Latest News
May 2023
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Immediately following on this page you will find documents for this year's AGM. These are:
1. Convening Notice
2. Chair's Report - you can click here to go directly to it, or here to download this as PDF file
3. Music Director's Report - you can click here to go directly, or here to download this as a PDF file
The Treasurer's Report is also available to members on request.
1. Convening Notice
2. Chair's Report - you can click here to go directly to it, or here to download this as PDF file
3. Music Director's Report - you can click here to go directly, or here to download this as a PDF file
The Treasurer's Report is also available to members on request.
CONVENING NOTICE
Click on the image above to see an enlarged view
You can download a nomination slip for the Committee here:
| Convening Notice 2023 - Nomination Slips.pdf |
Chair's Report
I am pleased to be able to reflect on another successful year for AFC, in my first stint as Chair of the Choir. My grateful thanks are especially due to Mike for leaving the Chair’s position in such good order and for supporting me (i.e. telling me what I ought to be doing) throughout the year, I couldn’t have wished for better guidance.
The world seems to have moved on from Covid at last, although there are still cases cropping up every now and then as a reminder of what we went through. We’re fortunate in having had a very good health system to deal with that and hopefully we will have learnt much to help us deal with a future pandemic, should we be unlucky enough to have another in our lifetimes.
Musically, we have had a good year – fantastic performances of ‘Messiah’ and the two Requiems, with a carol concert and performance at Bullingdon Prison thrown in for good measure. The summer term is a nice contrast to the rest of the year. I am glad that we as a choir are able to perform such a wide variety of music rather than sticking to the ‘old favourites’, although this presents its own issues regarding attendance at concerts.
I will echo Nick’s words here in emphasising the need to increase our numbers – not only to help ensure the survival of the choir in terms of subscriptions, but also to avoid the necessity of having to use ‘bumpers’ in the concerts. If you’ve had a chance to look at Lyn’s Treasurer’s report you will not have failed to notice that AFC would be in a much more precarious financial position were it not for some very generous donations over the last few years. Our concerts rarely make a profit, audience numbers and concert costs being what they are. I was especially disappointed with the audience numbers at the last concert in April; I thought we performed really well and it was a great shame there were relatively few people there to see it. This is the responsibility of all of us in the choir, we can’t sit back and say ‘other people will sell tickets’ – it’s down to each and every one of us to do our best in this regard.
To continue this point, we on the Committee are always ready to hear about any ideas for publicity, advertising, ticket sales etc; please don’t feel that you need to be on the Committee to suggest ideas, we are all in this together in our desire to see AFC keep thriving.
We continue to be extremely fortunate in our Musical Director Nick and Accompanist Rowena, their expertise and talent is remarkable and we should all be very grateful that we have them on board. I can’t imagine how the Duruflé might have gone under some previous Musical Directors I have known… I think their enthusiasm and belief in us is a massive boost to how we do perform and I would like to thank them hugely on behalf of the Choir for the work they do.
My thanks also go to everyone on the AFC Committee, they do a fantastic job behind the scenes keeping our collective show on the road. Many thanks also to Frankie for keeping our tea breaks supplied with the necessary comestibles!
I look forward to another successful and exciting musical year.
Kate Atherton
The world seems to have moved on from Covid at last, although there are still cases cropping up every now and then as a reminder of what we went through. We’re fortunate in having had a very good health system to deal with that and hopefully we will have learnt much to help us deal with a future pandemic, should we be unlucky enough to have another in our lifetimes.
Musically, we have had a good year – fantastic performances of ‘Messiah’ and the two Requiems, with a carol concert and performance at Bullingdon Prison thrown in for good measure. The summer term is a nice contrast to the rest of the year. I am glad that we as a choir are able to perform such a wide variety of music rather than sticking to the ‘old favourites’, although this presents its own issues regarding attendance at concerts.
I will echo Nick’s words here in emphasising the need to increase our numbers – not only to help ensure the survival of the choir in terms of subscriptions, but also to avoid the necessity of having to use ‘bumpers’ in the concerts. If you’ve had a chance to look at Lyn’s Treasurer’s report you will not have failed to notice that AFC would be in a much more precarious financial position were it not for some very generous donations over the last few years. Our concerts rarely make a profit, audience numbers and concert costs being what they are. I was especially disappointed with the audience numbers at the last concert in April; I thought we performed really well and it was a great shame there were relatively few people there to see it. This is the responsibility of all of us in the choir, we can’t sit back and say ‘other people will sell tickets’ – it’s down to each and every one of us to do our best in this regard.
To continue this point, we on the Committee are always ready to hear about any ideas for publicity, advertising, ticket sales etc; please don’t feel that you need to be on the Committee to suggest ideas, we are all in this together in our desire to see AFC keep thriving.
