Choir Chairman's Report to the Choir Section AGM: May 2016
Is it really a year since we met for the 2015 AGM… and here we are once again to review the 2015-16 season which has been full of more delightful music-making. I am still held in the grip of May’s beautiful concert, “Chorales for a Spring Evening” …. sensitive programming to highlight choral music (both traditional & modern) alongside compositions for harp and organ. Although sad not to be singing, how fortunate I was to be in the audience and to hear the Choir’s splendid performance especially in Lauridson’s “Lux Aeterna” which was full of light and shade, and was really engaging. You all enjoyed the interpretation and we, the audience of 194 were held in awe. A very special moment to be remembered! Many congratulations for a lovely evening!
As you all know the 2015-16 season heralded the 70th anniversary of the Music Society, and this was celebrated at our November concert with the premiere of our first commissioned work, “Noah’s Fire”, an imaginative and innovative composition by choral composer Phillip Cooke. The concert also featured Britten’s “St Nicholas” and was performed to an enthusiastic audience of 245. One audience member commented that the evening marked “a seminal moment in the history of CMS” and Phillip himself was delighted by the Choir’s enthusiastic/positive response to “Noah’s Fire”. He has written that we displayed a huge amount of passion and realised his ideas in a vivid and colourful fashion. On concert evening David Woods, CMS Chairman, hosted a Reception for invited guests, with representatives of the Music Society and also of the heritage, culture and artistic life of Chester. The funding of "Noah’s Fire" was only made possible through generous sponsorship from The Arts Council and several local supporters of the Choir to all of whom we extend our sincere thanks.
70 years of music-making is to be celebrated! And this has been reflected in a varied choral programme ranging from classical to contemporary, sacred and secular. In March, a 20th Century extravaganza of Walton’s "Balshazzar’s Feast" and Elgar “Music Makers” was enjoyed by an audience of 273. The concert featured a full- strength Liverpool Sinfonia Orchestra with a mass of percussion, together with strong soloists, and a large, resolute choir including a determined and courageous semi-chorus!
And, of course, the final note to this special season was the return visit to Chester of Patricia Routledge as Guest Reader at the ever-popular Christmas concerts. Patricia is a good friend to the Choir and once again her presence drew in very large, enthusiastic audiences totalling 1171. Also, at her request we were pleased to make a considerable donation from concert proceeds to a local charity, The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust.
The Choir Workshop and Open Singing Day in February marked another success and has been noted as “the best ever”. Based this year around the less frequently performed, “Carmina Burana”, the Day offered an extra dimension of vocal technique and exercise sessions…. something over and above the more usual "Come and Sing Day". And with 100 participants, some of whom were travelling a distance to Chester as return visitors to join CMS choir members, we see that the formula works well. Once again our thanks for the organisation of this excellent event must go to Becky Ford with the leadership of our indefatigable Director of Music, Graham Ellis.
Just recently, on Sunday 8th May a select group of our members took up the invitation from Crosby Symphony Orchestra to take part with Southport Bach Singers in a performance of the Mahler "Resurrection Symphony" in the newly refurbished, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. This participation, albeit less numerous than in previous seasons (because of concert programming considerations) helps to sustain the inter-choir co-operation set up in recent seasons… which we hope will continue.
And, still to come, on Sunday 5th June the 2016 CMS Choir Tour party of 50 intrepid travellers will be setting off very early from Manchester to Dubrovnik on a four day visit to Croatia. Our skilful co-ordinator, Sue Eales has negotiated an excellent programme with the tour provider “One Stage” in which our 40 singers will be performing three concerts, including one in Dubrovnik cathedral. We wish the party (headed up by the two Grahams) every success and look forward to hearing about their exploits upon their return.
