Details of Spring 2025 Outing.
SPRING CHAMBER MUSIC OUTING
at Epsom College, Sunday 6 April 2025
Organisers: Ian Landsborough and David Gaster
The next Spring Chamber Music Outing has been booked for Sunday 6 April 2025. It will be at Epsom College, College Road, Epsom KT17 4JQ. The registration fee payable is £30, and will include refreshments in the tea and coffee breaks and will be returnable in full if the event is cancelled.
Update, 2nd January. Unfortunately, we have had to change the way refreshments will be provided, which means they are no longer being included in the registration fee. For several years, we have been making a loss on the Outings and the shortfall has been made up each time from our reserves. However, costs have increased considerably in recent years and, despite the recent increases in the registration fee, the gap is widening all the time. Also, having two Outings a year instead of one, while great for the social and musical aspects of the Society, only makes this problem worse. The cost of having refreshments provided for us has gone up sharply in recent years and we realised that, if the Society didn’t have to pay for these, we could still break even, thus eliminating the shortfall.
Our first thought was to provide the refreshments ourselves, just as we do for our monthly concerts. We put forward a proposal to Epsom College to make the Music Department our gathering point and social centre instead of the Dining Room and use the kitchenette there to provide our own refreshments. Unfortunately, they rejected this idea, probably because the area is not really big enough for 60 or so people. However they have proposed instead that we use their Mermaid Café as our gathering point and where we can have our packed lunches, and we can all buy our own refreshments in the morning and afternoon breaks. We didn’t know anything about the Mermaid Café, which is not surprising because it has only just been opened. It is on the site of the old Sixth Form Centre (now demolished), which used to be our gathering point and lunch area. It looks really nice on the Epsom College website, although we won’t really know what it’s like until we get there and start using it. We do hope that this increased hit to your pocket doesn’t put you off applying. Of course, if you have already applied on the understanding that the refreshments would be free and you are unhappy with the new arrangements, you are welcome to withdraw your application and we will refund you. Bear in mind, though, that, if you are feeling the pinch, you can always bring along your own refreshments (e.g. hot drinks in thermos flasks) instead of buying them at the Café.
If you would like to take part, please complete the online application form on the Members’ Area of our website (www.kdcms.org.uk/members-area). No password required. When you have completed the form please pay, preferably by Bank transfer (details on the form), and email the organizers at [email protected] to confirm you have registered and paid online.
If you need to make changes to your application later, please submit a new form with just your name, which will identify your application, and the changes you wish to make.
If you cannot use the online form, please request a paper form from the Secretary and return it to Ian Landsborough, Abbots Cottage, Abbots Way, Guildford GU1 2XP, or hand it in at either the December 9th Christmas party and concert at St Mary’s Parish Hall, Teddington or the January 20th concert, at the Methodist Church in New Malden. If you can, please pay by bank transfer, or otherwise send a cheque with your application form.
The closing date is Monday 20th January, but it will be helpful if you can apply before then. All applications will be accepted up to the closing date except we have to limit the number of pianists based on the availability of serviceable pianos. You can withdraw your application at any time before the closing date and your payment will be returned. If you are forced to withdraw after the closing date, please inform the organizer immediately, preferably having found a deputy to take your place. The task of organising is complex and even one missing person causes a major re-shuffling of the schedule. Deputies do not have to pay a fee, which should help if you need to find one, but this does mean that we cannot generally refund you if you pull out after the closing date. Late applications may be considered if there is a place available and the schedule has not been prepared, or up to the day of the Outing as a ‘reserve’ list.
The day starts at 9:45am with a welcome and meeting. As usual there will be five sessions between 10:00am and 6:00pm. Sessions 1 to 4 last an hour and a quarter, with 45 minutes for lunch and half an hour between the morning sessions and the first 2 afternoon sessions, to give everyone time to have a drink and a chat before their next session. Session 5 is 1 hour and runs on from the one before, with a short break to enable room changes. You can play in any number of sessions from 1 to 5, but please indicate clearly which sessions you want to play in. You should bring a picnic lunch including a drink, as no refreshments are provided at lunch time. Tea and coffee will be available in the morning and afternoon breaks. Details of the venue can be found on their website www.epsomcollege.org.uk.
Requests or suggestions for particular pieces, although optional, are extremely helpful to the organizer and you may make up to three; the organizer will try to grant at least one request but please bear in mind this is not always possible depending on the balance of instruments available. Given the availability of rooms at Epsom College, works for larger groups are particularly encouraged. It is a great help if you can provide the music for any request and please confirm this in the appropriate box. Useful resources are the Surrey Performing Arts Library, currently located at Ewell Library in Bourne Hall; the Central Music Library at Westminster and downloads from the IMSLP-Petrucci website. If any chosen piece is very short you should try to find some extra music for that session. You may also indicate if you have a particular preference for ensemble size / mix, styles or periods (but not named individual players!).
All players of any playing standard are welcome, but you should have some experience of ensemble playing. It is also helpful if you can give the organizer some information on your playing standard and chamber music experience (especially if you are a new member) as this will help us to plan the day’s schedule (e.g. if you are a violinist, do you prefer to play 1st or 2nd?). If one of your instruments is unusual in chamber music (e.g. trumpet, bass clarinet, cor anglais, piccolo) and you would particularly like to play it, you will have more chance of doing so if you specifically request music containing it and can provide the parts.
The Singing Group will only take place if we receive enough applications from all voices, particularly sopranos and tenors. Please consider whether you would like to play instead in Session 3 if the Singing Group does not take place.
Your schedule with all information and directions will be e-mailed (or posted) to you in early to mid February, so you can expect to have about 6 weeks to make any preparations for your sessions.
Ian Landsborough David Gaster
07915 645147 020 8390 3451
[email protected]