We continue to be extremely fortunate in our Musical Director Nick and Accompanist Rowena, their expertise and talent is remarkable and we should all be very grateful that we have them on board. I can’t imagine how the Duruflé might have gone under some previous Musical Directors I have known… I think their enthusiasm and belief in us is a massive boost to how we do perform and I would like to thank them hugely on behalf of the Choir for the work they do.
My thanks also go to everyone on the AFC Committee, they do a fantastic job behind the scenes keeping our collective show on the road. Many thanks also to Frankie for keeping our tea breaks supplied with the necessary comestibles!
I look forward to another successful and exciting musical year.
Kate Atherton
Music Director's Report
This could well be a short ‘do it yourself’ report: start with “AFC were” and then insert many superlatives!
It’s been a fabulous season! Messiah was terrific fun and AFC showed just how agile they can be when they try. They also managed to conserve energy enough to get through such a long programme!
Carols were good but weren’t particularly well attended – personally I’d like us to do a more formal concert – coupled with some more ‘aggressive’ marketing for ticket sales & membership. Something to consider as we move forwards.
Taking a small group out into the community (Bullingdon Prison’s staff Remembrance Day Service) was a positive experience and I think we might have a regular annual ‘gig’ there.
Our (almost all) French programme was quite remarkable – totally different challenges to Messiah: complex and close harmonies, rhythmically taxing, huge dynamic range required plus sensitivity to changes of tempo. And that was just the 3rd movement of the Duruflé!!
AFC certainly rose to the challenge and, with Ben’s superb accompaniment, the concert, musically speaking, was a huge success. I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder to be AFC’s MD than after that concert.
Our summer programme is shaping up nicely with a very contrasting set of songs. This will also be a ‘tester’ stylistically speaking – early indications, however, are excellent.
Next season will bring new and exciting challenges: a very mixed bag of choral classics in the autumn and then a programme of music from 5 British composers (2 of whom are still alive and 1 of whom will be at the concert) in the spring of 2024. I have no doubt that AFC will tackle all these with their usual enthusiasm.
Please be ambassadors for AFC and spread the word – we DO need to increase our numbers. Another 10 members would bring increased subscriptions and bigger audiences. If those 10 included 2 more basses and 3 more altos, the balance of the choir would be better & we could probably save on importing ‘bumpers’.
My thanks to all the committee who continue to be incredibly supportive, to others who help behind the scenes to make AFC run smoothly, and to all of you for your continued enthusiasm! Here’s to another year of fabulous music making!
Nick Austin (May 2023)
It’s been a fabulous season! Messiah was terrific fun and AFC showed just how agile they can be when they try. They also managed to conserve energy enough to get through such a long programme!
Carols were good but weren’t particularly well attended – personally I’d like us to do a more formal concert – coupled with some more ‘aggressive’ marketing for ticket sales & membership. Something to consider as we move forwards.
Taking a small group out into the community (Bullingdon Prison’s staff Remembrance Day Service) was a positive experience and I think we might have a regular annual ‘gig’ there.
Our (almost all) French programme was quite remarkable – totally different challenges to Messiah: complex and close harmonies, rhythmically taxing, huge dynamic range required plus sensitivity to changes of tempo. And that was just the 3rd movement of the Duruflé!!
AFC certainly rose to the challenge and, with Ben’s superb accompaniment, the concert, musically speaking, was a huge success. I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder to be AFC’s MD than after that concert.
Our summer programme is shaping up nicely with a very contrasting set of songs. This will also be a ‘tester’ stylistically speaking – early indications, however, are excellent.
Next season will bring new and exciting challenges: a very mixed bag of choral classics in the autumn and then a programme of music from 5 British composers (2 of whom are still alive and 1 of whom will be at the concert) in the spring of 2024. I have no doubt that AFC will tackle all these with their usual enthusiasm.
Please be ambassadors for AFC and spread the word – we DO need to increase our numbers. Another 10 members would bring increased subscriptions and bigger audiences. If those 10 included 2 more basses and 3 more altos, the balance of the choir would be better & we could probably save on importing ‘bumpers’.
My thanks to all the committee who continue to be incredibly supportive, to others who help behind the scenes to make AFC run smoothly, and to all of you for your continued enthusiasm! Here’s to another year of fabulous music making!
Nick Austin (May 2023)
May 2022
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
AYLESBURY FESTIVAL CHOIR
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
held on 26th May 2022
at which 19 people were present
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
held on 26th May 2022
at which 19 people were present
1 Apologies for absence had been received from Kay Foote, Sheila Page, Angela Wenham, Andrea Wearn.
2 Minutes of the previous meeting held on 15th July 2021 had been distributed and no comments received. Acceptance of the minutes was proposed by Jean Tuer, seconded by Viv Bailleux and unanimously agreed.
