Minutes of the meeting of the Suffolk Concert Band

held on Thursday 2nd February 2006 at Acton Lodge, Needham Market

 

Those present were: Angela Bates, Mandy Chinery, Gordon Scopes, Sarah Scott, Ray Wilson, Simon Pulham, Mark Cheadle, Roger Jones, Toby Pratt.

 

144.   Apologies for absence

These were received from Trevor Daldry.

 

145.   Adoption of minutes of meeting held on Thursday 5th January 2006

The minutes were agreed.

 

146.   Matters arising

131) The trailer will be serviced during half term.

 

132) Simon has not yet been able to collect any new music stands from the trade supplier. Gordon reported that Phoenix Brass recently purchased new stands via Jack Biggins at a cost of approximately £13.00 each. Gordon to investigate the cost of purchasing 20 new stands.

 

132) Roger is unavailable on the 12th April not the 19th April.

 

136) Angela received an email from Leanna Cleaver (Alto Sax) saying that she will not be joining the band due to other commitments.

 

136) Angela has written to Holy Trinity about the radiator but has not yet had a reply.

 

147.   Adoption of EGM minutes held on Wednesday 29th July 2006

These were agreed.

 

148.   Chairman

Colin Pettingale has reported that he has spoken to Colonel Dean, who donates £100 a year to the band, and said that he had never been thanked by the band. Simon queried this but will write to him apologising.

 

149.   Musical Director

149.1.         Review of appointment

The committee discussed with Roger how everyone felt about his time as MD. The general feeling was very positive from both the committee and Roger. Roger said that he was enjoying being the MD of the band. His goals for the future are to take the band on a trip and the recording, which are both in progress. He also said he would like to do more outside of Suffolk and it was suggested that we may be able to do a reciprocal trip to Nottingham and Roger has contacts in Shropshire which would also be a possibility.

 

Roger feels that he has now got to know the band and likes to challenge not only the band but also himself in the music that he chooses. He would like to encourage bigger audiences as he feels that the band deserves it.  Simon mentioned the success of the Holy Trinity concerts, which were Roger’s idea to air pieces of music and build up a good audience base.

 

<<Roger leaves the meeting>>

Simon proposed that we should invite Roger to continue as MD for the next three years, which will be reviewed in summer 2009, but reserve the right to invite other conductors at any time. The committee agreed.

 

<<Roger returns to the meeting>>

Simon invited Roger to be MD for the next three years. Roger agreed and thanked the committee.

 

150.   Secretary

Nothing to report.

 

151.   Treasurer

Ray apologised on behalf of Jill Blofield that a summary of the accounts for 2005 is not available for this meeting but will be ready for the AGM next week. Ray reported that Jill has queried the income for the Suffolk College concert. The committee clarified that since this concert was in aid of the Mayor’s charities that we decided to take no income from the ticket sales. Since there was no cost for the venue, our only expenses were for the two MDs and therefore we made a loss on this concert.

 

Ray reported that he would like to remove the 31st March proviso for having discounted subs (if gift aided) in 2007. He felt that all members that sign a gift aid form should be eligible for this discount, whenever they pay their subs.

 

Angela reported that the website is currently offline because we need to re-register our domain name because it has expired, at a cost of £15. Toby to investigate this further and the committee agreed a budget of £20 to get back online.

 

152.   Membership Secretary

Angela reported that she has contacted Simon Tomlinson, who is still unwell and currently living in Hereford. He will not be coming back to the band in the near future and will try and return his jacket.

 

153.   Librarian

Mandy reported that the reason why she is retiring from the committee is because she is expecting a baby. She is currently working on an information pack for the new librarian and is tying up any loose ends. The committee congratulated her and thanked her for all her hard work during the past few years.

 

154.   Concert Manager

Nothing to report.

 

155.   AGM 2006

It was agreed that proposals for committee members could be taken from the floor.

 

156.   Publicity

Toby circulated a draft copy of the Members Handbook for the committee to have a look at.

 

It was agreed that we need to start doing posters for the first Holy Trinity concert. Toby asked if we could consider a publicity budget at the next meeting however, Ray felt that we should deal with each concert as they arise.

 

157.   Recording

In response to the committee’s decisions about the recording from the last meeting, Roger reported that his original idea was to publicise and fund the band, using Michael Simmonds to record live concerts at no cost to the band. He felt that for a “studio” recording every player needs to be good and along with the committee agreed that no one in the band should be excluded from the recording. Roger also felt strongly hat he would like to conduct the whole CD and if the committee decided otherwise, he would exclude himself.

 

Everyone agreed that the recording sessions require full commitment from the band and a programme needs to be decided in advance to give people the opportunity to learn their parts. Roger said that we would need about 60 minutes of material, which would include about 12 pieces of music, all about 3-5 minutes long. Gordon suggested that Museum Street might be another suitable venue. Simon circulated a possible budget for the project:

 

Quantity

250

Sales @

£10

Free copies

12?

 

 

PRS

£400

Booklet – 2 folds

£600

Discs/Cases

£400

TOTAL

£1650

 

Along with the cost of a rehearsal venue it was concluded that we would need to spend up to £2000. Ray felt that we need to aim to complete the recording by the end of June to have the CDs ready for the OCA at the end of July, due to the money that has been donated by OCA members.

 

Action Plan:

1.        It was agreed that we would like to do a “studio” type recording.

2.        It was agreed that we should ask Michael Simmonds to record the Holy Trinity concerts anyway.

3.        It was agreed that we would only use one MD, Roger, on the recording.

4.        Simon will liase with Roger and Michael about some possible Sunday afternoon dates.

5.        Simon and Roger to discuss a possible programme, which should be decided by the end of February.

 

158.   Forthcoming Events

·         Sunday 27th August 2006 – Eastbourne Bandstand

We have now received a formal contract for this concert, which Ray is currently reading. He reported that we will require £5 million public liability insurance but at present we only have £2 million. This will be discussed at the next meeting. Gordon reported that he has had a quote for £450 from East Coach Travel for the coach but felt this was quite high. The committee agreed that Gordon should get two more quotes and book with the lowest.

 

158.1.         Other Events

Angela reported that she had contacted Stratford St. Mary Church about a possible date in October for a concert. The Church feels that the 21st and 28th October were not good dates due to half term and have suggested the 4th and 11th November. The committee felt that they would prefer the 28th October.

 

Shirley Sadler of Friends of Christchurch Park has asked if we could suggest a possible date for 2007. This will be discussed at the next meeting.

 

158.2.         Trip 2008

Nothing to report.

 

159.   Any Other Business

Gordon thanked Simon on behalf of the committee for all his hard work as Chairman. Simon thanked the committee for acknowledging this.

 

Meeting closed at 9.51pm.

 

 

Date of Next Meeting

Thursday 2nd March

Venue – 82 Goring Road, Ipswich