The following reports were presented to the Council meeting on 16 June 2007

Looking over the events that the Cheltenham, Hereford & Worcester and Wiltshire Centres have put on in the past few months, there has been a wealth of variety all around the West Region. There have been good attendances, and the general mood of the Centres is buoyant. Unfortunately, the Oxford Centre is currently dormant.

No Centre has centralised its events, all holding events around their areas, thus allowing reasonable accessibility to their members for whom travelling is an issue. Interestingly, however, members are sometimes prepared to travel long distances both within their own Centre area and farther afield – a Cheltenham Centre Woodwind Workshop by Leslie Craven in Newent had attendees from Swansea and Cardiff, while the Wiltshire Centre’s Elgar Masterclass by Teresa Cahill in Salisbury attracted visitors from Oxford, the south coast and Kent. This seems to due to Centres inviting members from adjacent Centres, from advertising in Music Journal, and from interested parties connected with the performers. Local attendances have, in some cases, been increased by using the local press and targeting like-minded groups.

The Hereford & Worcester Centre have had particular success in attracting a wide age range: they have held a school-age Pupils’ Concert, and despite rearranging the date at very short notice, due to snow, David Quigley’s lecture-recital on the development of the piano was a well-attended family event.  

The wide variety of events each Centre creates has been a delight, as is the range of professional skills of the members who so inspirationally presented them – Teresa Cahill on Elgar, David Quigley’s lecture recital, Lucinda Mackworth-Young on performance psychology. All events were enhanced by beautiful venues, and often by delicious refreshments, a real pleasure to the senses.

The committees all continue their work with great dedication. The Cheltenham Centre says ‘thank you’ to Hannah Talbot-Cooper, who has stood down as secretary, and in her place welcomes Monica Evans.

I would strongly recommend that all members not only try to attend their own Centre’s events, but also to see what other Centres are doing – you will be warmly welcomed, as well as enjoying and benefiting from a first class artistic experience. We have much to be proud of in being members of the ISM.

Activities in the East Midlands Region continue to centre around the Nottingham area, where a lively core of members is supplemented by members from other districts.

New members continue to be added to the numbers in the Region, which is encouraging from the point of view of both the Society and the music profession.

A new committee for the area is producing fresh ideas for next session’s events and underlies the need for committee members to be changed on a regular basis so that fresh ideas and impetus can be maintained.

An Alexander Technique workshop by a local Alexander teacher was a great success for both teachers and performers, and was oversubscribed. Another workshop by the same person is scheduled for the autumn, so that people who could not get a place on the first workshop will be offered a second chance to attend.

Social events, where people can get together to relax and chat, continue to be popular and well-attended, and offer networking opportunities as well as being a pleasant diversion and yet related to our chosen profession.

Ideas for Regional meetings for the forthcoming session include the repeat of the above-mentioned Alexander Technique workshop, a seminar on the integrated music lesson, a more formal annual dinner with a guest speaker, plus another continuing professional development event yet to be decided.

Although Nottingham is the ‘hub’ for events in the region, if any members who live further afield would like to see events in their area, come along to the Annual Centre Meeting or email your suggestions for discussion.

In my six years as Eastern Regional Councillor, I have noticed a real change in the way the organisation within the Centres has evolved. The tasks of Centre officials are now being shared between several members. For example, the secretary delegates responsibility for various functions to other committee members, who report back, and the secretary co-ordinates and reports the results. This system seems to be working well and certainly helps the workload of busy musicians who are able then to support each other in the arrangement of events.

The Suffolk Centre is all set to revive itself from a fallow period, with an Annual Centre Meeting in the process of being planned in the Ipswich area for a Saturday afternoon in September (the actual date will be confirmed by Centre chairman Michael Nicholas). There has been some concern expressed about the lack of activity recently, so this will be a crucial opportunity for Suffolk members to come up with offers of help and new ideas. It is hoped that as many members as possible will attend, to help in whatever way they can, to set things going again for the benefit of members of this Centre. More details will appear in Music Journal and will also be directly mailed to all Suffolk Centre members.

The Cambridge Centre continues its frequent and lively programme of events, and the vibrant committee continue to keep each other fully informed.  Cambridge in particular use email to keep in touch on a regular basis, and this is a huge help in efficient organisation. In June the centre organised a coffee morning and a very enterprising Summer Event at Cambridge University Library, with a lunch followed by a viewing of manuscripts at the Library.