3 Treasurer’s report
Lyn Williams presented his report as follows:-
First of all, a few comments on last year’s accounts, which I commented on in detail in my report for last year’s AGM (based on provisional accounts). The year was very seriously affected by the Covid-19 virus and resultant lockdowns, with no concerts, no quiz night, and no physical AGM. Through Nick’s impressive technical expertise, we were fortunately able to hold rehearsals virtually, not only for the autumn and spring terms, but also for the summer term as well. With reduced subscription fees, we unsurprisingly ended up with a deficit of £4,018 for the year.
Regarding this year’s provisional accounts – as usual, these are not finalised as the financial year ends in August, so they include a number of estimates.
This has been a more normal year, although numbers attending both rehearsals and concerts are reduced compared to pre-pandemic levels, possibly because of residual nervousness relating to Covid, and the Committee decided for this reason not to hold a quiz night. Key points to note are the following:
The final result of all this is a (provisional) surplus of £2,684, compared to the £4,018 deficit in 2020-21. However, I should point out that, without the £9,300 effect of the donations we have received, there is an underlying deficit of approximately £6,600. Fortunately, we still expect to have reserves of about £18,600 at the end of this financial year – an excellent foundation on which to build in the coming years.
(Editor's note: the financial reports shown below can be downloaded as a PDF file here:)
2 Minutes of the previous meeting held on 15th July 2021 had been distributed and no comments received. Acceptance of the minutes was proposed by Jean Tuer, seconded by Viv Bailleux and unanimously agreed.
3 Treasurer’s report
Lyn Williams presented his report as follows:-
First of all, a few comments on last year’s accounts, which I commented on in detail in my report for last year’s AGM (based on provisional accounts). The year was very seriously affected by the Covid-19 virus and resultant lockdowns, with no concerts, no quiz night, and no physical AGM. Through Nick’s impressive technical expertise, we were fortunately able to hold rehearsals virtually, not only for the autumn and spring terms, but also for the summer term as well. With reduced subscription fees, we unsurprisingly ended up with a deficit of £4,018 for the year.
Regarding this year’s provisional accounts – as usual, these are not finalised as the financial year ends in August, so they include a number of estimates.
This has been a more normal year, although numbers attending both rehearsals and concerts are reduced compared to pre-pandemic levels, possibly because of residual nervousness relating to Covid, and the Committee decided for this reason not to hold a quiz night. Key points to note are the following:
- Because the Committee decided that our good level of funding enabled us to afford it, our autumn concert was a relatively high-cost production, so we expected to incur a fairly significant loss, which turned out to be just over £3,400.
- Our spring concert was rather more modest (though hugely enjoyable), and audience numbers were slightly higher, so the resulting loss was lower at just over £900.
- We may achieve a small surplus on our low budget summer concert, but this is of course dependent on ticket sales.
- Because of the reduced number of members paying subscriptions, we are now incurring losses on rehearsals each term.
- The 100 Club is expected to have made a profit of almost £700 during the year – a very welcome addition to choir funds. We’re very grateful to Tim for continuing to administer this.
- This year, the choir has benefited very substantially from some extremely generous donations received from both past and present choir members. In total, these amount to over £7,500, and, since almost all such donations are eligible for Gift Aid, the total benefit to the choir is more than £9,300.
The final result of all this is a (provisional) surplus of £2,684, compared to the £4,018 deficit in 2020-21. However, I should point out that, without the £9,300 effect of the donations we have received, there is an underlying deficit of approximately £6,600. Fortunately, we still expect to have reserves of about £18,600 at the end of this financial year – an excellent foundation on which to build in the coming years.
(Editor's note: the financial reports shown below can be downloaded as a PDF file here:)
| Treasurer's Reports 2022 |
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Acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Jean Tuer, seconded by Viv Bailleux and unanimously agreed.
4 Music Director’s report
Nick Austin presented his report as follows:-
After the worst hiatus I’ve ever known in my music making life (apart from the 6 months when I stopped playing the piano because I heard Oscar Peterson for the first time) it was a huge relief to get back to normal with AFC last Autumn. So, what exactly is ‘normal’ and have AFC actually got back to it? More on that later.
The Autumn Term started with us revisiting material we had started to learn just prior to lockdown and also singing ‘live’ a selection of the pieces we had sung on Zoom.
The term culminated in a stunning concert with the Keats Ensemble & soloists Elizabeth Adams and Sarah Anne Champion: Vivaldi, Haydn, Telemann & Monteverdi. Sadly, the trumpet soloist for the Albinoni Concerto had a ‘Family Covid Situation’ but was able to find a last-minute replacement – Ian Lynch.
