basis at the Annual General Meeting. All Chorus members are encouraged to consider standing.
Legal and Administrative Information
The charity is registered with the Charity Commission Number 517127.
The charity’s address is:c/o Mrs E A Palmer 1 Westdale Gardens Pudsey Leeds LS28 7HU
The charity’s bankers are:CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ
The charity’s independent examiner is:Andrew Wilkinson FCA Malcolm Jones & Co Limited Accountants and Business Advisors West Hill House Allerton Hill Chapel Allerton Leeds LS7 3QB
Page 1
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS
Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year ended 31 July 2025 (cont)
Objects
The objects of the charity are to advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art and science of music in all its aspects by any means the trustees see fit, including through the presentation of public events.
Review of Activities and Achievements
The charity achieved its aims in the period under review by continuing to promote and deliver choral concerts. The closure of Leeds Town Hall for refurbishment continued to have a significant effect on concerts. There seems no longer to be any significant effect of Covid on audience sizes. We have performed 5 concerts and 1 other event.
Reserves Policy
The charity’s policy on reserves is to ensure that sufficient unrestricted net current assets (liquid reserves) are maintained to enable the charity to continue for at least the next twelve months in the event that there is an unpredicted and/or significant drop in income levels. The Trustees consider that the current level of liquid reserves (£49,153) is lower than 12 months worth of unrestricted ordinary expenditure (£56,833), but roughly equal to the expected expenditure of £48,000 to £52,000 in 2025/26. Accordingly the Trustees will continue to monitor the situation.
Risk management
The Trustees examine the major risks that the charity faces each financial year when considering their plans and annual budgets. The charity has controls in place to control these risks and mitigate any impact they may have on the charity’s future.
Public Benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17(5) of the 2011 Charities Act to have due regard to guidance published by the Charity Commission relating to public benefit.
Financial Review
The reserves of the charity are both restricted and unrestricted in nature.
As noted in the Reserves policy above, the Trustees are of the opinion that the levels of reserves may not be adequate in exceptional circumstances to meet future expenditure and to fulfil the charity’s ongoing aims and objectives. There is a deficit on ordinary activities for the year of £2,607 (2024 surplus - £8,018) which has been deducted from reserves. The total reserves at the year end amount to £73,848 (2024 - £76,455) of which £8,757 (2024 - £10,060) are restricted.
On behalf of the Trustees
……………………………………………………. Elizabeth Palmer, Acting Chair
8 October 2025
Page 2
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS
I report on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31 July 2025 which are set out on pages 4 to 9.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this period under section 144 (2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to:
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Examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
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To follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
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To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanation from you as trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements:
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to keep proper accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or
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to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Andrew Wilkinson FCA Malcolm Jones & Co Limited Accountants & Business Advisors West Hill House Allerton Hill Chapel Allerton Leeds LS7 3QB
8 October 2025
Page 3
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS Statement of Financial Activities for the Year ended 31 July 2025
| Notes Incoming resources: Voluntary income 6 Activities for generating funds 8 Investment income 9 Incoming resources from charitable activities 10 Total incoming resources: Resources expended: Costs of generating voluntary income 11 Fundraising & trading costs 12 Charitable activities 13 Governance costs 14 Total resources expended Net (outgoing) resources on ordinary activities for the year Exceptional item Net (outgoing) resources for the year Total charity funds brought forward Total charity funds carried forward |
Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds Total Funds 2025 2024 £ £ 35,430 - 35,430 44,166 16,641 - 16,641 10,366 1,524 - 1,524 1,822 1,934 - 1,934 2,122 |
|---|---|
| 55,529 - 55,529 58,476 |
|
| 795 - 795 492 50,723 - 50,723 42,135 35 1,303 1,338 1,474 5,280 - 5,280 6,357 |
|
| 56,833 1,303 58,136 50,458 |
|
| (1,304) (1,303) (2,607) 8,018 - - - - |
|
| (1,304) (1,303) (2,607) 8,018 66,395 10,060 76,455 68,437 |
|
| 65,091 8,757 73,848 76,455 |
The notes on pages 6 to 9 form part of these accounts.
