Dear Friends,
With the exhilarating autumn season of the orchestra behind us, booking for the spring season opens shortly so please book your tickets timeously at Artscape and Dial-a-Seat. I should also mention that booking for the FOM Gala Concert on 19 November 2015 has opened and regular subscribers have until 8 August to secure your normal seats before booking opens for the general public.
The FOM Gala concert this year is a very exciting all-Brahms affair with the 3rd Symphony opening the programme and the 2nd Piano Concerto following after the interval. We are delighted that the concert will be conducted by Maestro Bernhard Gueller and that the electrifying Antonio Pompa-Baldi will be our soloist in the piano concerto. It promises to be an evening to remember. Further details regarding an after-concert reception will follow in the next newsletter. Tickets for the gala will be R500 for the public and R450 for FOM members. Platform seats will be R200.
FOM is embarking on an exercise to obtain tax-exemption for its sponsor and donors. This is not an easy matter and there are a number of complex issues that require specialist knowledge and attention. We have had some quotes but I am afraid that most of them would really flatten our bank balance and we would be paying consultants astronomical fees instead of helping the orchestra and financially dependent music students. If there is anyone out there who would be able to assist us with this mammoth task I should be very grateful if you would contact me in this regard. FOM is an entirely charitable organisation and virtually all funds that we secure are used for assisting the orchestra or needy students from disadvantaged communities. Please help us to keep any expenses in this regard as low as possible. My cell number is 082- 5576566 or email at derek@auret.co.za.
As far as the annual quiz is concerned, you will be now have heard that it has had to be postponed from the original date of 3 August 2015 until 19 October 2015. The reason is very simply that the building at the Glen Country Club is undergoing some necessary repairs and would not have been suitable on the earlier date. I can assure you that the later date will in no way detract from the fun that the evening usually produces so we hope to see you there in the usual large numbers.
Our appeal for old instruments that we can restore and provide to needy students has thus far resulted in the gift of two violins and a number of recorders to FOM. We have also been promised a trumpet, which is being restored by the donor before being presented to us. The two violins have been restored – and I have to thank the restorers for doing so at a huge discount to FOM – and once the bows have been received, they will be passed on to two students. I would like to repeat my appeal: Please look in the attic for any old and unused instruments, especially violins no matter in what condition that you can donate to FOM – we will do the rest. You are also welcome to contact me in this regard.
Till next time, happy listening. Best wishes
DEREK AURET
Chairman: Friends of Orchestral Music
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” ― Albert Einstein