The choir’s performance was amazing: brilliant tuning, clarity of text, and a real sense of commitment to the music making in every way. Support from the Keats Ensemble & Ben Giddens on chamber organ were of the highest possible standard and there were a considerable number of positive comments from the audience.
The New Year brought a complete contrast with Folk Songs, a Gershwin Portrait and Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs.
The number of positive comments from the audience and soloists on this occasion was, for me, unprecedented. So many superlatives, in fact, it almost became embarrassing!
AFC looked like they were really having fun throughout. Except, possibly, during Widdecombe Bloody Fair. If I EVER suggest that piece again, please put me (gently) out to pasture! Rowena was amazing throughout – she put so much work into this concert, Robin added that special 'something' which helped bring the music to life, and Lydia and Greg were just fabulous. The highlight, for me, was the opening of the first Mystical Song – completely blew me away!
And now, a much-reduced number are enjoying a Summer Term of silliness – full of different challenges and multiple ear worms!
So – have AFC returned to normal? The answer is ‘no, they haven’t’. They are better than that: they have come back stronger and more determined than ever to make music at the highest levels. Thursday evenings remain the highlight of my week, and I always go home happy and buzzing!
Our next season is going to be challenging and terrific fun too: Messiah (much work to do on semiquaver run technique) with the British Sinfonietta and a stellar line up of soloists and then, in the Spring, my absolute all-time-favourite Requiem by Duruflé. The harmonic language in this piece is VERY different to anything else you may have encountered – it will test us to the max! The second half, however, will be well known by nearly everyone with Franck’s Panis Angelicus and Fauré’s Requiem. I really can’t wait!
As always, my heartfelt thanks to our wonderfully supportive committee and the wider ‘Team AFC’ who do so much behind the scenes. My thanks, too, to Rowena for her unfailing support and willingness (?) to tackle pretty much any genre of music.
My final thanks are to all of you for your continued commitment to AFC but, in particular, to those individuals whose generosity has ensured that AFC can continue. I don’t know who you are, but you have my sincere thanks.
“I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.” (William James)
Let’s stay happy and here’s to the next season!
5 Chair’s report
Mike presented his report as follows:
So that was Covid-19. (Or was it? We certainly hope so!). As government restrictions gradually eased, and the accompanying guidance changed, we tried to walk the difficult path between extreme compliance and what we thought you, the membership, would expect, and tolerate. My thanks to the Committee for their support throughout this period, but particularly to Lynda for her help to me in defining that path. Also, of course, thanks are due to you, our singers, who have - in the main - followed our guidance with good humour, even if that meant some very cold evenings! (It remains the case that good ventilation is stated as being a strong measure to prevent the spread of Covid, and indeed other respiratory infections. We are fortunate that our rehearsal venue, the school hall, allows for through air flow.)
So in September we got back to live rehearsals, socially distanced and all the rest. We do have a reduced choir size, around 35 compared to the 40-42 we had before the pandemic. However, that drop-off in numbers is better than many other choirs, some of whom have had to close.
Socially-distanced rehearsals led to a socially-distanced live concert, our first for several years. Because we could not provide for social distancing on our usual staging, we did without it for this concert. And that worked surprisingly well. Yes, it was cold (if I remember correctly, the day of the concert was a particularly cold one), and in an attempt to ventilate the church before the audience arrived we kept the doors open to provide air flow. We made provision for the audience to be socially distanced as well, but it was noticeable that even by then the guidance on mask wearing was starting to be ignored.
For security, someone had to sit in the church all afternoon, with those doors open. That turned out to be me, wrapped up warmly against the freezing wind, accompanied by the man tuning the chamber organ. You’ll forgive me if I say that the memory of those shivering hours almost outweighs that of the concert itself. No, don’t worry Nick, it was indeed a joy - I’m sure for all of us - to finally perform Gloria!
And so to the Spring Term. A little bit more ‘normal’ - if you can call AFC singing Gershwin ‘normal’! Nick had produced a wonderfully varied programmed for us, clapping our hand or slapping our thigh, or awakening our lutes, all indeed alive-alive-oh…
For the concert we again went without staging, and it does seem to work, at least with the choir at its present size. This reduces the burden on the venue preparation volunteers, with further assistance from Aylesbury Methodist Church in letting us set up the Thursday before the concert, where this is practicable for them.
This concert proved hugely popular with the audience, especially with our marvellous soloists, Lydia and Greg. The entry by Greg and then the choir at the start of the Vaughan Williams Easter movement does seem to have produced the audience thrill Nick was hoping for. I am still surprised how well the altos held up for A Gershwin Portrait, when placed so near Robin and his fantastic drumming - not what they had been prepared for, I guess.