Page 4
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS Balance Sheet as at 31 July 2025
| Notes Fixed Assets Tangible assets 2 Current Assets Other debtors 3 Cash at bank and in hand Current Liabilities Creditors & accrued expenses 4 Net current assets Net assets Represented by: FUNDS Restricted income funds: Balance at 1 August 2024 Net incoming resources for the year Unrestricted income funds: Balance at 1 August 2024 Net incoming resources for the year TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS 5 |
£ 345 64,975 |
2025 £ 15,938 57,910 |
2024 £ £ 17,709 318 64,414 64,732 5,986 58,746 76,455 6,079 3,981 10,060 62,358 4,037 66,395 76,455 |
2024 £ £ 17,709 318 64,414 64,732 5,986 58,746 76,455 6,079 3,981 10,060 62,358 4,037 66,395 76,455 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65,320 7,410 |
64,732 5,986 |
|||
| 66,395 (1,304) |
62,358 4,037 |
|||
| 73,848 | 76,455 | |||
| 10,060 (1,303) |
6,079 3,981 |
|||
| 8,757 65,091 73,848 |
10,060 66,395 76,455 |
|||
Approved by the Trustees
………………………………………………. Elizabeth Palmer, Acting Chair
For and on behalf of the Trustees
8 October 2025
The notes on pages 6 to 9 form part of these accounts.
Page 5
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS Notes to the Accounts for the Year ended 31 July 2025
1. Accounting Policies
General
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities SORP (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011. The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis.
The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).
Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis
The trustees consider there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue.
Incoming Resources
All income is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA), when it becomes receivable.
Resources Expended
All resources expended are recognised on an accruals basis, in the period in which they are incurred.
Grants Payable
Grants payable are included in the SOFA when agreed by the Trustees.
Funds Structure Policy
Funds comprise unrestricted income funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in the furtherance of the charity’s objectives, and restricted funds which are dealt with and presented in accordance with the terms attaching to each separate restricted fund.
Tangible Assets
Tangible assets are capitalised at cost including any incidental expenses of Acquisition. A wear and tear allowance is provided at 10% on a reducing balance basis in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life and reflects the wish of the trustees to account for losses/damage etc. to its music library.
2. Tangible Assets
| At valuation At 1 August 2024 Additions in the year Wear and tear provision (10%) At 31 July 2025 |
Music Library £ 17,709 - (1,771) |
|---|---|
| 15,938 |
Page 6
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS Notes to the Accounts for the Year ended 31 July 2025 (cont)
3. Other debtors
| Prepayments 4. Creditors Accrued expenses 5. Funds Unrestricted Funds Music Library General Fund Restricted Funds Chorus Master Scholarship Monies Music to my Ears Future Developments Fund TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS 6. Voluntary Income Members’ subscriptions Friends’ subscriptions Tax refund on covenanted subscriptions Fundraising and social group Grants, donations and sponsorship Legacies |
2024 £ 17,709 48,686 66,395 1,303 4,608 4,149 10,060 76,455 Note 7 7 |
2025 £ 345 345 2025 £ 7,410 Movement £ (1,771) 467 (1,304) (1,303) - - (1,303) (2,607) 2025 £ 21,094 1,389 5,216 3,531 3,200 1,000 35,430 |
2024 £ 318 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 318 | |||
| 2024 £ 5,986 |
|||
| 2025 £ 15,938 49,153 |
|||
| 65,091 | |||
| - 4,608 4,149 |
|||
| 8,757 | |||
| 73,848 | |||
| 2024 £ 21,903 1,034 6,410 4,354 8,771 1,694 |
|||
| 44,166 |
Page 7
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS Notes to the Accounts for the Year ended 31 July 2025 (cont)
7. Grants, donations, sponsorship, patrons and legacies
| 7. Grants, donations, sponsorship, patrons and legacies |
||
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous donations Carol Sponsorship Ticket Donations Anonymous donation re Future Development Fund J Apps Olav Arnold Charitable Trust M Beer J Moody Liz Arnold Anon L Davies I Hall Janet Taylor in memory of Steve Taylor E Walker Legacies J Usher Olav Arnold 8. Activities for generating funds Concerts and recitals 9. Investment income Bank interest received 10. Incoming resources from charitable activities Library income |
