Newsletter, January 2008
You will all have heard the sad news that our greatly admired and respected former conductor, Mark Foster, died in early July 2007. Many months earlier Mark had planned to give a concert with Brecknock Sinfonia in Brecon Cathedral on July 21st. In the event it was decided to go ahead with that concert as planned, with James Slater, Mark’s deputy, at the helm and with some additions to the programme in tribute to Mark. Members of Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra either performed in, or attended, the concert.
It included the following music:
Bach Sinfonia in B Flat Major Op 9 No.3
Mozart Exsultate K165 (sung by Sarah-Jane Davies)
Mahler Adagietto from 5th Symphony
Mozart Symphony No 29
Thomas Davey In Paradisum - written in memory of Mark
Handel Messiah choruses
An excellent quality CD recording was made of the concert; copies can be ordered for just £5 from:
Michael St John
Telephone: 01285 651463
Email:mikestjohn@cotspur60.freeserve.co.uk
Or from Michael at a rehearsal.
Janet, Mark’s widow, was clear in her mind that that was all the
tribute that Mark would have wanted, so it was decided not to go ahead with
our own concert in his memory, pencilled in for early 2008.
So, for something to remember Mark by, please contact Michael St John for
a copy of the CD.
Members of the audience at Pershore in November said that they thought that the Orchestra was getting better and better. For my part, it has been encouraging to see so many good players, particularly young string players, joining (or rejoining) the orchestra in recent times; we also have a near-regular brass section, and of course fully complemented woodwind and horn sections. Attendance at rehearsals has been excellent in recent months, which shows in the performances and is a great help to our conductor.
The Orchestra deserves bigger audiences, but how do we achieve that? Some years ago a member of the staff of Making Music gave out some decidedly underwhelming advice - “if you want to grow your audience, grow your group”. Good advice perhaps for a choir that might increase its membership from, say, fifty to seventy voices, but not very helpful for a barber shop quartet.
The answer to the audience problem is largely in our own hands, namely to persuade friends, work colleagues, neighbours and relatives (who typically make up 80 per cent of an audience) to come regularly to concerts, and also to make an effort to spread the word more widely by, for example, placing posters and flyers in a few key places in one’s neighbourhood or place of work, and by passing on the emails put out before each concert by Andrew Chapman.
We now have a Publicity Officer, Julia Haskin. Please help her to spread
the word, particularly for our concerts in Cheltenham.
Christopher referred to our concerts in support of charities, which can be and often are a great success both financially and artistically. The recent concert in Pershore Abbey was a case in point, raising £1500 for the Farmers Overseas Action Group (FOAG). I believe we need to be thinking of one or two more charities to collaborate with us in this way. We no longer perform for dear Philip Adlard’s charity, Friends of Chilonga, (which I understand is now defunct), and there was a poor turnout for our last concerts in support of Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust and Sue Ryder Care. Save the Children backed out of the October 13th 2007 concert at Tewkesbury Abbey at short notice. We were told that their committee, newly appointed in the summer, was nervous at the prospect of paying the up-front costs that had earlier been agreed. One cannot really complain – the last thing that we would want them to do would be to lose some of their hard-earned funds.
We have to accept that most charities will be on unfamiliar ground when
taking on a classical concert; it needs to be explained how best to achieve
financial success. Two recent examples illustrate this: one charity contented
itself with a mention of the concert in its newsletter to a readership of
about 5000, and four of their supporters actually came to it; another (much
smaller) charity was encouraged to be more pro-active, brought an audience
of 150 and raised over £1500.
Our recently introduced discount ticket scheme, involving three local charities,
has had mixed success, but may bring benefit in the longer term. We will
probably persevere with it. Ideas on that would be welcome.
As to sponsorship, Lloyds TSB very generously supported our Christmas concert
(in fact they gave us more than we asked for!) but, given our commitment
to large-scale symphonic music (with its large-scale costs) we need more
such sponsors. We are in the process of applying to a possible major sponsor
for a concert or concerts in 2008.
Finally, advertising in programmes. This has so far been limited in scope
(we think there are more important things to put into our programmes) and
it has so far consisted only of single half-page adverts placed mostly by
music-related companies, but it brought in £260 in 2007.
Any comments on the above or suggestions as to growing our audiences, publicity,
sponsorship and the like would be very welcome. Contact Christopher Sturdy,
Andrew Chapman or myself.