We had decided to have a ‘charity of the year’, the first time I can remember AFC doing this. Our choice was Parkinson’s UK, and it had been agreed to hold a collection at the concert interval. Tragic world events intervened, of course, and choir members thought a joint collection for Ukraine support would be appropriate. Katy from Parkinson’s UK was happy to agree to this, and in the end £295 was raised. Thanks to the generosity of our audience, we were able to send £147.50 to each charity, with Ukraine aid being sent through the Disasters Emergency Committee.
As this AGM is being held we are in the middle of our experimental Summer Term. We have just 19 singers, including 2 visitors from AMCHOR, who are very welcome. That number is a bit lower than we had hoped, so the success of this experiment is still to be evaluated. For the end of term concert we are also testing a Group Ticket, in addition to the usual Adult and Under 18 tickets. The Group Ticket, at £20, will cover 2 adults and any number of children under 16. Do get the message out, so we can see large enthusiastic parties on the day.
We remain in a strong financial position, thanks to a number of generous donations and ‘Sponsor A Soloist’ contributions. This makes me comfortable when looking forward to Messiah next term.
Nevertheless, Messiah is a big spend concert, so we need all your help to maximise the audience. It is not too soon to start getting the word out! We’d also like to have as many singers as possible, so if you have been away for a while, do think about coming back. If you know others who might like to sing Messiah, do sound them out. And, with the departure of Jim Salter, we really need some more basses, so I’m making a special shout-out for them!
Finally, it won’t surprise you that I ask you to think about joining the Committee. The workload becomes a lot less with more people, and present members of the Committee would welcome new ideas, especially on how to reach a wider pool of singers.
We’re holding this AGM towards the end of what must have been the most unusual, and difficult, year in the history of Aylesbury Festival Choir. Our hope to have an in-person meeting vanished when the Covid virus refused to play ball back in June, so we are online again. This is not what our constitution requires, but as we had already delayed the meeting as long as we could, under the same constitution, we are again opting to plead a special case for doing things differently.
The last year has seen three terms of rehearsals held virtually on the Zoom platform, including for the first time in years a Summer Term. In being forced online we have of course followed the approach of choirs throughout the United Kingdom. In spite of many campaigns, scientific studies, and indeed petitions, the government has held fast to its stand on amateur choir rehearsals. They have either been banned, or made too difficult for us to manage.
Through the year about 50% of our regular members have been able to take part in these online rehearsals, which have also featured periods assigned to social activities - just chatting really. Aware of the other 50% unable to take part, we have tried to remain in touch through regular newsletters.
Those of us who have been online have enjoyed the more personal time for practice provided by a sectionals format, and I am grateful to Rowena for her support in these, sharing that burden with Nick. This is an approach we are seeking to reproduce when we finally get back together.
However, for all of us, most thanks must go to Nick. Without his ability to master the technology, his enthusiasm in doing so, his eternal upbeat mood, and his choice of suitable music (with some serious backing groups!) we would have had a hard time.
We entered this period in a fairly strong financial position. The accounts we will present for your approval shortly only run up to August 2020 of course, so only show part of the picture of the damage to AFC financially, but I am confident that we have in fact weathered the storm. When all is done, your Committee will be assessing if any changes to our funding might be needed.
As I write (6th July), the Prime Minister has just indicated the end of all legal restrictions. So, barring any nasty virus variant arriving unexpectedly, we should indeed be able to meet again in September. I hope that all our members, including those who are not among our regular singers, will jump at this chance to sing out loud again. Our plans include a partial resumption from where we stopped (suddenly!) in March 2019, together with some revisiting of music we sang in the online rehearsals.
I expect we will all need some vocal retraining after such a long “quiet” period. How many tenors will find they have become baritones - or worse?
6 Election of Officers and Committee Members
Mike reminded everyone that under our Constitution Committee members, who are also Trustees, serve for a 3-year period, subject to the proviso that one third of the Committee resign each year. Committee members may then offer themselves for re-election. This year it was the turn of Mike, Kate and Jean to resign.
The composition of the committee therefore currently stood as below:
Composition of Committee
Chairman Resigned Mike Elliott
Secretary Remaining in post Lynda Phipps
Treasurer Remaining in post Lyn Williams
Membership Secretary Remaining in post Sheila Page
Press & Publicity Resigned Jean Tuer
Music Librarian Resigned Kate Atherton
Concert Manager Remaining in post Pat Aylett
Mike announced his intention to stand down as Chair by the end of August. However, he was offering himself for re-election to the committee and to see out the period until the end of August. Mike’s re-election was proposed by Joan Woodward and seconded by Viv Bailleux. Kate’s re-election was proposed by Frankie Wells and seconded by Pat Aylett. Jean’s re-election was proposed by Kate Atherton and seconded by Mike Elliott.