2025 £ 1,290 - - - - - 300 300 1,000 10 - - 300 - 3,200 - 1,000 4,200 2025 £ 16,641 2025 £ 1,524 2025 £ 1,934 |
2024 £ 600 630 909 5,000 150 1,000 300 - - - 92 30 - 60 |
| 8,771 1,694 - 10,465 2024 £ 10,366 |
||
| 2024 £ 1,822 |
||
| 2024 £ 2,122 |
Page 8
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS Notes to the Accounts
for the Year ended 31 July 2025 (cont)
| 11. Costs of generating voluntary income Publicity programmes, brochures and advertising 12. Fundraising & trading costs Hire of music Concert costs Rehearsal costs 13. Charitable activities Donations 14. Governance costs Subscriptions and insurance Accountancy and Independent Examiner’s fee Sundry expenses Away day for Future Developments Website costs and design Library expenses Music wear and tear allowance Bank charges |
2025 £ 795 2025 £ 741 24,844 25,138 50,723 2025 £ 35 2025 £ 902 1,492 245 - 16 755 1,771 99 5,280 |
2024 £ 492 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 £ 997 17,378 23,760 |
||
| 42,135 | ||
| 2024 £ 1,474 |
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| 2024 £ 788 1,440 462 851 - 684 1,968 164 6,357 |
15. Trustees Remuneration
No Trustees or any persons connected with them have received remuneration (2024 – nil).
16. Trustees Expenses
Three trustees (2024 – three) have been reimbursed £997 (2024 - £916) for out of pocket expenses.
17. Staff Costs and Emoluments
There were no employees with emoluments in the year (2024 – nil).
18 . Cost of Independent Examination
Preparation of accounts and associated costs were £1,492 (2024 - £1,440).
Page 9
Publicity and Marketing Report 2024-2025
Elizabeth Palmer, Chair of Marketing Group September 2025
The Marketing Team continues to play a vital role in supporting the work of Leeds Festival Chorus. Our members are currently: Andrew Smith, Christine Hamill, Emma Elgie, Elizabeth Palmer, Mac Burnell, Mary Magorrian, Richard Wilcocks, and Sally Brown. We are also grateful for the technical expertise of Irene Hall, who looks after the website and email systems.
Our primary objectives continue to be:
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publicising and promoting our concerts and events,
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the public profile of the Chorus,
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communicating and engaging with Chorus members,
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attracting new members.
Reaching audiences
In 2024-2025, we promoted our concerts in Beverley and Leeds, resulting in the sale of around 620 tickets, excluding Patrons, comps, and donated tickets.
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A Choral Soirée (Beverley) - 103
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Carols at Christmas - 231
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Messiah - 194
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A Choral Journey - 92
Christmas is still our best-selling concert which is unsurprising. It remains challenging to promote concerts with lesser-known repertoire and those outside of Leeds, so we will continue to look for ways of framing these concerts to give potential audiences an idea of the experience they’ll receive.
Word-of-mouth (often through Chorus members) remains our biggest driver of sales. Thank you to everyone who has invited people to attend our concerts, distributed flyers, and shared our social media posts. It does pay off!
We trialled collecting audience feedback after the Messiah concert. It was incredibly positive, including these quotes:
“Quality was professional and in fact, better than many professional Messiah’s we’ve seen.”
“The most uplifting and inspiring performance of Messiah that we have ever attended”
We are also aiming to include more detail on our webpages about our events, including information on accessibility, parking, and timings. We hope this will encourage and enable more people to attend.
We continue raising our profile through:
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social media promotion on Facebook and Instagram,
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production and distribution of brochures and flyers,
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regular email marketing to our mailing list, which we continue to grow by asking audience members to sign-up,
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articles published in the Yorkshire Bylines,
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contact with other local music groups and organisations, including Opera North and Leeds International Concert Series.