MEMBERSHIP
Looking at Choir membership, this season we have welcomed several new members but have also said farewell to others including Pru and Robin Wendt, Sue Fisher, Lyn Rischmiller, Margaret Parks Smith and Liz Warrington who have all made the decision to retire after giving long, loyal service to the Choir. We have been saddened to record the deaths of Margaret Kay and Malcolm Charlesworth, both very experienced singers and longstanding Choir members. I am pleased to report we have also welcomed back several singers after prolonged absence through illness. The Choir always aims to keep in touch with those who are still unwell, sending our best wishes and hoping to see them back with us at Choir once again soon.
This season our membership has fallen to about 146 and so Committee is now looking at ways to address this small [but not insignificant] decline. There is certainly no room for complacency, especially as effective recruitment is linked to a broader raft of issues including our Choir welcome to new enquirers, the audition process, our general accessibility and outreach, the appeal of our choral programme and ways to especially attract younger prospective members. So all of these matters, and more, will be coming under the scrutiny of your Committee in the 16-17 season. Please do remember that your contribution to the discussion as choir members is always welcome. However, whilst there might be a hint of change in the air, it must be emphasised that this must never be at the expense of our choral performance and the overall balance of the Choir!!
A brief note here re. members’ fundraising initiatives, all of which, large & small, help to offset the running costs of Choir. Here I refer to the weekly raffle which continues in it’s own small, steady way, to be very effective: the sales of CDs and of copies of “Noah’s Fire” vocal scores. Christine’s annual Maramalade heist is always a great success both in terms of our taste buds and also in bringing in excellent funds for the Choir. And then as a special one-off this year, in celebration of her 50 yrs as a choir member, Esther Noot treated us to very special raffle of a case of fine wines which raised a splendid £335. A very big thank you to you all!
The importance of membership support must never by under- estimated; in fact, without it Choir could easily grind to a halt. Reliable, regular and usually understated… this steady support from “within the ranks” is true CMS “gold dust”. These Choir members are the “roadies” at every rehearsal and concert performance….setting out chairs, tables and music stands, and members like Janet Ridgeway, minder of the concert corsages and Scirard Llancelyn Green, our concert podium man. Also the librarian assistants: the refreshment and raffle prize providers: and the many of you who distribute our concert publicity….. And here, whilst thinking of publicity and outreach, I must offer specific thanks to Fred Mudway, the skilful manager of the CMS Website and a special mention to Juliet Szestak, our accomplished Publicity Design Editor who produces such striking & eye-catching concert publicity. Compliments about our concert programmes have been paid by audience members, and we are confident that our artistic and high quality posters and flyers have contributed to an upsurge of ticket sales at the Cathedral in the days leading up to each concert.
The team of Section Voice Reps all help in the Choir’s “welcome” to new members and also encourage wider involvement in the non-singing rehearsal tasks. Thanks go also to our hospitality hosts who look after our concert soloists so well, and to our stewards …… not forgetting our partners and friends who also support Choir activities so loyally. And another special mention here to Daniel Gaskarth, our Chief Concert Steward and to Les Austin, our Abbey Square Parking Manager. Thank you all very much for the contribution you make to the smooth-running of Choir.
COMMITTEE
No Chairman can work effectively without a keen Committee, and my thanks go to everyone on the Choir Committee--- each with an important area of responsibility, and each with a keen commitment to the Choir. Whilst Committee membership is enjoyable (I hope!) it can also be demanding and time-consuming. So, whilst the need to recruit new Committee members can be challenging, their fresh ideas and enthusiasm are really important for the “general health“ of the Choir.
At this AGM, together with myself, three members of Committee are standing down: Eva, Magdy and Susi, and, on your behalf, I should like to thank them all for their commitment to Choir, their hard work and for the service they have offered to us over recent years.
Let me briefly outline some notable Committee achievements during the 2015-16 season.
> in accordance with the current CMS mandate we made a very positive and successful recommendation to the Executive Board for the re-appointment of Graham as our Director of Music for a further five years with the renewed contract coming into effect for the 2016-17 season.
