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Conductor - James Stobart |
NEWSLETTER - Winter 2005/6 |
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Extracted from a recent Friends' mailing
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NOVEMBER CONCERT sells out very quickly
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It was really encouraging to find that tickets for the concert in November 2005 sold out very quickly, well before the concert date and, as usual, the event proved a great success. Not many amateur orchestras are able to tackle difficult works such as Rachmaninov symphonies, but both the players and audience obviously enjoyed being involved in the NSO performance. It is clear that listeners are as delighted to get the chance to hear live performances of such big symphonic masterpieces in King's Lynn as the members of the orchestra are to play them. |
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NSO PLAYERS make instruments too!
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Many long-standing Friends of the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra will remember that, a few years ago, leader Jane Foottit played the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at a Friends' Concert - on a violin that she had made herself. This was a remarkable achievement, especially as the violin, Jane's first effort, sounded so very good. Jane has recently spent a week working on another violin at the Cambridge Workshop where she learned the skills to make her first instrument. To her surprise she discovered another NSO player on the same course, with the beginnings of a viola on her bench. Amy Mokady, a violist in the orchestra, has, as yet, no fixed date for finishing her instrument but perhaps in the near future there might be two talented NSO musicians playing their own instruments on the stage at the Corn Exchange. |
LOCAL SOCIETIES ask NSO for advice |
| Friends and supporters of the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra are not alone in realising that the orchestra is a very buoyant and well-organised concern. It is clear that local musical societies are aware of the success of the orchestra and they often come to the NSO with requests for help and advice on the best way to run their groups. The NSO always tries to respond in a positive way, giving its advice freely and keeping no secrets. One society asked for help in making its supporters' scheme profitable. The NSO response was that the NSO Friends' Scheme was not set up to make money but to encourage an enthusiastic following so that the concerts would sell well, increasing ticket income. Almost all the advice given emphasises the points that societies have to offer something the public wants to hear and that members must feel proud of their society and its performances. It is also essential to have in charge, usually as conductor or musical director, a charismatic person with vision who motivates others to achieve. There then also has to be a very efficient and dedicated committee, of course, doing much of its work behind the scenes. The NSO is very fortunate to have had these things in place for some years now. James Stobart and the committee have shown what can be achieved and the Friends have been a constant source of encouragement and security. |
FOUNDER MEMBER still playing with the NSO |
| This is the orchestra's 35th season and there is still one player who was in there right at the start - Sheila Nunn. A valued member of the cello section for all these years, Sheila also helps the orchestra greatly by collecting the members' subscriptions, using gentle reminders when necessary! Next in the list of long-standing players is Malcolm Nye, also on the committtee as NSO librarian, who has played clarinet since 1976, quickly followed by Marlen Moss-Eccardt who joined just one year later. Chris Finch started as a violinist with the orchestra in 1981 and then occupied the leader's chair for fifteen years. On retiring from this position, he soon found himself back in the hot seat as principal double bass where he is clearly enjoying himself! Sheri Rutland is another very versatile player who has moved from one section to another since joining the orchestra. Starting here as a cellist in 1982 when she was still at school, Sheri continues to play her cello elsewhere but can now be seen in action behind the timps at NSO concerts. So these five players between them have about one hundred and forty years of service to the NSO - most of them having been here for longer than a life-sentence! |
| NSO PLAYER has daughter in the orchestra |
| It's interesting how headlines can be written to attract attention, to surprise or to shock. '50% of the country's hospitals are below average!' has to be a true statement, but doesn't it give a bad impression of the standard of our hospitals? The headline to this paragraph is designed to be misinterpreted too! No-one has ever given birth during an NSO session but there are currently five members whose children have played in the orchestra at the same time as their parents. Here are some other possible headlines about the NSO. 'Musician spends over half her life playing in orchestra' could apply to our timp player - see the previous article. Equally, 'Doctors fiddle every week in Downham Market' is valid as there are five doctor members in the violins, although on first reading it certainly implies something rather different! |
| NORFOLK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FRIENDS' QUIZ JANUARY 2006 |
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Choose the correct answer and write down the number When you have all the answers, add them up to arrive at a 3-figure total. 1. How many players are there in a string quintet? 2, 5 or 9 2. What is the number of Beethoven's Choral Symphony, his last? 3, 5 or 9 3. In which century was the composer JS Bach born? 14th, 17th or 19th 4. How many semiquavers are there in 2 quavers? 2, 4 or 8 5. How many strings are there on a cello? 3, 4 or 6 6. Is the postcode of the Corn Exchange PE 30, 31 or 34 7. How many trombones led the big parade? 56, 66 or 76 8. Which year was Nigel Kennedy born in the 1900s? 12, 37 or 56? 9. Is a waltz in 2 or 3 time? 10. Dave Brubeck wrote a piece called Take 3, Take 4 or Take 5. Which number? 11. How many letters are there in Wolfgang A. Mozart's middle name? 7 12. In piano fingering, which number is given to the thumb? 1, 3 or 4 13. How many years ago was the Royal Festival Hall in London officially opened? 155, 55 or 5 14. How many operas make up Wagner's Ring Cycle? 4, 8 or 10 15. In which century was Sir Edward Elgar born? 18th, 19th or 20th 16. How many players are there in a piano trio? 1, 2 or 3 17. How many green bottles hung on the wall at the start of the song? 5, 8 or 10 18. Which concert season is this for the NSO? 30, 35 or 38 19. Which year in the 1900s did the composer Shostakovich die? 01, 22 or 75 20. How many coins were there in the fountain? 3, 6 or 9 Answer 421 |
| The Norfolk Symphony Orchestra is a Registered Charity, No. 263422 |
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