We would like to experiment with more innovative social media in the coming year, and plan to explore how we can make more use of video and audio to reach wider audiences. However, time to experiment with different formats remains the largest challenge in this area.
Communicating with members and Friends
Communication with Chorus members remains a priority. We continue to distribute the weekly email with updates, and the launch of the new members’ area in late 2024 now provides a central hub of information.
We also write and distribute the quarterly newsletter for the Friends of LFC. Thank you to Sally Brown who does a great job of thinking of content ideas and writing the newsletter.
How you can help
There are lots of ways you can support the Marketing Team, including:
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following our social media accounts and sharing our posts,
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Facebook (/LeedsFestivalChorus), Instagram (@leedsfestivalchorus), X (@LFChorus)
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distributing flyers for concerts
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inviting friends and family as audience members, or to try out a rehearsal
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letting us know about any ideas you have for places to advertise or people we should be in contact with.
You’re welcome to get in touch with a member of the team, or email marketing@leedsfestivalchorus.co.uk.
I would like to say a huge thank you to the Marketing Team for their commitment, ideas and attention to detail throughout the year. Publicity is a large task, so it is a real benefit to have a good team of people working hard at it.
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS – ANNUAL REPORT FROM LIBRARIAN, 2024-25
Scores for LFC rehearsals and concerts
About 3,600 scores were issued for our rehearsals and performances during the year ended July 2025. About 2,200 of these were hired copies, the remainder being owned by the Chorus. Our own scores included three pieces printed for the Christmas concert: two arrangements by Simon Wright – A Christmas Wassail and I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas – and Phyllida Barker’s carol Hush, My Little Baby . The printing costs of all those three (£415) were very generously met by Simon, and we are extremely grateful for that. The number of non-returns was only seven (0.2% of 3,600). Where possible and reasonable the cost to the Chorus of these non-returns has been recovered.
Leeds Music Library was again by far the major provider of hire copies. Other hires during the year were from Ampleforth College (again at no charge through Simon’s good offices, so with grateful thanks), Bach Choir (London), Cantores (Cirencester), Community & Youth Music Library (London), Dumfries Choral Society, Inverness Choral Society, Lea Singers (St Albans), Leeds Guild of Singers, London Philharmonic Choir and Wimbledon Choral Society.
Thanks are also due to those who have helped at busy times during the year, or when I have not been available, in issuing, moving and/or sorting scores.
Hiring out scores to other choirs
This task has been carried out entirely by Will Clarke, and I am extremely grateful to him for doing so. Will soon has to give up this role owing to other pressures, and a replacement is needed. Members are asked to consider whether they could help in this important task of bringing in income.
Will reports on the last year as follows:
In the year to the end of July, we hired out 39 sets of scores for a total net income of £1,355. We sent 1,739 scores from our library to groups across the country, from the Jersey Festival Choir to the St Andrews Chorus. This is on a par with the previous year, when we arranged 32 hires of 1,300 scores. The average value of each hire was £35, with the highest being £248.
The largest earners were substantial single works like Israel in Egypt or Mozart’s Mass in C Minor . These scores are hired on a higher per-copy-per month rate, are sung by larger choirs who need more copies, and take longer to learn and perform resulting in longer hire periods.
It is worth noting that a small proportion of the library accounts for most of the revenue. Poulenc, Vaughan Williams and Handel are requested consistently and account for almost half our hire income. MacMillan’s O Radiant Dawn was requested five times last year - the most of any single work - and has been requested 11 times for the 2025 Christmas term. This means that we need to keep a close eye on the condition of such frequently requested works so that we can maintain both proper standards for hiring out and our potential future income. The current clean-up project (see below) is an important part of this.
Clean-up project
This project to erase the pencil markings from our most-used scores continued throughout the year. Some 600 scores were improved in this way by a total of 16 members. I am grateful to all 16, with Avril Brown and Peter Bloodworth again heading the pack. Every single contribution is welcomed, small or large. The task continues in the 2025-26 season, and further volunteers are always +very welcome, usually without deadlines!