In addition, Viv Bailleux was willing to stand and had been nominated as a committee member (no designated responsibility). Viv’s election was proposed by Pat Aylett and seconded by Liz Simms.
7 Any Other Business
A presentation was made to Mike in grateful recognition of his unfailing commitment and enthusiasm as Chair for the past seven years.
There being no other business, the AGM concluded at 7.25 pm and was followed by a rehearsal for our summer concert.
4 Music Director’s report
Nick Austin presented his report as follows:-
After the worst hiatus I’ve ever known in my music making life (apart from the 6 months when I stopped playing the piano because I heard Oscar Peterson for the first time) it was a huge relief to get back to normal with AFC last Autumn. So, what exactly is ‘normal’ and have AFC actually got back to it? More on that later.
The Autumn Term started with us revisiting material we had started to learn just prior to lockdown and also singing ‘live’ a selection of the pieces we had sung on Zoom.
The term culminated in a stunning concert with the Keats Ensemble & soloists Elizabeth Adams and Sarah Anne Champion: Vivaldi, Haydn, Telemann & Monteverdi. Sadly, the trumpet soloist for the Albinoni Concerto had a ‘Family Covid Situation’ but was able to find a last-minute replacement – Ian Lynch.
The choir’s performance was amazing: brilliant tuning, clarity of text, and a real sense of commitment to the music making in every way. Support from the Keats Ensemble & Ben Giddens on chamber organ were of the highest possible standard and there were a considerable number of positive comments from the audience.
The New Year brought a complete contrast with Folk Songs, a Gershwin Portrait and Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs.
The number of positive comments from the audience and soloists on this occasion was, for me, unprecedented. So many superlatives, in fact, it almost became embarrassing!
AFC looked like they were really having fun throughout. Except, possibly, during Widdecombe Bloody Fair. If I EVER suggest that piece again, please put me (gently) out to pasture! Rowena was amazing throughout – she put so much work into this concert, Robin added that special 'something' which helped bring the music to life, and Lydia and Greg were just fabulous. The highlight, for me, was the opening of the first Mystical Song – completely blew me away!
And now, a much-reduced number are enjoying a Summer Term of silliness – full of different challenges and multiple ear worms!
So – have AFC returned to normal? The answer is ‘no, they haven’t’. They are better than that: they have come back stronger and more determined than ever to make music at the highest levels. Thursday evenings remain the highlight of my week, and I always go home happy and buzzing!
Our next season is going to be challenging and terrific fun too: Messiah (much work to do on semiquaver run technique) with the British Sinfonietta and a stellar line up of soloists and then, in the Spring, my absolute all-time-favourite Requiem by Duruflé. The harmonic language in this piece is VERY different to anything else you may have encountered – it will test us to the max! The second half, however, will be well known by nearly everyone with Franck’s Panis Angelicus and Fauré’s Requiem. I really can’t wait!
As always, my heartfelt thanks to our wonderfully supportive committee and the wider ‘Team AFC’ who do so much behind the scenes. My thanks, too, to Rowena for her unfailing support and willingness (?) to tackle pretty much any genre of music.
My final thanks are to all of you for your continued commitment to AFC but, in particular, to those individuals whose generosity has ensured that AFC can continue. I don’t know who you are, but you have my sincere thanks.
“I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.” (William James)
Let’s stay happy and here’s to the next season!
5 Chair’s report
Mike presented his report as follows:
So that was Covid-19. (Or was it? We certainly hope so!). As government restrictions gradually eased, and the accompanying guidance changed, we tried to walk the difficult path between extreme compliance and what we thought you, the membership, would expect, and tolerate. My thanks to the Committee for their support throughout this period, but particularly to Lynda for her help to me in defining that path. Also, of course, thanks are due to you, our singers, who have - in the main - followed our guidance with good humour, even if that meant some very cold evenings! (It remains the case that good ventilation is stated as being a strong measure to prevent the spread of Covid, and indeed other respiratory infections. We are fortunate that our rehearsal venue, the school hall, allows for through air flow.)
So in September we got back to live rehearsals, socially distanced and all the rest. We do have a reduced choir size, around 35 compared to the 40-42 we had before the pandemic. However, that drop-off in numbers is better than many other choirs, some of whom have had to close.
Socially-distanced rehearsals led to a socially-distanced live concert, our first for several years. Because we could not provide for social distancing on our usual staging, we did without it for this concert. And that worked surprisingly well. Yes, it was cold (if I remember correctly, the day of the concert was a particularly cold one), and in an attempt to ventilate the church before the audience arrived we kept the doors open to provide air flow. We made provision for the audience to be socially distanced as well, but it was noticeable that even by then the guidance on mask wearing was starting to be ignored.
