From the Chairman’s report to the AGM 22nd May 2011, Britten Room, Headington School
I am pleased to report a very successful 2011 festival, with just under 800 entries including 18 choirs, orchestras and ensembles involving 2,000 performers in total. A large group of guitarists from the Cirencester area and some very good woodwind players from Walsall as well as musicians from London and Manchester performed, but the main body of entries was from the Oxford area, which is what we would wish.
Adjudicators were excellent, dispensing plenty of very helpful advice and generally creating a lively atmosphere. Many communications were received from adjudicators and performers alike, conveying thanks for the excellent and happy way the festival is run. We were able to enjoy all the facilities that Headington School offers, especially the new music block, now in its second year.
We are very grateful to the many people who made the festival such a success. David Mannion not only takes care of finances, but looks after publicity, edits the Newsletter and Website and provides wine and refreshments both for the concert and the AGM. He also represents us at the Southern Regional Forum of the Federation. He has recently suffered an illness which has left him feeling very tired. He will carry on with most of the work he does, cutting back just a little. We are indebted to him for all that he has given to the festival.
Philip Bobby was in charge of door stewarding on both weekends and managed extremely well, helped by his wife Linda, Anne Nutt and Madeleine Katkov, who were each in charge for a day. Anne and her husband David have helped for many years, and been in charge for complete days for the last ten. They now feel unable to devote complete days, but will come along for sessions. Much gratitude is due to them for all their work. Madeleine Katkov, after helping for a long time, volunteered a whole day, and has agreed to do so in future. It was impressive to see Philip and two of his Rotarian friends looking after car parking on choir day. It was extremely cold, and they did a great job, particularly as Philip was going into hospital straight after the festival.
Thanks are due to Helen Moorhouse for arranging the refreshment rota, and Sylvia Saxby for buying and transporting all the food, and for spending her time in the dining room throughout the festival. On choir day, choristers and public descended ‘like locusts’, and she had to go shopping again that evening!
Ruth Holleley has been a supportive Vice-Chairman, particularly in helping to prepare the concert, which was a great success, with a full capacity audience. She also ran the singing section. Efficient Secretary Anne Baker was full of initiative, able to cope with all eventualities and very pleasant to work with. She also ran the woodwind section. Among the many things she does for the festival, Janet Tinbergen received entries, played a large part in the entry procedure, and ran the string section.
Members of the music sub-committee dealt with entries in their sections, prepared marksheets and certificates, announced candidates and in certain cases prepared set pieces. They are a good team.
After last year’s AGM, Rose Cross announced her likely departure to Scotland with husband Ray so that they could be nearer their daughter and grandchildren. Shocking news! In spite of hopes by all that this might not happen, their plans are now complete. Rose has been a wonderful asset to the festival, and to the chairman in particular. Both she and Ray started lessons with Marian, then quite new to Oxford, in 1976, and both gained Grade 8 and a Diploma. It was not long before Marian discovered that Rose could type, and that started her long connection with the organisation. Over the years Rose has done more and more, being highly efficient, innovative, enthusiastic, and at times long suffering! Adjudicators have praised her programmes as the best of any festival. Ray has willingly and at all hours transported forms and other materials between Chalgrove and Oxford.
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Rose herself gave an account of her 35-year festival association, from the first typed syllabus produced on a secondhand Underwood manual, A4 sheets and with Tippex and a wastepaper basket to hand. Before the programme production later that year an electric machine had been acquired, and two years later a computer, with a memory half the size of a floppy disk. Thence to a BBC computer and Tippex disposal, as this could be linked to the electric typewriter. Training on using database programmes followed, and entries processing, competitor’s tickets and the mailing list were added to the list of achievements as a result.
Rose is grateful to Marian for her encouragement and wonderful friendship during all these years, and to Ray for his support, patience and tolerance over the antisocial computer hours. She will miss her involvement with the festival, but will still be producing the programme in Scotland for the time being!
Several people have agreed to help cover Rose’s enormous workload. Moya Hermon has volunteered to provide all the information for the AGM, and Megan Hooper is taking over the database, which is already half completed. Both Moya and Megan are willing to do more of the ‘secretarial’ jobs, and Linda Bobby has also offered to help out. All excellent news!
Paul Smith, our festival photographer, has agreed to produce the syllabus for the printers. This is a large job, and we are indebted to him. Arrangements for programme production are still being made. The subcommittee have agreed to help with even more preparation, and Rose will collate in Scotland.
The chairman was able to relate some humorous festival stories at this point, one of which related to an adjudicator and a mobile telephone! She concluded by thanking all door, refreshment and music stewards, as well as all who came in to help with the successful running of the festival. 2012’s adjudicators and venues are already booked, and some test pieces selected, so we are looking forward to another successful year.
News of some of our recent performers
Yaolin Zheng
Yaolin has won trophies at the festival every year for the last several years, culminating with the Jean Loughman Award this year. Her piano playing has given so much pleasure to our audiences. She hopes to go up to St John’s College, Cambridge in October to read medicine.
Tomas Klement-Crichlow
Tomas (winner Class C, 2009) has graduated from the Royal Academy. In his final recital he played sonatas by Slavicky and Liszt, and Janacek’s ‘On an Overgrown Path’. He is currently studying Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Sonata.
Martyna Jatkauskaite
Martyna (winner Class C, 2007) has completed her Master of Music degree at the Guildhall School and won the prestigious Gold Medal (previous winners Bryn Terfel and Jacqueline du PrÉ). She writes to us: “My path to the music Olympics started at your wonderful festival ...”. Martyna is currently studying pieces by Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Schumann.
Fatima Lahham
Fatima has played recorder at the festival for several years and won many of our awards and trophies. She and her brothers, who have also played at the festival, have given us a great deal of pleasure with their very fine playing. She stays in touch with her former teacher, Sybil Whitman, our recently retired secretary. She is waiting for her A’Level results and all being well, she will go up to college in October to study music.
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