Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at 4.22pm on 15th October 2006 at Harborough Bank

Confirmed as a true record at the AGM on 14th October 2007

Present: Rachel Greenwood in the chair, Margaret Campbell, Ruth Herbert, Angela Richey, Bob Thomas, Janet Thomas, John Todd

Apologies: Louis Carus, Mary Cohen, Pat Hibbs

Minutes: The minutes of the AGM held on 26th September 2004 at Harborough Bank, having been amended, were agreed and signed as a true record. The minutes of the AGM held on 16th October 2005 in the Wribbenhall Parish Rooms, Bewdley were read, agreed and signed as a true record.

Matters Arising: There were none.

Chairperson's Report:

Rachel Greenwood thanked the Committee for its work during the year, with particular mention of the Treasurer and the newsletter editor. She then reported on events and activities since the last AGM with special reference to the following.

• The 24th February evening session on group teaching with Leo Turner, though poorly attended, was welcome for bringing fun into the programme.
• It had been good to mix with other teachers at the ESTA National Forum in Birmingham on 12th March. It was agreed that it was good to have music making among the activities at such events. There was some concern, though, at the apparent increase in the use of recorded or computer-generated accompanying music, which is necessarily situation-insensitive, even when live music could have been available.
• Singing for String Players on 6th May had attracted a good mixture of ages and disciplines. It had reminded her of the need for agreement on some kind of protocol, code of conduct or rules of engagement on the thorny subject of physical contact between teacher and student for purposes of demonstrating and explaining essential aspects of technique.

Treasurer's Report:

Janet Thomas tabled the accounts, which were adopted unanimously.

Election of Officers:

The only nominations received were for the existing postholders. These were proposed by Angela Richey, seconded by John Todd and agreed unanimously.

• Chairperson: Rachel Greenwood.
• Secretary: Bob Thomas.
• Treasurer: Janet Thomas.
• Committee members: Hazel Davis and Angela Richey.
• National Forum Representative: Rachel Greenwood.

Other Business:

• Oxford Region's forthcoming masterclass series was promoted.
• There was a request for an article to be commissioned on string instrument insurance.
• Ruth Herbert's 11th November presentation to ISM on Colourstrings was promoted.
• The death of former ESTA Vice-President Elspeth Iliff was noted wih regret.
• The 2007 ESTA International Conference in Cremona was promoted.
• Ideas were trawled for possible future regional events. All of course were merely proposals and would be entirely subject to agreement and detail. They included Margaret Campbell talking on The Great Violinists (or Cellists); Candida Connolly with her special interest in Indian Violin; an activity event such as a children's concert; and a technique forum, possibly at Rachel's house.

Date of Next AGM: Sunday 14th October 2007 was the most likely date. Margaret would be invited to talk on The Great Violinists.

The meeting closed at 4.58pm.

END