Further thanks
As ever, I am grateful to the many members who sign the sign-up sheets legibly, on the correct line, and return scores promptly. The latter is particularly important when I have to return hired scores within deadlines which are often tight in order to minimise costs. Do please continue.
Mike Croft Librarian
LEEDS FESTIVAL CHORUS - Choir Co-ordinator Report 2024 – 2025
CHOIR MEMBERSHIP
We started this new season with 107 members. Over the course of this past year the following have leO the choir.
Sopranos Altos Tenor Bass Sonja Langfeld Debbie Clarke Kurt Langfeld Michael Clark Siân Lomax Desmond Quinn
Although not with us for long Sonja and Kurt very quickly became involved in all parts of choir life – Leeds’s loss is Sydney’s gain – hope they are enjoying all the sunshine! Debbie Clarke and Michael Clark were both long standing and commi[ed members of the choir – in addi\on Michael was a past treasurer. Desmond was part of the programme sugges\on group and Siân an ac\ve member of FRASC. I hope those who are s\ll in Leeds will support the choir by coming to concerts.
RECRUITMENT
It has been good to see some new younger people joining the choir this year and I hope that this trend will con\nue.
Our open evening last season was on September 25[th] . It was a wild and windy night and we had a rather select group a[ending – only 6 people in all. Two had a[ended the ‘Come and Sing’. However over the year we have had approaches from 12 poten\al members and of the 9 who came forward for audi\on and 8 were successful. We hope that they enjoy singing with LFC. Their names are below.
SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS Chloe Adam Andrea Dykxhoorn Trevor ApSimon Becky Clark Lucy O’Hanlon Loz Barker Ellie Klouda Charlie Terry
CONCERTS
October 2024 Beverley 85/109 78% December 2024 Leeds 87/107 81% April 2025 Leeds 88/108. 81% July 2025 Leeds 65/111 58%
Concert par\cipa\on has been steady except for the July concert, which despite a slight increase in membership, showed a big decrease. Scheduled later than many of our summer concerts it clashed with holidays for many members.
REHEARSALS and VENUES
Rehearsals have been held as usual in St.Chad’s and St. Columba’s churches. When there were problems with St Chad’s we appreciated being able to use the Parish Centre. We have had 46 rehearsals this year in these two loca\ons.
AND FINALLY
I am always grateful for the support I receive from choir members – it would be very difficult to do my job without it par\cularly this season which I have had a number of medical issues! I thank also Simon and Rebecca. They are both helpful and courteous – we are all very privileged to work with them.
Fiona Kirkby - LFC Choir Co-ordinator
Friends Report September 2025
The Friends are a group of people who have been members of the Chorus or are relations/friends of present and past members. They support us largely through attending our concerts and provide a small income to the Chorus.
| Level | Number | Subs Rate | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honorary | 1 | 0 | Previous Friends’ Coordinator |
| Complimentary | 2 | 0 | Those who have recently left the Chorus are offered Complimentary ‘Friendship’ for twelve months |
| One | 13 | £12-20 | Those unable to attend concerts for reasons of age, distance or infirmity |
| Two Single | 9 | £35 | Usually attend concerts and take advantage of benefits |
| Two Double | 6 | £60 | As above |
| Totals | 31 | £659 | 31 total members in 24/25 |
In addition, many Friends donated extra amounting to a total of £340.
The way the Friends have been managed has undergone some changes this year, with the Publicity Committee taking over responsibility for the newsletters, but the collection of subs moving to Finance. This is the first period where it’s happening this way, so we’ll be able to report on how it went once this year’s subscription period is completed.
We have also simplified the Friends subscription model, so it better reflects what we are able to offer at the moment. Instead of two tiers of membership, from September 2025 there will be one Friends subscription of £25 per Friend which includes a regular newsletter, invitations to sit in on rehearsals, and invitations to social events hosted by the Chorus.
We are working on refining this system so that I can send out packs to departing choir members, giving them a year’s free Friends membership. I have requested that I be sent contact details for this when a member leaves & am waiting for confirmation that this meets with member privacy.
