St Bartholomew’s Hospital Choral Society
Registered Charity No. 273180
E-mail: Website:
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, MONDAY 19 JUNE 2017
Present
-Approx 70 members attended the meeting.
-Trustees present: Jonathan Startup (JS), Chair; Maggie Baird (MB), Secretary;
Andrew Carruthers (AC), Treasurer; Graham Bingham; Sue Gardiner; Joe Merricks; Maria Ramos (minutes); Trevor Shonfeld
-Also present Ivor Setterfield (IS), Musical Director and Chris Lee, rehearsal accompanist
1. Apologies
-Trustees Evelina Hepp and Deborah Lincoln had sent their apologies.
-In addition apologies had been sent from Neil and Jenny Kobish, Holly Rawkins, Carolyn Rice,
Judy Curry, Liz duParcq, Judy Fox, Joan Murrell and Sarah Stephens.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting
The minutes were accepted as a fair and true record, proposed by Hazel Stringfellow and seconded by Sue Shale.
3. Chair’s Report
JS said his first full year as Chair had been a good year for the choir, with a reasonable financial outcome. He thanked everyone involved in the running of the choir, and extended special thanks to those trustees who had stepped down or retired from the Trustee Board. He also welcomed a record number of new trustee nominees.
He said that although the report only covers the calendar year 2016, he felt he had to mention the wonderful Sea Symphony concert and the Bach B minor Mass (BMM) experience. He paid tribute to those dealing with the logistics of the latter, to Ivor Setterfield for trusting the choir to do it, and Chris Lee for his high standard of playing and support of the choir. He thought it incredible that on the concert day Chris managed to transpose the score in the morning, but play as written in the afternoon. Chair also expressed his thanks to Hilary Campbell for her work as Assistant Conductor up to the end of 2016, when she resigned from the post.
Chair further thanked Maggie Baird and Andrew Carruthers for all their work as the Officers of the Trustee Board, and other trustees and helpers in theirrespective jobs.
He acknowledged a generous donation of £40,000 which would enable us to plan a more adventurous programme. He said that whilst the choir were immensely grateful, this would not remove the members’ responsibility to sell tickets and market the concerts with vigour.
Chair expressed his appreciation to choir members and their dedication to attend rehearsals and for attending the AGM on a non-rehearsal night, saying that the members were what made Barts the choir that it is.
Question:Choir tour?
JS replied that the last one had been in 2004 to Prague and that for such a large choir this would be a huge logistical and operational undertaking. He said that whilst a tour company could be engaged, it would still need volunteer coordinators inside the choir, but that it would be welcome were such members to be found.
4. Secretary’s Report
Communications to current, potential and previous members
MB said that the communication to members had been organised in a new way this year. Monday notes were now sent from a centralised email system and had a standard format, which MB hoped would be useful to members. She thanked Trevor Shonfeld for introducing the Constant Contact system. She further clarified that early in the term the notes were sent to all previous term’s members and any potential members, then, after the subscription deadline, only to paid up members. She advised members to update their email address by replying to Monday notes and not just by registering via the website. MB invited members to report any problems or suggest improvements.
New choir website
MB thanked Trevor Shonfeld for having managed the previous website over the years, Sue Gardiner for coordinating the development of the new website, and others who had contributed to design, content and the testing procedure. She said the website should be ready in a few weeks’ time for members to pay subs for September and to buy tickets for the autumn term concert. Again, she invited feedback from members.
Venues
MB told the meeting that City Temple was due for refurbishment, so there would have to be a new venue for the spring term. She asked members to send any suggestions of venues that could accommodate a 300-strong choir and had a good piano.
Question: Must the charity always be medically related?
MB explained that according to the constitution it would ‘normally’ be a medical charity, but that others might be considered. It would need to be a charity independent of the choir. She said three charities remained shortlisted from last year and that members would be asked for suggestions for 2018 in October.
5. Musical Director’s Report
IS thankedthe choir for a wonderful year and said he had been most impressed by his ‘team mate’ Chris Lee, who had managed to follow his thoughts ‘almost telepathically’. He also thanked the committee for having made the teaching easier for him. He thought the BMM event had been the most inspiring and encouraging day ever, with any group. He had been proud of the singers, loved the orchestra and been pleased to have an audience of 250.
IS ran through the repertoire planned for subsequent terms;
-Autumn 2017:The Christmas Oratorio parts 1,2 and 3,although Bach, would be less difficult than the BMM. He thought this could also be described as an event rather than a concert.
-Spring 2018:Walton Belshazzar’s Feast, Respighi Pines of Rome, Parry I was Glad, Ravel Daphnis and Chloe suite no. 2, to which he encouraged members to listen.
-Summer 2018:Todd Mass in Blue, Shearing Songs and Sonnets, Jazz trio and vocalist;possibly a lighting design to enhance the experience.
