The Executive Committee has great
pleasure in presenting the FIFTH Annual Report of the Society.
The
Committee met regularly during the year to deal with the necessary
business.
Diana
Hauber was again co-opted to the Committee. Diana was granted the degree
of Master of Music, with merit, by Newcastle University this year.
Membership matters
There
were 38 Members, 7 Patrons and 2 Friends.
Numbers
were similar to those of last year; we gained some new members, and lost a
few due to a number of members leaving to go to university etc.
Our
Vice-Chairman, John Lennox, went to work in Qatar in October 2003 and we
anticipated his return after one year. Sadly this is not to be the case
and John looks set to stay in Qatar for the foreseeable future, and has
tendered his resignation from the Society.
John was one of the three
councillors whose vision it was to found the Society and he showed great
drive and energy to establish a firm foundation for the future. We thank
him for all his work and dedication, and wish him well in his future
career.
Award
Musical
Director, Rupert Hanson, was granted lifetime membership of the Millennium
Awards Fellowship in December. The Fellowship marks the personal
commitment and achievement of a select group of talented individuals
throughout the United Kingdom in strengthening and enriching their
communities.
Appointment
Gregory Pullen was
appointed Associate Conductor to the orchestra during July. Greg is one
of the regions most prominent teachers of the cello and he also
composes. He has played with The English National Ballet and in London’s
West End, and was Assistant
Musical Director to The Vienna Festival Ballet for many years.
Performances
The
Society has now established a regular format for the annual programme and
aims to give four major concerts each year. The Friday ‘Opera for All’
concert will in future be a full Saturday performance. Audiences at all
five concerts this year were larger than previously, with the Christmas
Carol Concert attracting an almost capacity house. All concerts broke even
or made a profit due to the generosity of various grant making bodies.
Members
once again provided the ‘Pit Orchestra’ for the ‘Youth Musical
Spectacular’ in January and also for ‘Chuckles for Charity’ in March, both
at the Empire Theatre; the residents once more performed at the Sunderland
MUsic Festival and at Rookhope Village Hall.
Soloists
at the five main concerts were Deborah Sumner (Soprano), Teresa Magnowska
(Mezzo-soprano), sisters Sarah and Gemma Busfield (Sopranos), and Rupert
Hanson (Bass-baritone) together with accompanist Kit Watson (Piano).
Annual General Meeting - Wednesday 3rd March
Fourteen
members attended the meeting.
Election of officials All the present office holders were
re-elected. It was agreed not to accept the resignation of John Lennox at
this time but to keep the position of Vice-Chairman open pending his
return to this country.
Membership fees
Membership fees were raised to £60.00 for new patrons, and to £25.00 for
members but the concessionary rate remained at £10.00.
Handbook
It
was agreed that a handbook for members be prepared containing the
constitution, names of officials and house rules. The handbook to be
distributed to all members at the commencement of 2005. This was produced
as requested.
Double bass
A double
bass was purchased for the use of the society through the ‘Music for All’
programme.
Financial matters
Membership fees and weekly subscriptions still did not cover
the basic running costs of the Society, there being a continuing need for
sponsorship, grants or donations to break even. The treasurer would like
to finish each year with at least one years’ anticipated expenditure in
the bank, and preferably twice that much.
The
anticipated year-end deficit had been reversed by the generosity of
the ‘Music for All’ project.
The
generosity of many individuals and organisations in making donations
and grants was gratefully acknowledged.
Rent
for the use of premises.
The authorities at West Park Church purchased seat cushions for all the
downstairs pews. There was no need to cushion the balcony since this part
of the building was not used by the Church. The upstairs, however, is used
for concerts and it was agreed that cushions for upstairs would be
provided by the church and that CoSMOS would pay for them over a period of
years by means of an increase in the rent payable for use of the premises.
Our thanks to the officials of the church.
Grants
The
Sunderland City Council continued to support the Society through the
Community Chest.
Gift
Aid
Approval
was gained from the Inland Revenue for the Society to recover the tax paid
on all membership subscriptions.
Donations
The
Microsoft Corporation donated a copy of the computer programme ‘Front
Page’ to the Society. This will enable the Society to maintain the web
site in-house.
CoSMOS web site
Much
embarrassment was caused to the society throughout the year due to the web
site being continually out of date. The Society had no control over the
site and up-dates proved impossible to arrange. A new host and domain name
were eventually obtained and the site re-established at
www.musicmakesfriends.org.uk The site is now being administered by
CoSMOS chairman David Mills and there should be no further problems.
‘Music
for All’
The
'Sunderland Symphony Music for All' project was initiated by musical
director Rupert Hanson (the project director) and made good progress in
taking music into the community and involving members of the community in
music making. The project is based at Holy Trinity Church in the East End. Grants were received
from the Sunderland City Council Community Chest, The Garfield Weston
Foundation, the Sir James Knott Trust, the Sir Tom Cowie Foundation and
Home Front Recall. A condition of the award of the latter grant was that
all concerts receiving support from the grant must make reference to ‘the
celebration of the 60th anniversary of the ending of World War
II.’
Publicity
The
Sunderland Echo once again provided good coverage of our concerts and
published some excellent photographs.
Sunderland Symphony Youth Orchestra, Song and Dance
Rupert’s
Usworth Youth Orchestra formed the nucleus of the new youth orchestra,
which is part of the ‘Music for All’ project. The Youth Orchestra meets on
Saturday mornings at 10am at West Park Church, and instruction is being
provided.
A visit
to the Rookhope Village Hall was the first performance by the group.
The
inaugural public concert, ‘Christmas Carol Concert,’ by the new orchestra
was given at Holy Trinity Church, Church Street East, Hendon, Sunderland
on Sunday 19th December.
Research programme with orthopaedic surgeon
During
May and June, members of the orchestra co-operated with Mr Jeff Ayeung,
specialist registrar, orthopaedics, from the Sunderland Royal Hospital in
connection with a research project of his, regarding the grip strengths of
persons in relation to their dominant and non-dominant hands. Jeff brought
his test equipment to rehearsal nights and each player spent about fifteen
minutes providing data. Data from musicians was particularly sought after
since they use both hands when playing.
History of CoSMOS - The First Four Years
Both
printings of this publication sold out.
A
companion volume History of CoSMOS - ‘CoSMOS and the Sunderland Symphony
Orchestra in Print’ was produced containing all the published articles and
photographs from the Sunderland Echo and other sources. A few copies are
still available. These two works have been of excellent value as publicity
material supporting the ‘Music for All’ project and other funding
applications.
Disabled access
A
wheelchair hoist has been installed in West Park Church so to allow
wheelchair users gain access to the downstairs of the church from the side
door on Cowan Terrace. This hoist also has a seat for ambulatory people. A
Stannah chairlift has also been provided to allow ambulatory people gain
access to the balcony and upper hall from the ground floor. The ‘Music for
All’ project contributed one third of the cost.
Thanks
The
Society once again extends grateful thanks to all the people and groups
who have supported its activities over the past year. The volunteer help
given by so many is greatly appreciated.
David E. Mills, Rupert W Hanson,
Heather E Peel,
Kathleen A Mills,
Diane Scott-McGrath, Diana Hauber.
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