I took over the newsletters in the spring of last year and have begun including profiles on members of the chorus marking special events, such as long anniversaries with the chorus, where we’ve been able to highlight past concerts that the Friends may remember. I’ve also included short interviews with soloists, and photographs and accounts of activities the chorus does outside our concerts. Some of these have been shared with the chorus and have had hugely positive feedback. This year we have Simon’s anniversary to cover & I am expanding the profiles to include one of the new members discussing what her first year with the chorus was like.
As a member of the Publicity Committee, I have been developing a relationship with Yorkshire Bylines, which published my first newsletter with features on the soloists for the Messiah , reaching 438 online viewers, plus hardcopy and downloads. I hope to continue this relationship so that we can use it for further publicity.
Sally M. Brown
Concert Organisers Report for AGM 15/10/25
Last year was another difficult one for concert planning due to the continued uncertainties re the Town Hall re-opening. We are now aware that the earliest we are likely to be able to get in, to be part of a concert, will be Autumn 2026 but there is a possibility of another 6 month delay from the contractors which would mean early 2027 or even later depending on what happens in the next 12 months.
We started the 2024/5 season with a very enjoyable, if rather cold, trip to Beverley in October for ‘ A Choral Soirée ’ featuring Duruflé Requiem with a first half of motets and other short pieces from Duruflé, Messiaen and Poulenc . Sadly tickets proved very difficult to sell due to a competing concert in Beverley on the same evening, but despite that the concert went well and feedback was good.
The Christmas Concert at St.Edmund’s included contributions from Seb Williman on trumpet. This proved a popular concert again with a near sell out generating a modest and much needed surplus.
Our planned trip to sing carols in the Cellarium at Fountains Abbey on 21/12/24 was sadly cancelled at short notice due to safety concerns caused by high winds. They are fully booked this year but we are aiming to try again at Christmas next year.
We were hoping to have joined the Cambridge University Symphony Chorus in March to sing Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony but sadly the negotiations proved difficult and couldn’t be concluded satisfactorily in time to fit this into our existing calendar.
In April we sang Handel’s Messiah with a small orchestra selected from the ranks of the York Guildhall Orchestra and four young soloists from the Royal Northern College of Music. I hope you will agree that the extra expense of hiring the orchestra was worthwhile. The audience feedback was excellent and with a near sell out of tickets we managed to keep losses to a manageable level.
For our Summer Concert ‘ Elgar, Schubert & Barber – Choral journeys ’ on 12th July at St.Edmund’s we had another late change of soloist, eventually being joined by Jane Burnell who had sung soprano in the Messiah for us in April. We benefitted from a small grant from the Elgar Society and sang a varied and challenging programme including Elgar’s set of six songs ‘ From the Bavarian Highlands ’, along with Bartok ’s Four Slovak Folk Songs , the magnificent, modernistic quirkiness of Ligeti ’s a cappella ‘ Night and Morning’ - bells, cocka-doodle-do’s, kazoos and all, the evocative battle cry and biblical narrative of Schubert ’s ‘Song of Miriam’ and the peaceful serenity of Barber ’s ‘ Agnus dei’ . Audience numbers were down, perhaps more to do with the timing of the concert in school holidays, but there were many appreciative comments from them about the programme itself.
Most recently in September we had another successful Heritage Open Day Come and Sing event at St.George’s Church, learning and singing ‘ Choruses from Brahms’ German Requiem’ with Simon leading rehearsals and conducting and Martin Pickard and Tony Kraus playing the piano duet. After a few last minute dropouts due to inclement weather and illness we had 46 visiting singers and 48 from LFC who worked hard in rehearsals and gave an informal performance to a small but enthusiastic audience. We had this message from Meryll, our HOD co-ordinator at the Leeds Civic Trust – ‘ Your event was obviously very popular and I have to say all the singers looked full of joy – it was very uplifting to watch and listen.’
Looking ahead we have an exciting and varied range of concerts for you with a mixture of old favourites and lots of new music to keep you on your toes!