For security, someone had to sit in the church all afternoon, with those doors open. That turned out to be me, wrapped up warmly against the freezing wind, accompanied by the man tuning the chamber organ. You’ll forgive me if I say that the memory of those shivering hours almost outweighs that of the concert itself. No, don’t worry Nick, it was indeed a joy - I’m sure for all of us - to finally perform Gloria!
And so to the Spring Term. A little bit more ‘normal’ - if you can call AFC singing Gershwin ‘normal’! Nick had produced a wonderfully varied programmed for us, clapping our hand or slapping our thigh, or awakening our lutes, all indeed alive-alive-oh…
For the concert we again went without staging, and it does seem to work, at least with the choir at its present size. This reduces the burden on the venue preparation volunteers, with further assistance from Aylesbury Methodist Church in letting us set up the Thursday before the concert, where this is practicable for them.
This concert proved hugely popular with the audience, especially with our marvellous soloists, Lydia and Greg. The entry by Greg and then the choir at the start of the Vaughan Williams Easter movement does seem to have produced the audience thrill Nick was hoping for. I am still surprised how well the altos held up for A Gershwin Portrait, when placed so near Robin and his fantastic drumming - not what they had been prepared for, I guess.
We had decided to have a ‘charity of the year’, the first time I can remember AFC doing this. Our choice was Parkinson’s UK, and it had been agreed to hold a collection at the concert interval. Tragic world events intervened, of course, and choir members thought a joint collection for Ukraine support would be appropriate. Katy from Parkinson’s UK was happy to agree to this, and in the end £295 was raised. Thanks to the generosity of our audience, we were able to send £147.50 to each charity, with Ukraine aid being sent through the Disasters Emergency Committee.
As this AGM is being held we are in the middle of our experimental Summer Term. We have just 19 singers, including 2 visitors from AMCHOR, who are very welcome. That number is a bit lower than we had hoped, so the success of this experiment is still to be evaluated. For the end of term concert we are also testing a Group Ticket, in addition to the usual Adult and Under 18 tickets. The Group Ticket, at £20, will cover 2 adults and any number of children under 16. Do get the message out, so we can see large enthusiastic parties on the day.
We remain in a strong financial position, thanks to a number of generous donations and ‘Sponsor A Soloist’ contributions. This makes me comfortable when looking forward to Messiah next term.
Nevertheless, Messiah is a big spend concert, so we need all your help to maximise the audience. It is not too soon to start getting the word out! We’d also like to have as many singers as possible, so if you have been away for a while, do think about coming back. If you know others who might like to sing Messiah, do sound them out. And, with the departure of Jim Salter, we really need some more basses, so I’m making a special shout-out for them!
Finally, it won’t surprise you that I ask you to think about joining the Committee. The workload becomes a lot less with more people, and present members of the Committee would welcome new ideas, especially on how to reach a wider pool of singers.
We’re holding this AGM towards the end of what must have been the most unusual, and difficult, year in the history of Aylesbury Festival Choir. Our hope to have an in-person meeting vanished when the Covid virus refused to play ball back in June, so we are online again. This is not what our constitution requires, but as we had already delayed the meeting as long as we could, under the same constitution, we are again opting to plead a special case for doing things differently.
The last year has seen three terms of rehearsals held virtually on the Zoom platform, including for the first time in years a Summer Term. In being forced online we have of course followed the approach of choirs throughout the United Kingdom. In spite of many campaigns, scientific studies, and indeed petitions, the government has held fast to its stand on amateur choir rehearsals. They have either been banned, or made too difficult for us to manage.
Through the year about 50% of our regular members have been able to take part in these online rehearsals, which have also featured periods assigned to social activities - just chatting really. Aware of the other 50% unable to take part, we have tried to remain in touch through regular newsletters.
Those of us who have been online have enjoyed the more personal time for practice provided by a sectionals format, and I am grateful to Rowena for her support in these, sharing that burden with Nick. This is an approach we are seeking to reproduce when we finally get back together.
However, for all of us, most thanks must go to Nick. Without his ability to master the technology, his enthusiasm in doing so, his eternal upbeat mood, and his choice of suitable music (with some serious backing groups!) we would have had a hard time.
We entered this period in a fairly strong financial position. The accounts we will present for your approval shortly only run up to August 2020 of course, so only show part of the picture of the damage to AFC financially, but I am confident that we have in fact weathered the storm. When all is done, your Committee will be assessing if any changes to our funding might be needed.