Ron Nourse
Recent concerts
Tewkesbury Abbey 13th October 2007
(By Roger Jones, Gloucestershire Echo)
The young cellist Oliver Coates dazzled the Abbey audience with his playing
of Dvorak's Cello Concerto and proved a worthy recipient of the prestigious
Philip Dorothy Green Young Concert Artists' Award. The spirit of Dvorak's
native Bohemia pervaded the concerto beginning with some evocative horn
playing followed by the warm sounds of the woodwind which transported everyone
to a different realm. Once the scene was set, the cello worked its way into
the music - a cello that did not merely play, but sang.
The nostalgic Adagio was full of colour and depth, with some wonderful moments
where cello and woodwind were juxtaposed. Then came the vigorous finale
with its lyrical dreamy ending.
Guest conductor Ben Palmer also made a favourable impression, not least
for the way in which he faced up to the challenge of the Abbey's acoustics
in that most Romantic of works, Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony….but
inevitably the clarity was lost in the louder sections.
This was a performance of great conviction.
Pershore Abbey 24th November 2007
This was the Orchestra’s fifth concert in support of Farmers Overseas
Action Group (FOAG) in Pershore Abbey, and perhaps the most successful one
so far. There was an audience of well over 200; the net benefit to the charity
was more than £1500, and most importantly, the orchestra and soloist
were in fine form.
The Orchestra now has a fine string section – on this occasion twenty
violins, eight violas, seven cellos and three basses; all but two are regular
players. The quality of the string sound was rich and full, without ever
having to be forced to compete with the augmented wind section. The whole
orchestra benefited from the excellent acoustic in the Abbey, greatly in
contrast with the echo chamber of Tewkesbury Abbey.
Matthew Sharp gave a very eloquent account of the Elgar Cello Concerto.
This was flanked by Elgar’s Serenade for Strings (setting the tone
for what was to follow) and by his First Symphony, which received a fine
performance under the baton of David Curtis.
A regular member of the audience, and a knowledgeable concert-goer, said
“You get better and better.”
Pittville Pump Room 16th December 2007
(By Anne Dunne, Gloucestershire Echo)
It was a joy to hear the full-blooded sound of an orchestra in the Pump
Room when David Curtis conducted the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra with
incisive direction without fuss in a programme of descriptive Russian music.
The Leckhampton Primary School Year 6 Choir ably conducted by Jo Thomas
gave charming performances of two Christmas songs, singing securely in harmony
and with clear diction. They joined the orchestra for a section of Winter
Bonfire Op122 by Prokofiev, a telling description of an outing made by Soviet
Young Pioneers.
The enthusiastic Overture Ruslan and Lyudmila by Glinka was followed by
Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite Op60 which describes the life of the fictitious
eponymous character. There was resounding work from the brass ensemble,
and the composer's harmonic shifts were achieved smoothly. The well-known
Troika produced sensitive playing from the bassoon.
Pianist Samantha Ward was the masterly soloist in Rachmaninov's Rhapsody
on a Theme of Paganini. This doesn't appear as frequently in the repertoire
as it once did, so it was a treat to hear a fresh interpretation. She kept
the momentum and was a compelling and musical artist.
Although not phrasing Rachmaninov's Vocalise as a singer would, violinist
Amelia Jones, the orchestra's leader, and harpist Jemima Phillips gave it
a sympathetic performance.
This satisfying concert concluded with Sabre Dance by Khachaturian played
at a furious speed with confidence.
Another outstanding year is in prospect!
Highlights of a year full of highlights:
1st March – Cheltenham Mayor’s Charity concert at Cheltenham Town Hall. It is quite an honour for the Orchestra to have the whole event to itself. It will be a night of Viennese music, including Mozart’s Piano Concert #21 K467 with the greatly acclaimed young Chinese soloist Wu Qian.
11th May – A concert at Pittville Pump Room including a concerto for horn and orchestra specially written by Tom Kane, himself a horn player in the orchestra. The soloist will be Alec Frank-Gemmill, winner of the Making Music Young Concert Artists Award in 2007. The concert will be conducted by the celebrated violist Philip Dukes.
26th July to 3rd August – Visit to Annecy, with three concerts as part of the annual Festival Musique et Nature en Bauges. This will be the orchestra’s first overseas tour.
8th November – A performance of Britten’s War Requiem in Tewkesbury Abbey, to mark the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice.
Full details of our 2008 programme are given in a separate leaflet (available on request) and on the Orchestra’s website www.cheltenhamsymphonyorchestra.info
AGM of the Friends
This will take place at Prestbury St Mary’s Junior School at about
9.30pm on Thursday March 20th, following the orchestra AGM. Items for inclusion
in the agenda should be sent to the Secretary of the Friends, Berry Brow,
Bushcombe Lane, Woodmancote, Cheltenham, GL52 9QQ, email: ron@nourse.fsnet.co.uk
at least a few days beforehand.