The Branch had 36 members, 3 more than the previous season (5 new members, 1 returned member and 3 non-renewals). We met on 35 Monday evenings from September to June for combined playing. One-to-a-part groups met in each other’s houses.
On Saturday 24 November we welcomed Helen Hooker, from Chichester, as our visiting conductor. We were joined by visitors from other Scottish branches and from the Evening Class.
Our Christmas Evening was on Monday 10 December, when we played to an audience of family and friends in Augustine United Church. The conductors from the Branch were Fabian Setznagel, Peter Wraith and Andrew Short and we were joined by members of the Edinburgh Community Education Evening Class conducted by Margaret Hall. The collection made a profit of £128.36 which was sent to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.
On 28 January we hosted a joint meeting of the Branch and the Edinburgh Community Education Evening Class conducted by Margaret Hall and Peter Wraith.
The National Recorder Festival took place on 19 and 20 April at Weald of Kent School, Tonbridge. On 20 April, Eileen Finlayson attended the Society’s Annual Conference as the Edinburgh Branch’s delegate. The full minutes, reports and accounts of the Conference can be found here. A summary of the minutes follows.
Elections. Sandra Foxall (Cleveland) and Pam Smith (Cheltenham and Gloucester) were elected to serve on the Committee for three years until the end of Conference 2011. The two current Musical Advisers to the Committee (Evelyn Nallen and Eileen Silcocks) had agreed to continue on the Committee. Alyson Lewin succeeded Colin Touchin as Musical Adviser to the Committee until the end of Conference 2011. Subscriptions. The central portion of the subscription for 2008-09 was increased by 50p to £18.00 for an ordinary member, £28.00 for household members and £13.50 for students. Future Festivals: The following arrangements were noted: 2009 Cleveland Branch, Guisborough 25-26 April 2010 Suffolk Branch, Easter 2011 Somerset and Devon Branches (Devon to be confirmed) 2012 Guildford Branch (provisional). Resolutions. Life Membership of the Society was conferred on Alistair Read upon his retirement after 14 years as the Society’s Honorary Secretary. Anthony Rowland-Jones was made a Vice-President of the Society for his active support of the Society and the recorder over many years.
Branch members attended the Special Playing Day in Glasgow on 15 March and the Scottish Recorder Festival at Ibrox Parish Church, Glasgow on 31 May. Peter Wraith and Margaret Hall were among the conductors at the Festival.
Groups from the branch played at a charity concert in Penicuik North Kirk on 15 March and, from 4 – 7 June, provided incidental music for the promenade production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in the grounds of Traquair House near Peebles.
Several members of the Branch were among the party of players from Scottish Recorder Orchestra who took part in the long weekend from 1 – 5 May with the Dortmund Recorder Consort at Haus Nordhelle in Germany, concluding with a concert in Dortmund on 5 May.
On Sunday 11 May, two groups from the Branch played at the Early Music Forum of Scotland’s Performance Day at the National Museum of Scotland. A large group played Palestrina Ricercare (Primo Tono), Bach Contrapunctus IX, and Greensleeves arr. Bergmann in the Hawthornden Court conducted by Fabian Setznagel, and a smaller one-to-a-part group played a Trio Sonata (1697) by Mr Morgan.
Our Summer Evening was on Monday 9 June when we played to an audience of family and friends in Augustine United Church. The conductors from the Branch were Fabian Setznagel, Peter Wraith and Andrew Short and we were joined by members of the Edinburgh Community Education Evening Class conducted by Margaret Hall. The collection raised £250 for the Motor Neuron Disease Association.
We must warmly thank our conductors Fabian Setznagel, Andrew Short and Peter Wraith for giving us such an enjoyable year of music making and we look forward in anticipation to the coming season.