The Norwich Centre (‘The ISM Network for Norfolk – King’s Lynn to Lowestoft; Swaffham to Cromer’) has taken up the new initiative and shared out the role of secretary between two or three members, which is working very well. The Centre promoted an excellent and well attended Pupils’ Concert in May, thanks to Mary Rae, who included it as part of her successful Octagon Concert Series in Norwich. A special vote of thanks must go to Margaret Norden who has for many years served on the Norwich committee in various roles. She is retiring after a magnificent contribution to the musical life of this Centre. Thank you, Margaret!

It has been a greatly enriching experience to meet so many dedicated people during my years of involvement with these three Centres, and I am continually heartened by how hard members work for their Society. I have really enjoyed my time as Councillor, and wish all three Eastern Regional Centres a thriving future.

The Hull and East Riding Centre has reiterated its preference to be joined with the West Yorkshire and Sheffield Centres, as the journey time between these two areas is less than a third of that to Newcastle upon Tyne and the North East. The Centre’s Annual Centre Meeting took place on the morning of 27 March, and drew a much better attendance than previous evening meetings. After the business part was over, an interesting and lively discussion was held on buying music over the internet. Sadly, the Organ Day in Bridlington had been cancelled at short notice. The Pupils’ Concert went well, and the Centre is hoping to make this a regular autumn event. An advance notice is to advertise a ‘Music & the Deaf’ meeting which will take place on 1 March 2008 and be open to other regions.  This will be given by a speaker from the charity ‘Music and the Deaf’.

The North of England Centre held an event on ‘Composers of the North-East’ on 8 December 2006. About 30 of us met in one of Newcastle’s oldest cultural buildings, the Literary and Philosophical Society Library, for a very interesting evening. The meeting was dedicated to the memory of Percy Lovell, a music lecturer at Newcastle University and a tireless advocate and promoter of local composers’ works. We were honoured that his widow and some friends were able to attend. Michael Jones, an ISM member from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, gave a fascinating account, particularly of Edgar Bainton’s music, illustrated by recordings and his own performance of piano pieces.  The date of the meeting coincided with the 50th anniversary of Bainton’s death. Bainton also ran the Newcastle Conservatoire from 1912 to 1934. Michael’s talk also included other composers of the region – W G Whittaker, Arthur Milner, William Shield and Charles Avison.  We concluded the meeting with fine wine and delicious mince pies.

The North of England Centre’s meeting in the spring term was held in St Cuthbert’s Church, Durham, and included our annual Pupils’ Concert. which was well attended. We enjoyed a good selection of music for piano and piano duet, clarinet, euphonium, solo singers and a choir from St Teresa’s School in Sunderland. Once again we ended our evening with wonderful cakes provided by ladies of the church, which gave opportunity for social discussion between teachers and parents.

‘Sumer is icumen in’. Well, let us hope it really is!

As I write this, on a wet and grey May day, both the South West and South East London Centres are anticipating summer parties.

The South East London Centre is having its annual Midsummer Party at the Ripley Arts Centre on 22 June. This promises to be a splendid evening of wine, food and Victorian music in a gracious Victorian house.

The South West London Centre will be having its Annual Centre Meeting and Summer Party on 10 June at the home of its chairman, David Ward: weather permitting, we will be able to enjoy David's delightful garden. The South West London Centre is certainly looking for some promise of better days. They have had three retirements from the committee in the past year, and are urgently in need of some rays of sunshine in the form of new committee members.

The South East London Centre found much inspiration in a visit to the Horniman Museum. The event was over-subscribed, with only 20 places available. The group was shown around the Musical Instruments Collection by Dr Bradley Strauchen-Scherer. It is hoped that this opportunity will be open at some time in the future to members who were not able to go on this occasion.

Both Centres have recently had successful Adult Pupils Concerts, and South West London has had a well-supported concert for School Age Pupils. The organiser of this event, Hilary Fisher, commented that she felt that the participants were inspired by listening to older, more advanced pupils. ‘So many of them don't go to concerts these days, so they learn the music in a sort of vacuum’. This suggests that Pupils’ Concerts are an important and vital opportunity to encourage and inspire young and aspiring musicians who may be lacking any other source of relevant live musical experience. Perhaps this, in itself, can give a real focus to the work of the Regional Centres, particularly at a time when there is much concern about the state of music education.

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