CCO ANNOUNCEMENTS OCTOBER 17 2024

OCTOBER 17, 2024 

Many thanks to Kevin Seymour for hosting a CCO Tour of “Wild Cats” at the Royal Ontario Museum this week. It was informative and fun! 

I. CCO MEMBERSHIP & AGM NOVEMBER 18 

The CCO’s Annual General Meeting is on Monday November 18, for about 45 minutes at the beginning of the rehearsal at the 519 Community Centre, 7:30pm. 

Only members can stand for election as Directors and only members can vote on motions tabled at the AGM. If you have not already done so, please do the central membership thing - Pay Your Dues. The Door Volunteers are set up to accept cash or cheques, or pay your fees directly to treasurer@ccorchestra.org. The Door Volunteers can also collect  the required forms from you. 

II. UPCOMING REHEARSALS & INTERESTING LINKS 

(i) Upcoming Rehearsals

All the music for our December 7 concert is now available on CCOrchestra.org, Musicians Only portal. A reminder to new members to bring to rehearsals your own music and stand. 

For the next rehearsal, October 21, Music Director Andrew Chung requests that musicians rehearse in advance:  

• Why Not Blues

• Bizet

• handbell Concerto. 

For October 28, Andrew requests that we practice the Brahms Symphony No. 1. We won’t be performing this work until our March 22 concert, but it is a major work that will require significant effort. Andrew plans to do a “run-through” on the 28t. 

For the Brahms’ piece, once you are on the IMSLP site, scroll down until you find the version we are using:Hans Gál (1890-1987) Publisher Info.    Sämtliche Werke, Band 1 Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1926-27. Plate J.B. 1

Snacks: we’re snacking on leftovers on October 21. On October 28, snacks by First Violins. 

Musician Cookies at the Dec. 7 Concert: the Board appreciates that the initiative of musicians bringing cookies for the audience during intermission has been very popular, and, in fact, raises a significant contribution to the CCO each concert. Thank you to everyone who participates, and please get out your favourite cookie recipes for our December 7 concert. 

(ii) Interesting Links

Our soloist on December 7, playing the “Bell Tree” is Emily Li. If you are curious about her or her instrument, here is a link to her playing “The First Noel”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou0Rt3hiEDg

You can hear the handbell concerto by following the links on the Musicians Only portal or using these links: 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sh7fogryj69r47on5qrrm/Concerto_mov1_final.mp3?rlkey=jk7jbbpprstsau1hime1g4q3f&e=1&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/msz83p4xfi3tbopst5hz2/Concerto_mov2_final.mp3?rlkey=ok3aadsrhoicg073mqihyz2ap&e=1&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/635vhq7sgfau3o5hvlt8t/Concerto_mov3_final.mp3?rlkey=u4sgtcv09qic0t5xlrclbvt8s&e=1&dl=0

III.  BILL MCQUEEN SCHOLARSHIP 

Bill McQueen, a clarinetist, was a founding member of the CCO and a major contributor to the CCO for many years. After he passed, Addison Tallman, created a scholarship in Bill’s honour for the CCO to award for 10 years. This year, the scholarship has been awarded to Jude Littlefield Bushien, a double bass player studying at U of T. We are expecting Jude to start with us on October 21st. 

IV.  DIRECTORS AND VOLUNTEERS ALWAYS NEEDED 

Please consider being a Director: An election will be held at the AGM for Directors to the Board. 

Our By-Laws require 5 to 9 Directors, 3 of whom must self-describe as members of the 2SLBGTQIA+ community. Directors must be members of the CCO. They stand for election to a 2 year term to a maximum of 3 terms. The elected Directors elect the CCO’s Officers, ie, the Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary.  Directors meet monthly, usually by Zoom, for about 2 hours. Different Directors assume responsibility as well for the Committees or projects in which they have an interest. 

Some of the current Directors will not be seeking re-election. There is room for you - or for someone you know. Non-musicians are very welcome! Can you join the Board or do you know someone who would like to get involved with the CCO? If so, contact any of the current Directors: 

Chair: Liz Mitchell, emitchell1727@gmail.com

Vice Chair: Daniel Payne, payne.danny@gmail.com

Treasurer: Kevin Seymour, kevin.seymour@sympatico.ca

Secretary: Russell Westkirk, rwestkirk@gmail.com

Directors: David Brownstone, davidbrownstone66@gmail.com

Tetsuya Kobayashi, tty103g@gmail.com

Andrew B. Q. Lam, andrewbqlam@hotmail.com 

Concert Volunteers: The CCO also requires some non-musician volunteers to work at the December 7 concert, while we perform. The Concert Volunteers do all the work of organizing a successful concert: ushering, taking tickets, doing the 50/50 draw, setting out the refreshments, distributing programmes, etc. If anyone you know would like to join the concert volunteer team, please contact emitchell1727@gmail.com. 

V. IMPORTANT CCO DATES 

Monday October 21 - Monday rehearsals resume - Snacks: Leftovers. (October 28 - Snacks: first violins)

Thursday November 14 - Board meeting by Zoom. Members can attend. Contact emitchell1727@gmail.com for an invitation. 

Monday November 18 - Annual General Meeting for the first 45 minutes of the rehearsal. Election of Directors to the Board. “B

Friday December 6, 7:00 to 10:00pm - Dress Rehearsal, Eastminster United, 310 Danforth (Chester subway) 

Saturday December 7, 7:30pm - CCO Holiday Concert, "Bells & Glitter”, Eastminster United 310 Danforth Ave. (Chester station)

Mondays January 6 and after (excluding statutory holidays) - Rehearsals resume, 7:30 to 9:30 at the 519 Community Centre 

Monday February 17 - Family Day, no rehearsal.

Monday February 24 - rehearsals resume

Friday March 21, 2025, 7:00 to 10:00pm - Dress Rehearsal, Eastminster United 

Saturday March 22 - 7:30pm Concert, Eastminster United

Monday March 24 - possible date for resumption of rehearsals. Otherwise they resume on March 31 

Monday April 21 - Easter Monday. The 519 will be closed. Discussion required about rehearsing elsewhere this night (or not). Otherwise they continue April 28.

Monday May 19 - no rehearsal Victoria Day

Monday May 26 - rehearsals resume 

Friday June 6 - 7:00 to 10:00pm - Dress Rehearsal, Eastminster United

Saturday June 7 - 7:30pm - Concert, Eastminster United.

VI. OTHER MUSIC & CCO MEMBERS

If you personally are performing in a concert or gig you would like others to know about, you can:

(i) post it in the Musicians’ Only section of the CCO website;(ii) bring your poster to a rehearsal and leave it at the table at the entrance to the rehearsal venue; (iii) send details to emitchell1727@gmail.com for including in this spot in the CCO ANNOUNCEMENTS.