CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
A Committee Meeting was held on 20 October 2010 at 1 pm in the Board Room, Faculty of Music, West Road
Present
Executive Officers: Richard Andrewes (RA), Joshua Borin (JBo), Chloe Davidson (CD), Caroline Goulder (CG), Maggie Heywood (MH), Theodore Küng (TK), Nick Shaw (NS), Simon Smart (SS), Rachel Thomas (RT)
Co-opted members: Chris Lawrence (CL), Paul Nicholson (PN), Michael Sharp (MS), Jo Whitehead (JW), John Willan (JWi)
Jo Whitehead was in the Chair. Christine Skeen took the minutes.
1. Apologies for absence were received from John Barber, Martin Ennis, Simon Fairclough, Harry Ogg.
2. Minutes of the meeting on June 9 were agreed after the amendments of 'University' in the title; Stephen Craigen (SCr) under 'Executive Officers'; '8. Plan from CUMS II: MH spoke in favour of CUMS II; it offered three conductors opportunities to conduct concerts and three separate soloists opportunities to perform concertos'.
3. Matters arising
a. CUCO: JBo said by the beginning of Lent Term CUCO's concerts for the coming year would be settled, including one with Sir Roger Norrington and Charles Siem in November 2011. Stephanie Gonley was to play a concerto and also possibly Steven Isserlis. He said the orchestra had started rehearsals and sounded very good. JW said further discussion about CUCO could take place at next month's meeting and meanwhile JBo and CD should liaise to develop the plan for CUCO including a proposal for CUMS administrative support. Action: JBo, CD Now was the time to plan a programme two years ahead. CL mentioned the 'hired out' concert on 19 March 2011; JBo said four concerts a year were really the ideal number.
b. Lunchtime concerts: CL said these were being run by three students. He and MH had attended the first of the series yesterday and were impressed by the successful feel of it, though a larger audience than the sixty or so would be preferred. However, the collection at the end would cover programme costs. There was some discussion as to how best to target a larger audience, including by email, word of mouth, committee members each distributing flyers, and giving out flyers at the next two concerts. MH wondered who after Jennie King held the old list of Music Club members – twenty more people from that could be approached. JBo said he would investigate. Action: JBo .RT made the point that students would be reluctant to attend if they thought concerts might overrun into lecture time. The first one had started and finished a little late. Replying to JWi as to how student performers were chosen, JBo said he had emailed Tom Neal asking to be involved – CL commented that this first year the process was largely based on emailing and requesting proposals from CUCO members and Instrumental Award winners. CL suggested in future having a more open application process. JW said the plan for creating a committee for the 2011/12 seasons, and the selection process should be reviewed at the last meeting of this term. Action: RA, CD, MH, Tom Neal, JW. By the end of December next season's plans would be known. Tom Neal should be invited to the following meeting. Action: CD
c. CUMS I: CD said the position of President was still to be filled. She would leave a few more weeks before taking further action. Hopefully it would be filled by the end of term. Action:CD
d. Chorus: CG described the successful recruitment of thirty three new members including fifteen basses and five tenors. She would like to record her thanks to Stephen Cleobury and James Henshaw for all their hard work with the auditions. Tim Brown was to conduct the Tallinn trip in December and plans were being made for St Petersburg in April 2012. JW asked that CG's concerns about programming coordination be postponed to the discussion on programming.
e. CUMS II: MH distributed a paper which highlighted the problem of shortage in particular areas notably violas, bass trombone, timpani and double bass. A committee had been formed of five orchestra members plus the three conductors though they had yet to meet formally. MH and TK would encourage them to meet before next week to agree on jobs and next steps. Action: MH, TK
There was some discussion on filling the gaps in players. TK said CUWO would have enough. Jbo pointed out that double bass players often do not bring their instruments to Cambridge; they are unwieldy and difficult to store. SS said one could be bought from Ken Stevens and later sold back. An instrument costs about £1500: JW said if a player could be found who needed a double bass, one could be bought – the problem was storage space. Perhaps the faculty could open some up for this purpose. Action: SF, JW to investigate. Any thoughts should be made known to CD and TK. JW would like to record his thanks to MH and TK for working with CUMS II for the way ahead.
4. Programming Committee update: CL took responsibility for this on October 1. He was speaking one to one with ensemble representatives about dates and venues. This would include discussions with the chorus. A central planning document would be available to all who needed to know, on Google or Raven, and he would bring proposals to the meeting on November 6. Action: CL
5. Marketing: CD had distributed a paper previously. The committee congratulated her and RT on their work. CUCO were happy with the arrangements. The new season brochure was attractive and impressive, though more expensive than the old one. JW said CD and RT would review the current plan at the end of the year to see how successfully it worked. Action: CD, RT Any feedback on the plan during the year could be emailed to CD. Action: all. There was some discussion about using the city council notice boards. CL suggested using laminated posters for these due to wear and tear during handling, also that some boards brought better results than others. RT thought a yearly poster might be cost effective; CL suggested termly would present fewer dates to read through. CD planned to look into this after Christmas. Action: CD. Feature coverage in local papers could be tried to use opportunities like Sir Roger Norrington's visit and Martin Yates' arrival. JW suggested looking into the possibilities of such PR work at the end of the year. Action: CD, JW. PN suggested taking publicity to hotels and guest houses. CL proposed a formal vote of thanks to CD, MH, RT and JW for their work on the marketing plan.
6. November 6 meeting: 9.30 – 13.30 Wolfson College
Suggestions for the agenda were
an annual programme template (from CL)
student involvement; what impression and expectations do students have of CUMS? (a report from students at the Judge Business School should be available for review.)what are the plans for CUMS II, CUWO and CUCO?
update discussion with the Faculty of Music and related governance
cooperation with other parts of the University and other ensembles
JW asked which topic would be the favourite to discuss: there was general interest in item 2; JBoand MH chose student involvement. MH also suggested clarification of the standards CUMS has. CL spoke of recruitment and thought that college literature should emphasise the wealth and importance of music at Cambridge to prospective students.
7. AOB
i)Elections:committee members concerned left the room.
MH took the Chair. NS proposed and CL seconded that SF be re-elected Chairman
NS proposed and CG seconded the re-election of co-opted members RA, JB (in his absence), CD, CL, PN, MS, JW, JWi.
All were agreed unanimously
Clare Pike needed to be spoken to about her position Action: JW
ii) Chamber Choir: CUMS is involved in discussions about the future development of the Chamber Choir. RT mentioned the university chamber choir she had once been involved with. JW said comments on any involvements with CUMS should be made to SF. Action: all
iii) NS handed round a budget sheet. Action: CL, NS, JW to discussHe asked that lunchtime concert managers let him have a record of money they had. Action: NS to issue instructions to them. NS asked for a list of people showing their responsibilities. Action: CD would provide one.
The meeting closed at 14.08