Orchestra's
note of hope
for the future
Saturday 1st January 2000
(Article published with kind permission of Northeast Press
Limited,
Sunderland Echo)
THE year 2000 looks to be a memorable one
for Sunderland’s newest orchestra.
The City of Sunderland Millennium
Orchestral Society, or CoSMOS for short, has quickly grown from a suggestion of one city
councillor into a full musical society.
The year 2000 will see it playing at
Sunderland Empire to crown a memorable 12 months.
One of the main movers behind the
orchestra’s formation was Coun John Lennox.
For the Millennium, each council ward in
Sunderland was given £2,000 to spend on celebrations.
Coun Lennox and his fellow Liberal
councillors in Thornholme ward came up with the idea of forming the city’s own
orchestra.
Coun Lennox said: "We think we’ve
made very steady progress, but we’re careful not to go too fast.
"If you expand too quickly, you tend
to lose touch. The main thing is to keep people in communication with what is going on all
the time."
He said that about 40 people were on the
Society’s list, with about 21 people now committed to playing instruments.
"We’re also applying for
charitable status and are becoming members of the Community Service Volunteers, as well as
applying for grant awards", he added.
The orchestra's coffers have been boosted
not only by the council grant but also by £7,000 of sponsorship from the Ford motor
company.
And all this means a busy time for the
musicians, with two concerts already lined up.
On February 29 the orchestra is playing a
programme of "popular classical" music at the West Park United Reformed Church
next to the Park Lane Interchange.
Then, in September, they are due to play at
Sunderland Empire, providing the music for a concert to raise funds for the RNLI.
But before that there is a first rehearsal
of the new century, taking place at the church on Monday, January 10, which Coun Lennox is
urging anybody keen to play to attend.
"Anybody who wants to can join,"
he said. "From January 1 there will be a new membership and the whole thing
officially starts on that date.
"We’ll still need people to come
along and join in.
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