We will be joined by organist Lee Ward, percussionist Janet Fulton and harpist Megan Humphries for our Autumn Concert in November at St.Edmund’s, featuring Bernstein - ‘Chichester Psalms’ with Alexander Wright – treble, along with Kodaly – ‘Missa Brevis’ , Bach – Lobet den Herrn for chorus and ‘ Toccata and Fugue in D minor’ for organ, and Megan will play the Britten ‘ Suite for Harp ’.
Our Christmas Concert programme for December, also at St.Edmund’s, is taking shape with the music interspersed with seasonal readings and tenor solos from Dan Marles.
In March we have a concert for voices and brass at St.Edmund’s ‘ A Spring Fanfare ’ with choral works by Gabrieli, Lotti, Croce, Purcell, Bruckner, Schütz, Parry and Finzi interspersed with pieces for brass by Gabrieli and Viadana.
In June we will be joining forces with the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus at Sheffield City Hall to sing Mendelssohn ’s Elijah , with the Halle Orchestra and Matthew Hamilton conducting.
Beyond that our schedule will be very much dependent on developments at the Town Hall and we will keep you informed as soon as we know anything more.
My personal thanks go to all those who have helped this year with every aspect of concert planning and production, and in particular to Siân whose attention to detail ensures that all the plans we put into place are fine-tuned and run as smoothly as possible.
James Moxon Concert Organiser 29/09/25
FUND RAISING AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE (FRASC) REPORT October 2025
FRASC’s activities has changed somewhat in the last couple of years, with the current focus on supporting the choir through pop-up bars and raffles, with occasional bigger fund raisers and social events. This year we have raised approximately £3,800.
We kicked off with the traditional post-rehearsal Christmas Bring and Buy sale. With post-sale purchases inside and outside the chorus, we made around £1,200. Thanks to everyone who baked, bottled and donated lovely Christmas gifts, with special thanks to Fiona Kirkby for her Christmas puddings (always a long list of requests for these!) and Simon for his ginormous side of homesmoked salmon. Shout outs also for the 2nd hand bookshop (Andrew Smith), sales and bar teams, and those that set up their own stalls. In some cases, stall holders generously donated all their proceeds, which was very much appreciated (thank you John Dickinson, Irene and David Hall and Julia Tomlinson amongst others!).
There will be a repeat performance this year on Wednesday 26th November, so please dust down your mixing bowls and jam pans and get your baking and making hats on……….and if you have friends or family that would like a stall, let me know.
Other fundraising and social activities have quietly continued through the year. The FRASC weekly raffle so efficiently managed by Margaret Whaley raises a considerable sum. We held an extra raffle at the Christmas concert, which raised an amazing £600, helped considerably by the excellent range of prizes including no less than two hampers.
Wine evenings (pop-up bars) after rehearsals at St Chad’s have continued with some this year hosted by people celebrating milestone birthdays or chorus membership anniversaries. Celebrating these has proved very popular with everyone! It would be great if more people could help us with these pop-up bars, so if you think two or three of you could band together and run a wine evening, please let me or any of FRASC know. It’s very easy and a great way to meet other chorus members. The next wine evening will be following the AGM on 15th October.
FRASC and an excellent team of “clapping section” volunteers also run the interval bar at the St Edmund’s concerts , allowing us to raise between £200 and £600 each time.
Walk and Tea In April, we re-instigated our “ ” series, with a very well attended walk around the Roundhay Park geology trail (I even managed to show off some fossil finds from one of the exposures!) before a scrumptious afternoon tea of scones (thank you Fiona!) and cakes.
As I mentioned in last year’s report, FRASC’s activities have been somewhat limited. This is because active FRASC members are comparatively few in number and partly because we perceive there to be limited interest from the choir in social events outside rehearsals. If this isn’t the case and you have some great ideas for social events (or fundraisers) and would be happy to help us organise them, then please let us know.
In any case, we would love for more people to join the team. Our occasional meetings are usually fun (nothing to do with the chat, drinks and good food, of course!). If you would like to join us, helping to raise funds for the chorus and maybe get back to organising social events, then please have a chat with me or anyone in FRASC: Fiona Kirkby (executive chef), Margaret Whaley (long-suffering treasurer), Heather Newton and Julie Tomkins.
Harriet Carlyle FRASC Chair