As I write (6th July), the Prime Minister has just indicated the end of all legal restrictions. So, barring any nasty virus variant arriving unexpectedly, we should indeed be able to meet again in September. I hope that all our members, including those who are not among our regular singers, will jump at this chance to sing out loud again. Our plans include a partial resumption from where we stopped (suddenly!) in March 2019, together with some revisiting of music we sang in the online rehearsals.
I expect we will all need some vocal retraining after such a long “quiet” period. How many tenors will find they have become baritones - or worse?
6 Election of Officers and Committee Members
Mike reminded everyone that under our Constitution Committee members, who are also Trustees, serve for a 3-year period, subject to the proviso that one third of the Committee resign each year. Committee members may then offer themselves for re-election. This year it was the turn of Mike, Kate and Jean to resign.
The composition of the committee therefore currently stood as below:
Composition of Committee
Chairman Resigned Mike Elliott
Secretary Remaining in post Lynda Phipps
Treasurer Remaining in post Lyn Williams
Membership Secretary Remaining in post Sheila Page
Press & Publicity Resigned Jean Tuer
Music Librarian Resigned Kate Atherton
Concert Manager Remaining in post Pat Aylett
Mike announced his intention to stand down as Chair by the end of August. However, he was offering himself for re-election to the committee and to see out the period until the end of August. Mike’s re-election was proposed by Joan Woodward and seconded by Viv Bailleux. Kate’s re-election was proposed by Frankie Wells and seconded by Pat Aylett. Jean’s re-election was proposed by Kate Atherton and seconded by Mike Elliott.
In addition, Viv Bailleux was willing to stand and had been nominated as a committee member (no designated responsibility). Viv’s election was proposed by Pat Aylett and seconded by Liz Simms.
7 Any Other Business
A presentation was made to Mike in grateful recognition of his unfailing commitment and enthusiasm as Chair for the past seven years.
There being no other business, the AGM concluded at 7.25 pm and was followed by a rehearsal for our summer concert.
November 2021
CAR PARKING
Car parks in descending order of proximity to Aylesbury Methodist Church.
(Those marked with a * now have the facility to use either the RingGo or GroupNexus app using your mobile).
1. * Cooper’s Yard (Buckingham St, adjacent to AMC) – 1-3hrs £2.00, 3-4 hrs £3.50, 4-5 hrs £5.00, over 5 hrs £8.00.
2. * Whitehall Car Park (top of Oxford Rd) – up to 5hrs £2.50, over 5 hrs £4.00
3. * Sainsburys – FREE after 6.00 pm
4. * Exchange Street, (next to cinema) – 3hrs £2.50, 4hrs £4.00, 5hrs £5.00, over 5 hrs £8.00
5. * The Junction (Cambridge St) – FREE for first 2 hrs, 2-3 hrs £2.00, 3-4 hrs £3.00, 4-5 hrs £5.00, 5-8hrs -
10.00
6. * Multi-storey (Walton St) – 3 hrs £2.00, 5 hrs £2.50, over 5 hrs £4
If you would prefer to download this information to read offline, you can download it as a PDF file here:
CAR PARKING
Car parks in descending order of proximity to Aylesbury Methodist Church.
(Those marked with a * now have the facility to use either the RingGo or GroupNexus app using your mobile).
1. * Cooper’s Yard (Buckingham St, adjacent to AMC) – 1-3hrs £2.00, 3-4 hrs £3.50, 4-5 hrs £5.00, over 5 hrs £8.00.
2. * Whitehall Car Park (top of Oxford Rd) – up to 5hrs £2.50, over 5 hrs £4.00
3. * Sainsburys – FREE after 6.00 pm
4. * Exchange Street, (next to cinema) – 3hrs £2.50, 4hrs £4.00, 5hrs £5.00, over 5 hrs £8.00
5. * The Junction (Cambridge St) – FREE for first 2 hrs, 2-3 hrs £2.00, 3-4 hrs £3.00, 4-5 hrs £5.00, 5-8hrs -
10.00
6. * Multi-storey (Walton St) – 3 hrs £2.00, 5 hrs £2.50, over 5 hrs £4
If you would prefer to download this information to read offline, you can download it as a PDF file here:
| Car Parking Near Aylesbury Methodist Church |
It may be helpful to use this map to locate the listed car parks in relation to our normal concert venue of Aylesbury Methodist Church. Click on the image for an enlarged view.
To give you an idea of the work our Press & Publicity rep gets involved with, here is our latest press release for return to live singing...
August 2021
Older news items
...and here is the press release for our summer 'online' term
The Committee is pleased to announce that Sir David Lidington has kindly accepted our invitation to become President of the Choir. David has been a familiar face in our audience, and has been noted to sing along at times. More Handel coming up then...
