Chairman's Report 2006

The past year has been a mixture of emotions. After the exhilarating experience of Gerontius in Symphony Hall sadness ensued with the sudden death of Mike Simpson one of our trumpeters. Mike was a great supporter of all the orchestra stands for. His enthusiasm was boundless. I will remember him in particular for the fun we had in manouvering the Chandos trailer in my drive at the end of rehearsals and concerts. A repeated thank you to his family for the immense kindness and generosity in donating £1400 collected at the funeral to the orchestra. It has been decided to use that fund to give an additional prize at the Young Musician Competition. We are delighted that two members of his family remain as players in the orchestra.

I think we all agree that the Elgar performance was a highlight of the year. For many of us it was the first time into Symphony Hall. Even for those used to the experience I think it was a very memorable day. Thank you to Making Music for its faith in the orchestra`s ability to “bring off” the event.

Thank you to Sheila Joynes for her hard work in organising the Young Musician Competition. The organisation of this event needs reviewing. A committee of people would make things much easier. There was plenty of help on the day but by then the hard work had been done. Sheila cannot carry on so, again please, help is needed.

There are still areas that need improvement and more help and participation from members:

We only have one person to move the trailer. Whilst Hugh is happy to do it, if he can't then we are stuck. If you have a towbar, please help.

You have heard Andy Stewart make a plea for more programme advertising. This will help to offset costs, not only of the programme production, but also of concert promotion generally. It only needs you each to secure one advert to make a huge difference. The alternative is higher subscriptions to members.

Publicity is another weak area. Whilst posters are distributed (and I am sure much by word of mouth) I am sure there is much more we can do. Contact has been made with BBC Hereford & Worcester and they are very happy to promote concerts on the radio. We need more if possible. Any one with a promotional flair is urgently required!

A thank you to all on the committee. A special thank you to Roger. He does a huge amount of work. Without him the orchestra would not function as well as it does. Not only does he have to keep our musical director in order, he also does all the work as librarian and tells me what to do!

Renewed thanks to Michael. Without his expert guidance and endless patience we would not have achieved what we have. I cannot help feeling that we are being pushed ever harder from both technical and musical aspects. I hope that we can come somewhere near Michaels expectations to make sure he keeps coming.

Finally a thank you to all who come and play. I hope that you will all continue to enjoy yourselves and continue with your support.