-Spring 2019: Verdi Requiem with Philharmonia Orchestra, last performed in 2010.
Question:Another workshop?
IS thought potentially Monteverdi Vespers in Summer 2019.
Question: Albert Hall concerts?
JS replied that the RAH had quoted poor ticket sales as a reason for withdrawing the choir’s dates. He said that in their assessment they had failed to take account of some previous well sold concerts and only looked at recent less successful ones. The trustees would be seeking ways to return to the hall e.g. with a partner orchestra or choir, and this would be a challenge for the new trustees. IS added that if members knew anyone in a position to help, they should let the trustees know.
Question:Carol singing in Trafalgar Square?
JS replied that the coordinator at TB Alert had changed and consequently their last application to the Mayor’s office had been too late,resulting in a poor time slot,and in subsequent years this had fallen off their agenda. If a charity could be found who were willing to go through the application process, the choir would be happy to continue. Rebecca Warren suggested that members might be able to join her church choir event at Trafalgar Square.
6. Presentation and approval of statutory accounts for 2016
AC said 2017 would be his last year as Treasurer and that in his term the accounts balance had been raised from approx £35,000 to £90,000, although largely due to the recent £40,000 donation. He said that some of the donation money would be put to use at RFH in Spring 2018where a 107-strong orchestra would be needed. He thought it would be virtually impossible to make a profit in any concert, except some highly popular works e.g. The Messiah.
AC said the subscriptions had been, and would continue to be, raised at a steady pace in order to keep the accounts healthy. He was disappointed at some very late payments and told the meeting that there would be a significant incentive to pay on time next term, as late payments would incur a higher charge. He also thanked the trustees for their continued work.
Chair thanked the Treasurer for his work to get the finances on an even keel and moved to adopt the accounts; Sue Shale proposed and Eilis Langton seconded. The motion was carried and the accounts were unanimously adopted.
Question: Was there any indication that the BMM event would bring new members to the choir?
JS said there were almost a hundred guest singers and thatmany had commented how much they had enjoyed singing with the choir and would like to do it again. MB said that around 25-30 previous choir members came back for BMM either as a term member or a guest singer.
Question: Sponsorship, advertising? Would our charities be able to promote/sponsor a concert?
AC said paid adverts could potentially pay for the cost of printing the programme, but that charities would not be able to take such financial risks as to promote a whole concert.
Question: Guest musicians in concerts?
IS said hiring e.g. Bryn Terfel would enable higher ticket prices and encourage ticket sales. AC said the artist had previously been involved with another choir where he had agreed to sing for a small fee, because it was for a favourite charity of his.
Question:Members to ask sponsorship from employers?
JS said this had been mentioned before, and that members should pursue this wherever possible.
7. Appointment of Charity Trustees
Trustees stepping down
Claire Jamieson / Stepped down September 2016Arthur Reutenauer / Stepped down September 2016
Rebecca Warren / Stepped down May 2017
Graham Bingham / Stepped down June 2017
Trevor Shonfeld / 2 terms completed
Charlotte Ferguson / 1 term completed
Sue Gardiner / 1 term completed
Nominations for election (for a first term)
Liz Aitken / Proposed Evelina Hepp, seconded Trevor ShonfeldGaelan Connolly / Proposed Sue Gardiner, seconded Maria Ramos
Jemma Hey / Proposed Evelina Hepp, seconded Trevor Shonfeld
Edward Rendall / Proposed Richard Vaughan, seconded Debbie Radcliffe
Sue Shale / Proposed Andrew Carruthers, seconded Maggie Baird
Nominations for re-election (for second term)
Maggie Baird / Elected as trustee (1st term) in 2014, eligible for re-electionProposed Jonathan Startup, seconded Andrew Carruthers
As the new nominations would leave the Trustee Board below its limit of 15 trustees, an appointment by the AGMwould suffice and no election was needed. Each nomination had been proposed and seconded in advance. The Chair moved to elect all nominees and the motion was unanimously carried.
Current trustees (not requiring re-election)
Andrew Carruthers, Treasurer / Elected as trustee (2nd term) in 2014, re-elected as trustee in 2016 and confirmed as Treasurer until end of year 2017Joe Merricks / Elected as trustee (2nd term) in 2015, due to step down in 2018
Maria Ramos / Elected as trustee (1st term) in 2015, eligible for re-election in 2018
Evelina Hepp / Elected as trustee (1st term) in 2016, eligible for re-election in 2019
Deborah Lincoln / Elected as trustee (1st term) in 2016, eligible for re-election in 2019
Jonathan Startup, Chair / co-opted as Chair in Dec 2015, elected as trustee in 2016, due to step down end of 2019
8. Any Other Business
Kate Henderson thanked the current trustees for the smooth running of the choir.