> this recommendation was based on the views of each Committee member, the wishes of the MD himself, and the views of choir members as expressed in a brief, anonymous written survey to ascertain their satisfaction [or otherwise] with their “CMS experience”. Replies were received from 113 choir members and results indicated that members’ total “satisfaction rating” with life in the Choir is high. In consideration of the specific question: “I enjoy my experience as a member of CMS Choir” the response was 4.6 out of 5 or, in other words, 92%. … a very encouraging response!. My thanks go to our Librarians, Rob & Judy for their help in setting up, managing and analysing the results of the Membership Survey.
> during this season with regard to our concert arrangements, we have continued to build a an effective partnership with Chester Cathedral. All our Choir concerts are now advertised at an early stage on the Cathedral Website, and the Cathedral Box Office is the main point of sale of concert tickets to the general public.
> Committee has also reviewed discounted ticket prices for our concerts and has introduced an updated schedule to be applied generally.
And now….looking ahead to 2016-17
> Committee believes the time is right to review our current publicity initiatives and to strengthen the focus on social media publicity and enquiries are proceeding with The Harlequin Project, at Chester University, a local media studies educational initiative .Such a reciprocal support “package” could be very beneficial to the Choir and CMS as a whole, extending interest in music-making in the community with the aim of attracting a new, wider and possibly younger audience
> we recognise that the wide "arts scene" in Chester is currently in a state of flux as the new theatre complex, ”Storyhouse” nears completion. Committee believes we should not dismiss the possibility of developing positive links with the theatre’s management company "Chester Performs"…… and see where these might lead, if anywhere! Future additional performance space for choral presentations, perhaps? Time will tell!!
>Committee also intends to make more contact with local businesses to promote sponsorship initiatives for the Choir, bearing in mind that all our “additional events” (extra concerts etc.) have to be self-funding.
> meanwhile additional singing plans for 2016 -17 and beyond include another Open Singing Day, an additional choral concert at St. Werburgh’s Church, and a further opportunity to perform with Chester Philharmonic Orchestra.
There are of course two very important contributors to the life of CMS Choir, who I would overlook at my peril: the two Grahams!! The importance of a Choir’s accompanist should never be under-estimated, and at CMS we are really fortunate that this important role is held by Graham Eccles, an accomplished musician who is also a choral coach in his own right. We are most grateful for his commitment to the Choir, supported as he is so effectively by David Taylor, our official Associate Accompanist, and we look forward to continuing to work with Graham in future seasons.
The range and quality of the performance of the Choir to which I have referred in this report is only made possible through the leadership of an accomplished Director of Music; and I know you will agree that in Graham Jordan Ellis we have an excellent leader with whom, over the years, we have built a most effective working relationship. Graham’s careful management and encouragement to us all…. as well as his patience and pithy sense of humour is central to the Choir’s continuing development and performance standard…... and the work proceeds steadily! So, thank you, Graham and once again many congratulations on your recent election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of your extensive work in music education and contribution to community choral leadership.
CONCLUSION
So, after a Committee run of about 20 yrs it’s now time to hand over to my successor! Over the years I have learned so much about all that it takes to achieve well–presented concert performances when the commitment and steady enthusiasm of a loyal membership, a hard-working Committee, and a dedicated MD all come together to sing some of the world’s great music! And it has been a special privilege to serve as your Choir Chairman over the last four seasons. Above all, CMS Choir enjoys their singing and long may that continue to be the case... Visiting soloists and musicians appreciate our "professionalism" and offers of concert hospitality, and after a recent concert one soloist commented that "CMS Choir is really healthy and flourishing". With the encouragement and support of our MD, Graham we must continue to trust ourselves to go “the extra mile” and continue to promote our enthusiasm for singing by “spreading the word” to all our CMS supporters. New initiatives and opportunities lie ahead as the Choir continues to build on its strengths and achievements and I wish you all and especially Clive every success in these endeavours. Many thanks to you all!!!!
Denise Parkin
Choir Chairman : May 2016