Review of developments, activities and achievements

Concerts

Once more the Society's orchestras have had a full programme of over 20 concerts throughout the period varying in both their size and venue. These would not have been possible without the continued support and contributions of the members. The highlights include:
  • The return of the Fiddlers' Spectacular to His Majesty's Theatre in April 2008 for a four show run. Held jointly with Banchory Strathspey & Reel Society this was the first time that a Spectacular had been staged since HMT was refurbished. The show featured special guests Caledon - “Scotland's Three Tenors” and local comedy group The Flying Pigs. Ticket sales, press reviews and audience feedback were all excellent and the event has contributed significantly to the overall results for the financial period.
  • The Society won the Orchestra competition category at the Banchory Festival of Scottish Music in May 2008.
  • 15 orchestra members of the Society travelled to Stavanger for a long weekend in June 2008 to perform in public areas of the city as part of the European City of Culture events. We also held a joint concert with Veba Spelemannslag, a local Stavanger Hardanger (traditional Norwegian music) group. We are grateful to Aberdeen City Council for their grant assistance with the trip as Stavanger is one of Aberdeen's twin towns.
  • In August 2008 we were once again invited to appear as part of Aberdeen's Tartan Day Festival and undertook open air concerts at two locations in the town centre, including the main stage in Union Terrace Gardens.
  • The Society, along with guests from other societies, undertook their annual Fiddlers Rally at Aberdeen Music Hall in November 2008. Duncan Chisholm as well as Mike and Ali Vass were the guest artists. Audience numbers were disappointing compared to previous years where the Rally has sold out the Music Hall. The Society will continue to work closely with the event promoter, Aberdeen Performing Arts, to ensure improved audience numbers at future events. We are grateful to Mike and Ali Vass for the donation of a box of their CDs after the rally for issue to the junior members to inspire and encourage the playing of traditional music.
Throughout the year a number of small evening concerts were undertaken at sheltered housing complexes and churches and were well attended by members. The Afternoon Group continued to entertain at hospitals, nursing homes and churches undertaking approximately 2 concerts per month, lead this session by Dave Beaton and Sandy Lumsden.
Fiddlers Spectacular ProgramFiddlers Spectacular Program Graham Reid celebrating his 21 years as conductorGraham Reid celebrating his 21 years as conductor 
 

Other events

At the AGM in May 2008 one of the Society's life members, G Elphinstone, was presented with a commemorative plate in recognition of his 50 years of membership. At the first rehearsal of the new concert session in September 2008 Graham Reid was presented with a small gift in recognition of his 21 years of service to the Society as conductor. As was noted in the presentation speech the Society would be lost without Graham's time, energy and commitment. Although we don't expect Graham to serve another 21 years we hope that he is not going to hang up his baton any time soon.
 
Before the term “credit crunch” had fully entered everyday vocabulary, Aberdeen City Council was already facing its own budget problems. One of the cost saving strategies adopted was to reduce the number of schools available for out of hours lets. Across Aberdeen groups with lets at primary schools were reassigned to secondary schools in September 2008. Like all those involved, the Society was given only two weeks notice of the change and had little choice but to accept the alternative accommodation that was offered.
 
However, the new accommodation proved unsuitable to the needs of the Society – in particular the unavailability of pianos and lack of additional rooms for rehearsing groups separately. A number of alternative venues were investigated, whilst we worked closely with the council to identify more suitable accommodation.
 
A new venue was finally identified by the council and the Society switched to its third premises for the current concert session at the beginning of February 2009. We hope to remain at Cornhill Community Centre/Primary School for the forseeable future.
 
In addition to the move in premises, the council have increased their rental charges by approximately 20%. This was not surprising due to budget constraints and recent increases in energy costs. The Society continues to benefit from its not for profit status by receiving a discount against the full council rental charges of 75% for the junior orchestras and a 50% discount for the senior orchestra.
 
On the social front the Christmas Party evening returned to the Cloverleaf Hotel for an enjoyable night.
 
The Society continues to be an Associate Plus member of Making Music (the National Federation of Music Societies, registered charity in England & Wales no 249219 & Scotland No SC038849). In January 2009 two members of the committee met with representatives of other Making Music groups from the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire areas. Various issues common to the groups were discussed as was the possibility of setting up an Aberdeen/Shire Making Music Cluster – an informal grouping where ideas and issues can be shared and discussed. We look forward to continuing to participate in the cluster.
 
One of the issues discussed at the cluster meeting was that of attracting new members. This was an issue that the committee had already been actively considering. Based on ideas that the committee already had and suggestions from the cluster meeting the Society organised a free drop in or “taster” session for potential new members in February 2009.
 
Although players new to the Society are always welcome at weekly rehearsals, it was considered that an informal introductory session for new recruits with an opportunity to both play some tunes at a leisurely pace and ask questions would be less overwhelming. As a direct consequence of the event four new players have started attending the senior orchestra.
 
The committee is currently considering organising further taster session events, including those aimed specifically at the junior orchestras.
 
Our thanks go to all members, old and new, who have played at the many concerts held during the period and helped in various ways to keep the Society running so smoothly.
 

Future plans

Looking forward to the forthcoming year the orchestras are busy preparing for the Society's annual concert a “Scottish Music Evening” which is being held at The Lemon Tree on 26 April 2009. The event marks a number of firsts for the Society - the first time that we have performed our annual concert at The Lemon Tree, performing on a Sunday rather than a Saturday and an earlier start time of 6.30pm. We will seek and review audience feedback to these changes.
 
Plans are also being finalised for an orchestra trip in October 2009 to Shetland to take part in the 22nd annual Shetland Accordion and Fiddle Festival, which will include performances by the Society. In March 2009 the committee designated £1,000 towards the costs of subsidising the travel arrangements for playing members.