About
History
It was in 1987 that David and Linda Holmes founded the concerts; these began at the Walpole Old Chapel, then in 1991 moved to Cratfield. The creation and registration of a charitable trust, Blyth Valley Chamber Music, followed in 1993. The highlight of their 13 years was a cycle of all 15 Shostakovich string quartets, played by the Sorrel Quartet over one weekend in September 1999. The Sorrel returned in 2007 to give the world première of a specially commissioned string quartet by Simon Rowland-Jones, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Blyth Valley Chamber Music. We commissioned another new string quartet in 2011, this time from Timothy Salter, which had its first public performance at Cratfield from the Sacconi Quartet.
Organisation
Blyth Valley Chamber Music – the official name for the organisation responsible for each summer concert series – is a registered charity, no 1019300, governed by a Constitution (to download a copy of the current text of this document, click here). It has no paid staff at all, so its activities depend entirely on the energy of volunteers. They staff our Committee, run the Box Office, distribute publicity, collect musicians from the train and make sure there is lunch for them (from the prizewinning Lawson’s Deli in Aldeburgh), number the seats, hire a piano when needed (usually from Andrew and Jill Giller at The Old Granary Studio at Maypole Green), put concert signs out in the lanes around, welcome concertgoers, make sure the portaloos are clean, organise car parking and tidy the church after each concert.
Our partnership with the church at Cratfield is very close and warm: church helpers organise the famous teas in each concert interval, and our concerts also support the church financially via a tithe on our ticket receipts.
Ticket receipts – our largest single source of income – are generously supplemented by regular contributions from our Members and Patrons (click here to access our Members and Patrons leaflet in PDF format; the file will either open as a new on-screen page or be downloaded to your computer, depending on your own browser settings or preferences). Each group in return gains two weeks’ priority booking and an invitation to our AGM each winter. The AGM reviews the season just ended, looks ahead to the next, appoints Committee members for the following year and (when necessary) the Concert Organiser – and then there is a convivial buffet lunch.
Governance
As a result of proposals approved by the 2011 AGM (held on 11 December 2011), our 2012 Committee is Jeremy Greenwood (Chair), e-mail jeremy@whr.demon.co.uk; Clare Webb (Treasurer), e-mail webblet@gmail.com; Philip Britton (Concert Organiser) [appointed for the three seasons 2010-2012, succeeding Ken Backhouse OBE], e-mail info@concertsatcratfield.org.uk; Christine Stephenson; Jack Stephenson; Lorna Turner; and Roger Plowden. Tom Southern runs the Box Office and mailing list.
Click here for information about our 2011 AGM.
We have now adopted an updated version (2011) of our Data Protection Statement. Click here to download it in PDF format; the file will either open as a new on-screen page or be downloaded to your computer, depending on your own browser settings or preferences.
Show your support
Becoming a Member or Patron is the best way to support our concerts and to ensure our future: click here to access our Members and Patrons leaflet in PDF format (the file will either open as a new on-screen page or be downloaded to your computer, depending on your own browser settings or preferences).
