GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
01932 221918
51 Garrick Close
Walton-on-Thames
Surrey
KT12 5NZ
16" July 1998
Dear Norman,
Since contacting you by phone last Saturday to confirm your willingness to be the Second Bass Voice Part
Representative for next season, I have given more thought to the exact nature of your altered responsibility within
the Choir.
At the request of the Committee, I am sending you a brief description of the help we require from you all and details
of the members of the team of seven, should you have any bright ideas to pass on which might be of use to the
others.
In the past, the job of the Voice Part Representative has been to assist the Membership Secretary and the Treasurer
by keeping contact with the members of his or her section and by “chasing up” those whose attendance has fallen
behind expected levels or whose subscriptions are still outstanding. A not particularly stimulating or popular job
description and one we feel needs re-defining!
Today, with the help of computers and easy phone access, the Membership Secretary quite easily deals with this side
of the administration from week to week. At the present time, Jeremy is sufficiently interested to help out (if it seems
necessary) with regard to poor attendance; in fact, he keeps a weather—eye on the attendance registers as a matter
of course.
However, one aspect has come under fire recently which is quite impossible for one person alone to put to rights;
namely that we are unfriendly. It is all too easy to keep with our own friends (made over many years in some cases)
each week and be unaware of others, in particular members who have only recently joined the Choir. So, we really
need your help with the social integration of (a) firstly the group amongst itself and, later, (b) among the Choir as a
whole. A useful beginning: how many Choir members can you name and greet on a regular basis, even if you‘ve
been in the GPC a long time? This number could well be very much smaller for those people who do not hold any
sort of office or who are new and who merely arrive, sit down, maybe chat to a few people, sing and go home!
Some members of the Committee are very keen for us to abandon our regular seating arrangements and for us not
to reserve places for our friends who arrive later. While sitting next to a different person each week sounds sensible
in some respects, there isn’t much opportunity to get to know each other when we are singing. Far more valuable is
the time before the rehearsal begins and (hopefully) in the interval. It goes without saying that Voice Part
Representatives are regular attenders; they should be there in sufficient time to welcome new members (I will
introduce them to you) and take them to meet Jeremy. Then they should select someone from the section to be
responsible for guiding a new singer on a regular basis for the first couple of months; if possible, choose someone
near in age. To do this well, you will need to know which members are reliable, regular attenders!
Could you please consider these facts during what is left of the Summer break and try to put your interpretation of
them into action from the first week of the new season? In attracting new members (the potential existing
membership for ‘98 — ‘99 is 122; we need many more), we have got to sell ourselves as a group which people want
to join!
With many thanks,
Noreen Ayton (Membership Secretary)
To: Margaret Parry (01276 858552), Dawn Smith (01483 487017), Amanda & Neil Clayton (01483 574780),
June Windle (01483 423166), Andrew Reid (01483 720717), Norman Carpenter (01483 714634)
Déor Michael,
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