CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY

A Committee Meeting was held on Friday 28 January, 2005 at 1pm. in the Latimer Room, Clare College.

Executive Officers: Aidan Brown (AB), George Corbett (GC), Simon Fairclough (SF), Maggie Heywood (MH.), Craig Hudson (CH), Sam Hudson (SH), Dora Kemp (DK) Gordon Lawrence (GL), Richard Neill (RN) Christine Schmalz (CS)

Co-opted members: Tim Brown (TB), Martin Ennis (ME) Caroline Goulder (CG), Jo Whitehead (JW),

Harry Blake (HB), Stephen Cleobury (SC), Courtney Lewis (CL), Beth Thompson (ET),

The minutes of the meeting of 27.11.04 were approved, after one correction, and signed.

There has been a good response from the chorus for the charity concert in Sidney Sussex Chapel on Fri 25 Feb but CUBE is not available to provide an instrumental contribution to the programme. It was suggested that Liz Fleming might be able to help by contacting the IAS chamber groups. It was also suggested that the wind/brass principals of CUMS I should be invited in the future to form a chamber group for this purpose.

The Society made £10,000 last year, excluding the Boston tour losses. We should make £3,000 per year on average, but to do this we rely on income from instrument hires and we receive about £2,000 per year from donors. Should we be offering them a thank you event? Do we need a fund-raising officer? We have time to raise money and build up our resources for the future. We lost money on the CUMS II & Zephyr concerts last year. There's a lower margin for error in the future. Tours must always be self-funding. DK thanked JW for all his help.

Ideas suggested during the course of the discussion which followed the presentation:

We need to start building the `Friends of CUMS' as a large group and could start with a prominent advert in CAM Action TB/MH

By the next meeting we need a review of concerts so far and a budget for the rest

The instrument hire charges have not been increased for at least five years, and there's only a small difference between the cost of the best and worst timps. RN suggests a bigger differentiation so that all orchestras can afford the cheaper ones and won't be tempted to hire from elsewhere. RN was asked to bring his suggestions for the new charges to the next meeting Action RN

GL has produced a new set of Terms and Conditions which is simpler and easier to administer with a fixed rate per set plus a weekly hire charge of £5 instead of only being available for half a term or a whole term. He has also put in place a fine for a late return. JW asked why their use was restricted to University members.

MH provided a summary of the long-term planning meeting which covered a possible new approach to conducting auditions, the educational role of CUMS towards its conductors, programme/concert -planning, invitations we've received for future concerts, the role of CUMS within the University and the link with the Faculty.

It was agreed that MH should look into setting up the new system for conducting auditions, with a volunteer orchestra, and ME said that the Faculty would be happy for us to make concrete suggestions for collaborative ventures. With the Shostakovich centenary coming up it was suggested that we might have a themed year of Russian programmes.

TB wondered if there could be reports from the Conductor and Secretary as well as from the Treasurer, containing a review of the previous year and a preview of the one to come. After a short discussion the idea was rejected. TB will send out a note concerning the changes to the Constitution to the membership before the AGM.

CS gave an outline of the tour. There will be five concerts, and we shall be paid approx £4,000 in total for four of them. It was agreed that we should keep the money until after the tour to cover unexpected expenses. When contracts have to be signed this will be done by the secretary or chairman, not CS. It was agreed that it would be a good idea to invite singers from the three orchestras as well, in order to be sure to get a large enough group. If we're short of people by the end of this term we will extend the invitation to chapel choir members and other choirs.

DK reported that Blueprint has agreed to print our posters and publicity material free of charge.

CUMS II : the main worry is the number of violinists who are leaving. They've brought in three new seconds from the reserve list, but there are not enough firsts. There are two new committee members, but no Treasurer yet.

The Zephyr Ensemble is going very well. There are regularly 38 coming to rehearsals, and apologies are usually sent by absentees. Just short of trumpets, horns & percussion. The quality is very good.

The Chorus is also going well with good attendance at rehearsals and the tenor section is excellent! They all enjoyed the trip to Oxford.

The next meeting is on Friday 18 February 2005 at 1pm in Clare College. A light lunch will be provided.